chinese lantern festival - level 3 activities


Level 3: Activity 1

How do customs and traditions begin and why do they continue?

Good times!

Stand the whole class in a big circle and pair up so each student has a partner standing next to them.

Explain that the aim is to get inside the circle and there are only two ways the partners can get inside. One way is to name a celebration and the other is to name something that represents that celebration. The celebration must follow the clue that the teacher gives.

For example, the teacher calls out, "We all have them". The call "birthdays" would get a pair inside the circle and any pair of students following this up with a call like "friends and family" gets in too.

Each celebration call must be followed by a matching call. "Guy Fawkes" for example would get one set of partners in the circle and "late nights" would get another set in.

Before you begin, explain that all the well known celebrations are sure to be used up quickly. Get each pair to come up with all the possible celebrations that could be used as calls. They must remember these, they can't write them down.

Let's celebrate gives you some examples and some clues. Add more to suit the background of your class.

Remind the students that they can't use the same pair twice and begin the game. When everyone is "inside" the circle just keep going until everyone is "outside" again.

High fives

After the game, work together as a class and list all the celebrations you heard called. Decide if the same sorts of celebrations are enjoyed by people in countries all over the world.

List some of the calls that matched these celebrations. Add some more that could have been called. This list should be fairly long. Your pairs can now decide on a "high-five" list of matching themes or elements that are common to almost all celebrations.

Share these "high-five" lists as a class and then decide on the one main element that is common to all celebrations. Perhaps "fun" is that one main element or "friends and whanau", "laughter", "dancing and singing", "yummy food", "presents", "special clothes", or even "late nights".

Discuss: Have celebrations continued today for much the same reasons?

Here's our card

Back in their pairs the students can form a "celebration company". For this they will need a "business card" and it should be A4 size so it can be displayed.

In the centre of the card should be their company's name and logo and these should reflect what the students think is the main element of celebrations. An email address and a mobile phone number should go under the name.

The company's catch phrase should be displayed somewhere on this card and each corner should display a word to reflect celebrations.

Level 3: Activity 2

How celebrations and festivals have come to New Zealand from other places.

Examples:

  • Valentines Day
  • Thanksgiving
  • Children's Day
  • Halloween
  • Guy Fawkes
  • Diwali
  • Christmas
  • Easter
  • Olympic Games
  • Hanukkah
  • Ramadan
  • Dragon Boat Festival
  • White Sunday
  • Highland Games
  • St Patrick's Day
  • Bar and Bat Mitzvah
  • Birthdays
  • Wedding traditions

Celebration in a fact box

Choose some celebrations such as from the list above as well as any more that reflect the cultures of your class and community. Display these on coloured card around a map of the world. Display some library books nearby from the matching countries. You may wish to include the celebration images web links as part of your display.

Discuss in class what a fast fact box is and decide what your celebration ones will need to show. For example: The country of origin, when it began, the time of the year the celebration takes place and some examples of the traditions behind it. Students publish their fast fact boxes and they are displayed around the world map.

Level 3: Activity 3

How the same celebrations can be enjoyed in different ways.

What do we do?

Try this in groups of four. First, choose three or four celebrations and make up recording 'What do we do' grids on A2 sized paper. Other celebrations might be Christmas or Halloween or celebrations specific to the background of your students.

Encourage your students to add all their different ideas to the grid. They might all give and receive Christmas presents for example, in different ways.

One stay three stay

Try this to share ideas. One person from the group stays with their grid while the other three each visit three different groups to listen to their ideas. Come together as a class afterwards and share your findings.

Level 3: Activity 4

How did the customs and traditions of the Lantern Festival begin?

Riddle dee dee

This is one story about how the Lantern Festival began. Become a storyteller and tell it to your class.

Distribute these find out about the Lantern Festival question cards to groups of three. You could add more of your own. The questions should explore the customs and traditions of the Lantern Festival. In their groups the students can discuss the possible answers.

Tell the story again so the groups can focus in on the answers. Each group can discuss the answers again when you finish the story.

Riddles are a very special part of the fun of Lantern Festivals. They hang off lanterns and traditional riddles tested the knowledge of tales and their characters from days long gone by.

Look here for riddle writing hints. Share the step by step information with your class. A data projector would be a useful tool for this.

Groups or individuals now turn the questions on their cards into fun riddles. Share these in class.

As a class discuss the main parts that need to be in a mural that tells the story of the Lantern Festival. Look here again for a good example of a mural. List the ideas on the whiteboard.

While the riddle writers publish their riddles on paper scrolls select a manageable group to draw up the mural. (Tape together about six pieces of cartridge paper first.) When it is all drawn up the class can paint it. Try making the dominant colour red. This is the traditional colour of the Lantern Festival.

Display your riddles around the mural.

Level 3: Activity 5

The Lantern Festival is all about people having fun. What customs and traditions add fun to the Lantern Festivals today?

Publish the mini inquiries below on card and display them as part of your festival corner. Students could choose the card or cards they wish to work on and do so individually or in small groups. Alternatively the students can work online and link straight to the sites they need.

Off line workers will need the research pages either downloaded or printed out.