chinese lantern festival - level 4 activities


Level 4: Activity 1

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

People hunt

Print off this people hunt and give one to each student.

Students find people in the class who can answer a question in the square. They record the answer and the person's name in the square. It's a good idea to limit the number of squares that can be answered by one person.

Check and share your answers as a class and then list all the people hunt celebrations on the whiteboard. Add any more that the class can come up with.

Same as me?

In groups of three complete the chart Same as me? Share the charts as a class and focus in on the different ways people celebrate the same occasions. Decide on traditions from these celebrations that will never change and ask why this is.

Interview Gran?

Have the students pick two or three celebrations that they know their grandparents or an older friend, will know all about.

The students write some questions for an interview that finds out how their grandparent or older friend celebrated these occasions when they were children.

Talk about interviewing techniques like asking open ended questions - the ones that can't be answered with a simple yes or no. Emphasize the need to ask specifics like "How did your family go about opening presents on Christmas morning?"

Students can later interview their older person and publish it in a "question, answer" format for discussion and display.

Level 4: 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

From around the world

For this activity the students will need to access library books or the internet.

Choose some celebrations from the list above as well as any more that reflect the cultures of your class and community. Print each celebration on a card and put them in a "hat".

Do this individually or in groups of three. Get each group to pick two celebrations from the hat. As a group they carry out a mini inquiry using the learning tool, from around the world. The third row could be completed by the groups choosing a celebration that is not listed.

Level 4: Activity 3

How the same celebrations can be enjoyed in different ways.

Ping pong interviews

The names of four celebrations that New Zealanders enjoy are put into a hat.

Students pair up and decide who will become the interviewer and who will become the interviewee. The teacher draws a celebration from the hat and in two minutes the interviewer must find out all they can about how their partner celebrates this occasion.

After two minutes all interviewers sit at the front of the room armed with their new knowledge while the interviewees become the reporters at a press conference. They have the job of finding out how others in the class celebrate the occasion.

In turn they stand and introduce themselves and the name of their news organisation. E.g. Bob Bugle, New Zealand Herald. They ask their partner a question they should now know the answer too. For example: "Mr. Smiles, could you please explain how my family goes about opening their presents on Christmas morning?"

After the press conference, return to the ping pong interview and draw another card from the hat. This time the partners swap roles.

Students can present their findings and display their inquiry sheets with a photo around the world map. They add string from the countries on their sheets to the ones on the map.

Level 4: Activity 4

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

Last five standing

Review the meaning of the words "customs" and "traditions" with the class and then play "Last five standing".

Everyone stands. Call out a celebration and someone else calls out a matching tradition or custom. If you make a call before anyone else you sit down. So the calls are a celebration and then a tradition. Keep going until there are only five students standing.

Puzzle and predict

Organise these photos for display and discussion either by printing them out or by using a data projector.

Issue each student with a puzzle and predict card which they then use to record their comments on the photos.

Think, pair and share

Students think about their own responses and then pair up and share comments from the cards. Innovative ideas can then be shared as a class.

Custom listening

Tell this story while the students listen for and identify the origins of the customs. Before you begin, discuss these find out about the Lantern Festival questions to add focus to the listening.

Now list the customs that the students identified and discuss how this story says they began.

Here are five Lantern Festival stories. Students can access these sites in groups or you can print the appropriate part out for them. If each group is familiar with one story they can share it with the class and give their reason as to why a particular tradition began.

Show the story

Display this lantern photo from an Auckland Lantern Festival. The lanterns show the geese from one of the Lantern Festival stories.

Have the students design an illustration for a lantern of their own that shows a custom or tradition of the Lantern Festival. Try to cover all the traditions on your list.

Draw the designs on cartridge paper about 15cm wide and 40cm long so they can be made into New Year paper scrolls. Students could use black pastel or crayon with red dye as a background. Red is the traditional colour of the Lantern Festival.

Level 4: Activity 5

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

The Mini Inquiries below could be published on card and displayed 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.

Working online the students can link straight to the sites they need. Off line workers may need the research pages either downloaded or printed out.