The plan for the celebration of Halloween.doc

The Plan for the Celebration of Halloween

Aims of the campaign of the celebration:
1. To have the students in the international department of the school get to know more about the unique features of Halloween, its origin and evolution, the symbols of celebration by people either in the old time or at present.
2. To stimulate the students to speak English by learning, illustrating and participating in the all kinds of interactive activities on the ways of celebrating Halloween.
3. To cultivate the tolerant and optimistic attitude towards the obstacles and depressive time in the life of study and living abroad
4. To encourage the students to make the most use of their imagination and creative ideas by designing the promotion campaign on the spirits of ghosts in China so that more and more foreigners get to know more about our Chinese traditions when they go abroad for further study.

Time of the campaign: on the afternoon of October 31st
Place of the campaign: the conference room
Participants: all the students and the teachers in the International Department of the school

Preparation for the campaign:
1. To have the conference room decorated with the symbols of lovely Halloween icons by students. The desks are set in three groups in the form of circle with chairs encircled around
2. To hand out reading material related to Halloween before celebration
a. Reading material on the story of trick or treat with mp3 files (BBC)
b. A list of glossary on Halloween so that students are able to take an active part in the interactive activities, such as words competition, telling stories, singing songs, pumpkin lantern making and so on.
3. To have students collect the reading material on Halloween , watch films on Halloween and try making up scary stories by themselves.
4. To have the students learn English song “This is Halloween” a week before Halloween
5. To prepare some small pumpkins, apples, candles and masks.
6. To prepare some riddles
7. To prepare some stationary as the awards for students who made good performance in the campaign

The Schedule of the celebration:
Ⅰ. Brain Storm on Halloween and words competition
Cheer the students up by broadcasting the music and the songs on Halloween, such as “This is Halloween” , “Halloween Parade” ….
1. a quiz on the knowledge of Halloween.
T: What amazing music and songs ! What’s the songs about?
Ss: Halloween
T: Do you know what’s the date for Halloween?
Ss: October 31st
T: In which countries is Halloween the most popular ?
S1: America. S2 Great Britain
T: Since we are not sure which country Halloween originate from, Shall we listen to an audio file and look for the right answer.
(
T: From the passage we heard just now we know Halloween began in Ireland and was spread into America in the 19th century. It has become one of the biggest festivals there.
T: What does Halloween mean? What kind of tradition is it in the heart of the westerners? ( Any different answers by students may be allowed )
S1: It’s said that the dead will come back to the earth and pay a visit to the families.
S2: It’s reported that children would like to knock at the doors in the neighborhood and play the game of “trick or treat”.
S3: People in the western countries like to dress themselves up in fancy dress as ghosts and get some fun from a little bit scare.
T: Yes, Halloween means “All Hallows’ Eve ”, which is a day for remembering the loved ones who had died.

2. Words competition
T: What’s your first feeling when we watch the festival of Halloween? Now shall we have a competition on words of Halloween?
(Cheer you up and give as many words you know as possible. You will be divided into three groups and the one who give the most words will win the word game.)
Ss: horrible , frightened, scary, ghost, witch, goblin, devil, zombie, skeleton…
T: Most of the words you have listed are related to the evil spirits or the dead. Have you found any words which make you feel relaxed on Halloween. ?
S: pumpkin, Jack-o’lantern, trick or treat, candy, cookie, goody…
T: From all the words given by you, Can you guess the what colour is the most suitable for Halloween ? What is the colour stand for ?
S: Black and yellow. Black stand for the dead , the evil spirits and the darkness , while the yellow is related to harvest and autumn.

Ⅱ. The introduction of the origin of Halloween.
1. Telling the story by students
T: You are quite right. Halloween is one of the oldest holidays dating back over 2000years to the time of Celts who lived in Scotland and Ireland. Who would like to tell us about the story on this religious holiday?
Students are encouraged to tell the story of the origin of Halloween in their own words. Then one of the foreign teacher will give the introduction of the origin of Halloween.

2. The introduction of the origin of Halloween given by foreign teachers
(Possible version )
The old Celts, the ancestors of the present-day Irish, Welsh and Scottish people, regarded November1st as Celtic New Year 2000 years ago. And they considered October 31st as the end of autumn and the harvest, the beginning of the bitterly cold winter as well . The old Celts expressed their thanks by killing livestock and cooking food for the celebration of harvest to Apollo, the Sun God, who help people grow crops. They also supposed that the Sun God was captured for six months each year by Samhain, “the Lord of the Dead” or “Prince of the Darkness”, who brought the Celts the bitterly-cold winter and the long darkness. It was also believed by the Celts that on that day the spirits of anyone who had died would come back to life by looking for the living body to possess, walking and mingling with the living body. Nobody wanted to be possessed, so the old Celts baked all day the food they just got in, such as pumpkin, turnip, corn and so on, for the entertainments of the spirits of the dead. They carved scary faces out of turnips, beets, or potatoes and put the lit candle inside as lanterns hoping the spirits would leave peacefully. They decorated the windows of the house with silhouettes (figures) of witches and black cats as well so as not to be injured or possessed by the ghosts. At night they put out all the fire, dressed up in freaky, scary costumes and made a big parade around the village or town in order to disguised themselves as ghosts and frightened the spirits of evil away. They stayed up by playing games of bobbing for apples, until midnight, when they made the bonfire again and let off the fireworks wishing for the happy life of the year.

3. The origin of the modern Halloween tradition of bobbing for apples in water
T: Do you think it interesting to bob for apples? S: omit
T: what do you know you are bobbing for ? S：apples
T: Exactly speaking, you are bobbing for wealth. As is known to all in the Roman Mythology that Romans used to worship Pomona, the goddess of the fruit, who was as plump as an apple and has apple-blossom skin and pip-brown eyes. Pomona is the symbol of abundance and the symbol of Pomona is the apple. When the Romans took over Britain in the first century, they mixed their customs with those of Celts whom they conquered. This is where is the Halloween tradition of bobbing for apples come from.
S: It seems related to the historic events.

Ⅲ. Story telling on the activities of Halloween
1. Carved pumpkins lanterns show
2. Telling the story of “trick or treat” by students
T: Just now we have made some lanterns out of pumpkins, do you know what’s the original lanterns made out of?
S: Maybe no respond
T: Turnips. You may guess Halloween falls at the end of the autumn and the turnips are easy to carve as lanterns.
S1: Why are the lanterns now made of pumpkins?
T: A good question. A famine of potatoes happened in Ireland in the middle of nineteenth century. A lot of Irish have to immigrate to USA for a living. Halloween was taken into the United States and became the main culture of America. in America quite many of the pumpkins are found and easy to carve. So the pumpkin take over the turnips.
T: Can you guess why the pumpkin lanterns are often hung up in the window now ?
Ss: …… ( Students may have various answers )
T: Now the pumpkin lanterns hung up in the window of the house let the children know there’re goodies waiting for them if they knock at the door. As a result, children play the game of “trick or treat” with the hosts and the hostess of the families.
T: What does “ trick or treat” mean?
S: It means giving us a treat or we’ll pay a trick on you.
T：How do the children dress up?
S: They dress up in costumes as pirates, ghosts, princess, and popular hero of the day.
T: What do the master of the family do with the children’s requests?
S: The hosts or the hostess are eager to entertain the children with candies and cookies. They put goodies in the bags carried by children and guess who’s under the masks.
T: Why are the masters of the family eager to entertain the children?
S1: They wouldn’t have their houses got into mess by the tricks of thechildren.
S2：Because they believe that that charity can help their family members who had died go to heaven early and peacefully in stead of wandering about in the air like Jack, a stingy drunkard in the legend.
T: Yes, the legend lies in a traditional European custom called “souling”. “On Souls’ Day” , November 2, given by the Church of Christ in Europe, the poor of the followers of the Christ begged in the remote villages for “Soul Cakes”, made of flour and raisins. It’s believed that the bakery donation pastry and the prayer from the Christians can help the dead beloved in the family soon enter the heaven. Now the religious tradition has evolved into today’s kids’ “ trick or treat” game.

2. Telling the story of Jack o’lantern
T: Who would like to tell us the legend of drunkard Jack and the story of Jack O’Lantern?
S: ( Students may have difficulty in describing the story. So any try by the students should be encouraged)
Possible Version:
Once upon a time, a drunkard named Jack was so stingy that he was not allowed to enter heaven when he died. He also loves playing jokes on devil, Sadan, One day he deceived the devil on the tree and forced the devil into a compact that would spare Jack from going to Hell forever. The devil was so angry about his trick and not allows him into hell. The devil gave him a little ember to help him light the way through darkness. Apparently the ember was put into a pumpkin so as to burn longer. That’s why his spirits of the dead is said to wander about around the street and the field under the guide of the lit candle.

Ⅳ Debate:
(1) What do you think of the jokes or tricks among classmates or friends?
(2) Do you think it acceptable that you are tricked by your friends?
(3) What are the reasonable attitudes towards the laughs or jokes from others?
Affirmative Side: Playing tricks is acceptable.
Reasons:
(1) People may get fun from a little jokes or the tricks
(2) People may be found to be more humorous and outgoing because of a little jokes and tricks each other, which is good for the further communication one another.
(3) People may be found to be more diplomatic and flexible dealing with the various unexpected affairs in daily life if they become used to kinds of tricks and jokes without bad intentions.
……
Negative Side: Playing tricks is unacceptable.
Reasons:
(1) Some unnecessary misunderstandings and conflicts may occur because of jokes and the tricks on purpose, which may cause troubles and bring some disasters to people in the daily life and work.
(2) The tricks at work may hurt the trust among the cooperators; damage the friendship of the team work and strangle the sense of the confidence of the associated people.
(3) The hoaxes or the practical jokes may hurt the feelings of the friends, colleges and the family members, which have bad effect on the human mentality and the social morality.
……

Conclusion: People may make fun from some kind and light-hearted jokes in the daily life. However, playing practical jokes in the life and at work definitely have negative impact on the relationship of the human beings. All of us should take more concerns on the bad consequence of the practical jokes at work.

ⅴ.The introduction of Halloween Parade
1. T: Halloween we talked about just now is related to the religious traditions, full of atmosphere of horror. What else do people do at present to celebrate Halloween?
S: Watching scary movies, telling scary stories, decorating the houses, visiting cemeteries, dressing up in freaky costumes and taking part in Halloween Parade or masquerade parties.
T: What’s the most renowned Halloween Parade?
S: The Halloween Parade held in Greenwich Village in New York in America.
T: There are nearly two million spectators, fifty thousand costumed participants and one hundred million television audience. Do you know why the Halloween Parade is so popular?
S: (Omit) Any reasonable answers given by students are allowed.

2. Watch the video of Halloween Parade

T: Yes, people may want to indulge themselves with an elaborate game of dressing up. People consider the parade a celebration of the individual imagination and they just catch a chance to make their wildest fantasies come true.
T: What’s the theme of the parade?
（Students may be encouraged to use their imagination and give different of the answers with the help of the inspiration from the teacher.）
T: Each year the parade has various themes with the change of reality. For example, a statue of the phoenix was set up in Greenwich Village representing the reborn of New York after a baptism of fire by the terrorist attack happened in 2003.
As the time goes on, Halloween has evolved to be more cheerful and optimistic. It’s been the best time for people to enjoy life and realize their great fantasies and dreams without getting worried about being judged by bizarre and weird on that day. That may be one of the reasons why Halloween is still so popular for hundreds of years.

ⅵ Costumes Show
Have the students make two teams to show their creation of dressing.

Homework:
1. Watch and listen to the special programme on Halloween.

2. Have you found one of the traditions or the festivals in China, which is similar to Halloween? Give the similarities and the differences between the eastern traditions and the western traditions.
3. Will you please find out some shortcomings of the custom and social habits of the tradition if you have found such a kind of tradition which has the same theme of