1 Festivals. The origins of Halloween go back to Celtic times. Halloween 1 Scrivi le parole del riquadro sotto le figure corrispondenti.

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1 1 Festivals Halloween 1 Scrivi le parole del riquadro sotto le figure corrispondenti. ghost lantern vampire witch 1 vampire The origins of Halloween go back to Celtic times. The Celts divided the year into two seasons, summer and winter. They celebrated the end of summer, on 31 st October, with the festival of Samhain. (Samhain means summer s end.) On this day, they believed that the ghosts of the dead came back to earth. The Celts lit fires to frighten the bad spirits away. They danced, ate and drank, and wore costumes usually animal heads and skins. The next day, 1 st November, was the beginning of the cold, dark winter. When England became a Christian country in AD 550, this pagan festival became a Christian festival. On 1 st November, Christians remember all the saints. This day is called All Saints Day. On 2 nd November, All Souls Day, Christians remember all the dead. 2 Leggi il brano e rispondi alle domande. ES 1 Why was 1 st November an important date for Celtic people? 2 What does Samhain mean? 3 When is Halloween? 4 When is All Saints Day? When is All Souls Day? 5 Why do people have lanterns at Halloween? 6 What do people usually give to children at Halloween? The old Samhain (31 st October) was called All Hallow s Eve, the original name for Halloween. People celebrated it in the same way, with costumes and fires, and this tradition still exists today. At Halloween, people make lanterns from pumpkins to keep the bad spirits away. They cut a scary face in the pumpkin and put a candle inside it. Then they leave it in the window or outside their house. Many children go trick or treating at Halloween. They wear costumes (usually something scary: a witch, a ghost, a monster or a vampire) and knock on neighbours doors. When they say, Trick or treat? the neighbours usually give them sweets. light (past lit) accendere frighten spaventare costume maschera / costume skin pelle scary spaventoso trick scherzetto treat dolcetto neighbour vicino di casa 3 Come si festeggia in Italia questo periodo dell anno? Scrivi un breve paragrafo (35 50 parole). Prima di cominciare, What kind of things do you do? Do you wear special clothes? What clothes? Do you have any special games? Do you go trick or treating? Where? What do people give you? Do you have any special food or drink? What do people in your town usually do on 1 st and 2 nd November? 12

2 Festivals 2 Thanksgiving 1 Osserva la figura e rispondi alle domande. 1 What is happening in the picture on the right? 2 When did this event occur? Choose one of the dates / 1621 / Leggi il brano e controlla le risposte. Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the USA, on the fourth Thursday of November. Americans meet up to have a traditional meal with their families and say thank you to God for the good things in their lives. Turkey, pumpkins and corn are traditional foods for the Thanksgiving meal. Pumpkin pie is the most popular traditional dessert. In some American schools, children perform a Thanksgiving play. Read one student s account of a play at her school. My name s Sarah. In my school this year we are doing a play about the first Thanksgiving. There are two groups of characters. The first are Pilgrim settlers in North America. They came from England in 1620 on a ship called the Mayflower. 3 Scegli l alternativa corretta. Life was difficult / easy in that first winter for the English settlers in America. 1 In 1621, the Native Americans helped / didn t help the settlers. 2 The first Thanksgiving celebrations were in 1620 / Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday / Sunday. 4 Americans usually eat chicken / turkey at Thanksgiving. 5 The traditional dessert for Thanksgiving is apple pie / pumpkin pie. When they arrived, life was very hard. They didn t know how to build houses or how to grow food, and many of them died of the cold. However, in the autumn of 1621, thanks to the help of the Native Americans, they had a very successful harvest. Their leader, Governor William Bradford, decided to have a thanksgiving festival with the Native Americans, to thank God for their lives and their health. Governor Bradford asked some of the Pilgrims to hunt for turkey, geese and wild ducks. They celebrated for three days, with a big meal. The second group are the Native Americans. At first the English settlers were afraid of them and they stayed away from them. Then the settlers had a terrible winter, and half of them died, so the Native Americans decided to help them. They shared their food with them and taught them how to hunt. The two groups lived in peace for many years. meet up incontrarsi turkey tacchino corn mais play (n) rappresentazione teatrale / recita settler colono harvest raccolto thanksgiving ringraziamento hunt cacciare geese oche share dividere teach (past taught) insegnare 4 Scrivi un breve paragrafo (35 50 parole) su una festività italiana. Prima di cominciare, When is the festival? Where is it? What is the reason for the celebration? How do people celebrate it? Do they have special food? Do they have special decorations? 13

3 3 Festivals London My name s Jack and I live in Redhill in Surrey. On 31 st December last year I went to London with my parents to celebrate New Year s Eve. We went to see Big Ben, on the River Thames the main river through London. Big Ben is the famous clock and bell tower of the Houses of Parliament. It was amazing. When midnight came, Big Ben struck 12 o clock and everyone cheered and clapped. Then there was an incredible fireworks display over the Thames, near the London Eye. This is the big observation wheel near Big Ben. You can get an amazing view of the whole city from the London Eye. It always looks great at New Year because they illuminate it. New Year 1 Leggi i brani e decidi se le frasi sono True (T) o False (F). Correggi le frasi false. ES K At midnight on 31 st December, people in London watch and listen to the Queen. F They watch and listen to Big Ben. 1 The London Eye is near the River Thames. 2 They illuminate the London Eye every night. 3 About a thousand people go to Times Square every New Year s Eve. 4 The ball starts dropping at midnight. 5 Confetti in English means small pieces of coloured paper. 6 There are New Year fireworks displays in London and Times Square in New York. New York I m Anna and I live in Rhode Island, in the USA. Just before midnight on New Year s Eve, most of the television channels here show the events at Times Square, in the centre of New York. About half a million people go there to celebrate on New Year s Eve. At one minute before midnight, an illuminated ball drops slowly down a flagpole on the roof of a building in Times Square. While the ball drops, everybody counts down to midnight, together. The ball reaches the bottom of the pole at exactly midnight on the count of zero. At that moment, about 2,000 kilos of tiny pieces of coloured paper, called confetti, fall onto the crowd from the rooftops of 11 buildings and the New Year begins. tower torre observation wheel ruota panoramica drop scendere confetti coriandoli rooftop tetto 2 Scrivi un breve paragrafo (35 50 parole) su Capodanno in Italia. Prima di cominciare, What Italian New Year traditions do you know about? What do you and your family usually do on 31 st December and 1 st January? Where do you go? What do you eat? Do people wear any special clothes? What happens in Italy on 6 th January? 14

4 Festivals 4 St Patrick s Day 1 Leggi il brano e rispondi alle domande. ES 1 Why do so many Americans celebrate St Patrick s Day? 2 When is St Patrick s Day? 3 What is the symbol of Ireland? 4 What is a ceilidh? 5 Why is Saint Patrick so important to Ireland? Saint Patrick is very important in the USA Why is this? Well, there are more than 30 million families in America with Irish origins. For this reason, St Patrick s Day, on 17th March, is a popular festival in America. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He died on 17th March. In many cities there is a big parade on St Patrick s Day. People wear shamrocks and paint their faces green. (Green is the national colour of Ireland and the shamrock is the symbol of Ireland.) On St Patrick s Day, many people dye their hair green. In Chicago, they even dye the river green! They also celebrate with green food and drink. In the evening you can often listen to Irish music at a ceilidh, a traditional Irish dance. It s great fun! Who was Saint Patrick? Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the year AD 387. When he was sixteen, pirates kidnapped him and sold him as a slave in Ireland. He was there for about six years and he became very close to God. In a dream, God told him to return to Britain. He escaped and went back home. He then went to France and studied to be a priest. In another dream, the Irish people asked him to come back. In the year 433, he returned to Ireland and he helped to convert the Irish people to Christianity. Dancing at a ceilidh Ascolta e leggi una canzone tradizionale irlandese. parade sfilata dye tinger(si) kidnap rapire close vicino escape fuggire priest sacerdote convert convertire O Danny Boy O Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side. The summer s gone, and all the flowers are dying. Tis you, tis you must go and I must bide. But come ye back when summer s in the meadow Or when the valley s hushed and white with snow. Tis I ll be here in sunshine or in shadow. O Danny boy, O Danny boy, I love you so. 3 Scrivi un breve paragrafo (35 50 parole) su una festività italiana in cui si celebra un santo. Prima di cominciare, prendi degli appunti usando le seguenti domande per aiutarti. ES K What is this saint s day called? When is it? What do you know about the saint? How do you celebrate it? DVD 2 Puoi trovare ulteriori informazioni sulla festa di St Patrick nel Festivals 1 del DVD. 15

5 5 Festivals Independence Day 1 Leggi il brano e scrivi le domande alle risposte. What do people in the USA celebrate on th 4 July? They celebrate their independence from Britain. 1? In ? They represent the number of US states today. 3? They have a barbecue and watch baseball on TV. The USA s national day is 4 th July. People remember what happened on this day in 1776: Congress signed the Declaration of Independence and America became independent from Britain. The US flag is an important symbol of 4 th July. Its nickname is The Stars and Stripes. There are 13 stripes on the American flag. They represent the original 13 states that existed in The 50 stars represent all the states in the USA today. 4? They have huge firework displays. 5? At Nathan s restaurant on Coney Island. 6? 20. 7? $10,000 and Nathan s Mustard Belt. 8? 66. In the morning, there are parades with marching bands in most American towns. There are red, white and blue decorations everywhere the same colours as the American flag. In the afternoon lots of people have a barbecue with their family, and then they watch a baseball game on TV. In the evening there are always huge firework displays. In New York on 4 th July, there is a famous hot dog eating competition. It takes place at Nathan s restaurant on Coney Island. The tradition started in 1916 and now thousands of people go there to watch it every year. Even the Mayor of New York goes! There are always about 20 competitors. They come from all over the world. They have to eat as many hot dogs as they can in 12 minutes. The winner gets $10,000 and the famous yellow belt, called Nathan s Mustard Belt. The world record holder is Joey Chestnut, from California. He s 24, and in 2007 he ate 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes! Ascolta e leggi una canzone patriottica americana. God Bless America While the storm clouds gather far across the sea, Let us swear allegiance to a land that s free. Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. God Bless America, Land that I love. Stand beside her, and guide her Through the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam, God bless America, My home sweet home. sign firmare marching band banda da parata, fanfara huge enorme take place avere luogo Mayor sindaco belt cintura mustard senape record holder chi detiene il titolo 3 Scrivi un breve paragrafo (35 50 parole) su un giorno di festa nazionale in Italia. Prima di cominciare, prendi degli appunti usando le seguenti When is it? What historical event does it celebrate? What do people do on that day? DVD 2 Puoi trovare ulteriori informazioni sulla festa di Independence Day nel Festivals 2 del DVD. 16