Празднование Рождества в Великобритании

Ход занятия

1Организационный момент

2. Речевая зарядка.

1. Do you like holidays? What is your favourite holiday? Why?

2. What holidays do you know?

3. What kinds of holidays do you know?(religious, public, national, major, local.)

The British have eight public holidays. They are New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday, Summer Bank Holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day..

3. Определение темы занятия. Исполнение песни « Jingle, bells (1.45min)»

Whatholiday is this song associated with?

Teacher: It`s the most wonderful time. It is the time when many people come together to enjoy each other`s company. It is a magical time for all, but especially for children and the young at heart.

The festival of X-mas is a religious one. The word “holiday” itself derives from the old English word meaning “Holy Day”. X-mas is part of the Christian religion. The X-mas festival celebrates the birth of the Christian “messiah” or “savior”.

The X-mas celebrations have changed considerably over the years. Today we`ll take a look at them.

4. Представление уч-ся своих мини-проектов

• Advent is the official start of the run up to Christmas. Two traditions that have caught on in England are the Advent calendar and the Advent candle. The Advent Calendar originated in the 19th Century in Germany. Advent candle has 25 marks. Every day beginning with December Christians burn one mark of it

Teacher: Christmas trees are an integral part of the X-mas decoration in most British households. It has always been traditional to bring evergreens into the house. The putting up of a tree at X-mas stems from an old pagan ritual of tree worshipping. Some people believed that trees were alive, others considered the tree sacred and divine

• The practice of bringing a tree into the house at X-mas became popular over 2 centuries ago. It first began in Germany and slowly moved to other places. Originally these trees were decorated with candles and later other things were hung on it so as to add more colour. This particular X-MAS TREE IS VERY REALISTIC. It is very “true to life”. From far away it looks like a real tree.

Fairy lights are hung on Christmas trees. They glow and twinkle and create a magical atmosphere. The name “fairy lights” dates back to the late 1800s and became popular after they were used as a stage prop in the opera “Iolanthe”. For the opera, small electric lights were placed on the actors who were playing fairies. The name “fairy lights” stuck and is still used to this very day.

(Did you know that originally candles were used as X-mas decorations?)

Teacher: You need to slowly move around the tree and while doing so you position the lights on the tree. Some people start from the bottom while others prefer to do it from the top. (start at the bottom and lowly work your way up)This action is called hanging or stringing. You are hanging the lights on the tree. You are stringing the lights up. These particular lights are low energy ones. They use very little electricity.

Teacher: HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW IMPORTANT LIGHTS ARE DURING FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS? Even the word ”light” can have a significant meaning. We can “see the light”. If a person suddenly changes his mind about smth or they have a great idea we can say they have seen the light. Something that was unclear before can now be seen vividly and can be understood well. That person has seen the light.

• This shiny material is called tinsel. It is really eye-catching. It really gets your attention. Tinsel adds that all-important sparkle to the tree. Tinsel compliments the lights by shimmering and sparkling.

• You cannot decorate the tree without some nice shiny balls. They are called baubles. A bauble is a glass decoration normally associated with X-mas trees. Originally they were made of glass. These days they are mostly made of plastic so they don`t break so easily as old-fashioned glass ones. The top of the tree is usually decorated with a star or a fairy. The star can of course be used a religious symbol.

• Teacher: So our tree is all decorated and the lights are ready to be switched on. It`s time to turn on the Christmas lights. Shall we have a countdown? OK, everybody together, let`s count down from 10 to 1 (the lights are lit)

• A Christmas wreath hanging on your front door symbolizes a sign of welcome and

long life for all who enter. Because the wreath’s circular shape has no beginning or end, it is said to represent God’s never ending love and infinite presence and also the continual cycle of life.

• HOLLY (Ilex aquifolium)

One popular Christmas greenery is holly, which is a native tree of central and south-

ern Europe. An old legend says that holly grew under the footsteps of Jesus Christ, and

its thorny leaves and red berries symbolize his physical suffering on the cross. This is

why holly is known as ‘Christ’s Thorn’ in some northern European countries.

• Inside the house you will typically find garlands, fake snow, nativity sets, candles and window decorations. The table will be set (probably the only time in the year when the whole family sits down together to eat) with the best table cloth, glasses, crockery and cutlery.

• Christmas cracker is a very British tradition. A X-mas cracker helps to create a festive atmosphere. There are 3 parts in it. Inside the middle part there is a paper hat or a balloon, a plastic toy and also a piece of paper with a joke. And the tradition is that 2 persons will hold the X-mas cracker. They both pull the cracker. It breaks in the middle and the contents of the cracker will fall. Then the person puts the hat on the head, they keep the toy and then read the joke to everybody at table. "What do you get if you cross a sheep with a kangaroo?" "A wooly jumper

1How do snowmen travel around?

-By icicle

2 How does one snowman greet the other one? –ice to meet you

3 What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?

Claustrophobic!

Teacher: Christmas is also known for music and songs sung at this time.

• A song which has been written for X-mas can be called a X-mas carol. The word “carol” is another word for “song” or “chant”. Christmas carols usually have a religious theme. They can also be called ’hymns”. A hymn is any religious song with a religious theme that is sung in church.

• A song “We wish a merry Christmas”( 2minutes)

• The type of food eaten at X-mas is very specific. The main meal is meat and vegetables. The traditional meat eaten is turkey. After the main meal there is normally a sweet or dessert served. It is traditionally X-mas pudding. The Christmas pudding is a rich nutty, fruity food flavoured wih spices and alcohol. It is traditional for everybody in the family to stir the pudding when it’s being made. As they each take a turn to stir, they make a wish. Of course, they mustn’t do it out loud or tell anyone what they wished for, otherwise it won’t come true. There is usually a silver coin inside. The person who finds it will be lucky in the coming year.

• Teacher:By the way, the Ossets also had a similar tradition. They made a cherry pie (балджын) with a coin or a ring inside. The one who finds them will be lucky or get married.

• Then there is a mince pie. After the meal they often eat nuts. There are different types of nuts: walnuts, hazelnuts, almond. After the meal or in the evening they also have a X-mas cake. Inside it there is dried fruit, outside the cake there is white icing. That is to represent snow in fact.

• Candy canes are a symbol of Christmas too. They are usually white with red stripes . They are cinnamon or mint-flavoured .A candy cane has the shape of the letter “J”, symbolizing the name of Jesus.

• And this is a christingle. Christingle means Christ Light. An orange is round like the Earth, the red ribbon is the symbol of Jesus`s blood. There is a candle in the middle. Four sticks point to all 4 directions and symbolize the North, the South, the east and the west.

• There are some fun traditions that go with X-mas. One of them is kissing under the mistletoe. The act of kissing under the mistletoe started off around the 16^th century in England. The real origin of the kissing ritual is unclear, as there are a few possible explanations.

• X-mas time is a fun season for children of all ages because this is the time when Santa Claus Come to visit .He is a jolly gift giver who every Christmas Eve travels all the way from the North Pole on a magic sleigh pulled by flying reindeer to drop off presents for all the good boys and girls around the world. The origin of hanging Christmas stockings comes to us from southern Europe. One legend says that an old man was in despair because he had no money for his daughter’s dowries. St. Nicholas dropped a bag of gold down the chimney, which happened to fall into a stocking hung up to dry.

In Scotland people celebrate New Year on New Year´s Day which on the 1st January.

They call it Hogmanay. There are many customs associated with Hogmanay. The most widespread national custom is the practice of first-footing, which starts immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbour and often involves the giving of symbolic gifts such as a piece of coal, a coin, apiece of bread, intended to bring different kinds of luck to the householder. Traditionally, tall, dark men are preferred as the first-foot.[31]

Teacher:

A song Auld lang Syne (3.45min)

Conclusion: It would be fair to say that the way in which X-mas is viewed and observed has changed a lot over the years. Some people feel that the religious element has almost disappeared. For young people X-mas is about parties and presents. For the older generation the religious theme is still important. These days people have a choice as to how celebrate X-mas.

5. Рефлексия: выполнение уч-ся теста

6.Д/з: презентация о праздновании рождества в России