Festivals

Objective & content

This sheet on festivals starts from a chat between two pen-pals, with a picture of each. Priya, in Leicester, is getting ready for Diwali, the festival of lights: lamps, rangoli patterns, presents and sweets. Jack, in Lewes, tells her about Bonfire Night: a torch parade, a huge bonfire, fireworks and an enormous crowd. Pupils answer six multiple-choice questions, name six pictures from a box of eight words, match eight words such as tradition, crowd and to decorate with their meanings, complete nine sentences and make nouns with -ation (invite, invitation). The sheet ends on a mystery word: pupils find eight words from clues, with no word list, and the shaded boxes spell a hidden word.

Pedagogical guide

Two festivals in the same month give pupils two sets of words to compare, and the facts are real: Diwali falls in October or November, and Bonfire Night, on 5 November, remembers Guy Fawkes's plot of

1. The sentences take the words beyond the two festivals, to birthdays, Halloween and Burns Night. The -ation task asks for one change only and warns about spelling (decorations, preparations, imagination). Every task tests words, never grammar.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Write "Diwali" and "Bonfire Night" on the board; ask what pupils know and collect festival words.
2. (10 min) Two pupils read the chat aloud as Priya and Jack; the class answers the six questions.
3. (10 min) Pupils name the six pictures and match the eight words with their meanings.
4. (12 min) Pupils complete the sentences, then read the worked example together and make the nouns.
5. (8 min) Pupils solve the mystery word alone or in pairs.
6. (5 min) Check with the answer key on page 4.

Adaptations

[S] Before reading, pupils name the festivals they celebrate and the month of each.

[A] Pupils write Priya or Jack a message about a festival in France. To take it further, the class makes a calendar of festivals around the world.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of the three pupil pages per pupil, in colour or in black and white. Page 4 is the answer key: keep it. Pupils should know the months, dates such as "the 5th of November" and the past simple.