(A party)
Teacher: There are many countries on our planet,
"Every country has its traditions and customs", says the English
proverb. When we talk about English or British traditions, we go back into
depth of the history, when neither England nor Britain existed as a national or
geographical unit. Traditional holidays reflect the historical past of the
country.
Today we'll speak about, one of the
holidays celebrated by British and American children. It's Halloween."
Pupil 1: Halloween means "holy evening"
and takes place on October, 31. Although it is a much more important festival
in the United States than Britain, it is celebrated by many people in the UK.
It is particularly connected with witches and ghosts.
At parties people dress up in strange
costumes and pretend they are witches. They cut horrible faces in potatoes and
other vegetables and put a candle inside, which shines through the eyes. People
may play difficult games such as trying to eat an apple from a bucket of water
without using their hands.
Pupil 2: In recent years children dressed in white sheets knock on doors at
Halloween and ask if you would like a trick, or a treat. If you give them
something nice, a treat, they go away. However, if you don't, they play a trick
on you, such as making a lot of noise or spilling flour on your front doorstep!
Pupil 3: The story of Halloween goes all the way
back to ancient times. For the Celts who lived in Britain and Ireland at that
time, New Year began on November. The night before, a festival was held to mark
the change from summer to winter.
Pupil 4: It is said that Halloween is the
children’s New Year’s Eve. They dress up with special costumes; they eat too
much, and stay up too late celebrating.
Children go around the neighbourhood
wearing make-up, and dressed in masks and colourful costumes. The most common costumes are witches,
ghosts, skeletons and popular TV, movie and storybook characters. Some costumes
are homemade; others are bought in stores.
Pupil 6: Homes, stores and classrooms are decorated
in the traditional Halloween colours, orange and black. Usual deco-rations are
witches, black cats, ghosts, skeletons and jack-o-lanterns, pumpkins that are
carved to look like faces. They are placed on doorway entrance and in windows.
Horror movies and ghost stories are shown on TV on this day.
Pupil 7: Now, answer these questions:
What holiday do English and American children
celebrate on October, 31?
(Halloween)
When do children usually begin to prepare for
Halloween?
(In the evening)
What is ‘jack-o-lantern’?
(A pumpkin)
What is there in the pumpkin?
(A candle)
Where do children put jack-o-lanterns?
(At the door, in the garden, on the
windows)
What costumes and masks are popular on
Halloween day?
(Witches, ghosts, monsters, skeletons,
devils, black cats)
What are the colours of Halloween?
(Orange and black)
What are the decorations of Halloween?
(Witches, ghosts, monsters, skeletons, jack-o-lanterns)
Pupil 8: To the Celts Jack-o-Lantern was the spirit of the
pumpkin. They carved a pleasant looking pumpkin.
They carved a pleasant-looking pumpkin face to show Jack as a good
spirit
not a nasty one.
not a nasty one.
The Irish claim that Jack-o-Lantern was a person who couldn't get into heaven
because he was too stingy. But
the devil didn't want him, either.
So ever since, he's had to
wander about earning a lantern.
The Irish had no pumpkin, so they used to make Jack-o-Lanterns from turnips and potatoes.
Teacher: Does anybody know how to make
Jack-o-Lantern?
Pupil 9: No problem. You need a large pumpkin and
a knife.
Cut off a piece of your pumpkin from the top. Then take
out what is inside with a knife and a big spoon. Then you cut out the eyes,
nose and a mouth and after all put a
candle inside the lantern. Look you can see the candlelight through the eyes,
nose and mouth. Please, look how some English children are making their
jack-o-lantern.
(A short play)
Characters:
Kate
Meg
Nelly
Mary
Tom
Kate: My name is Kate. I live in a small English town. I
have many friends. We like to celebrate Halloween. We celebrate this holiday
every year. We always prepare for Halloween beforehand. Oh, I see my friend.
Her name is Meg. Meg, come here, please!
Meg: Hello, Kate. Glad to see you.
Kate: So, am I. Where
are you going?
Meg: I'm going to visit our friend Nelly. We’ll prepare for
Halloween. Let's go together.
Kate: With pleasure.
(They are going to Nelly's house.)
Meg: (knocking at the door) Nelly, open the door!
Nelly: Who is that? Oh, hello, my friends. Come in, please.
Meg and Kate: Hello, Nelly. How are you?
Nelly: Fine, thank you. And what about you?
Meg and Kate: O.K.
Kate:
Are these kids your guests, Nelly? I don't know them. Who
are they?
Nelly: They are my cousins. It's Mary. She is a very kind and
pretty girl. And this boy is her brother Tom. These are my friends. Their names
are Meg and Kate.
Mary and Tom: Glad to meet you.
Meg: Where do you live?
Tom: We live in the village.
Kate: Do you like to celebrate Halloween?
Mary: Of course. We always make Jack-o-Lantern. It's so
interesting.
Nelly: Let's make Jack-o-Lantern together.
Children: Great!
Nelly: I’ve got a nice pumpkin. Look! It's round and yellow.
Tom, go to the kitchen and bring a knife, please.
Tom: All right. We’ve got a knife.
Kate: I want to carve the eyes. Tom, give me the knife,
please.
Tom: Here are you are. I can help you.
Mary: May I carve
a nose?
Tom: Of course. Take the knife, please.
Meg: Our Jack-o-Lantern needs a mouth. May I carve it?
Nelly: Yes, you may.
Kate: What a nice Jack-o-Lantern we’ve got!
Tom: Very nice!
Mary: But I think it would be better with hair.
Kate: You are mistaken, Mary. Jack-o-Lantern is a symbol of
the human skull. Have you ever seen the skull with hair?
Mary: You are right, Kate.
Nelly: Our Jack-o-Lantern isn't ready.
Tom: Why?
Nelly: We must put a candle into the pumpkin.
Kate: Yes, of course. The candle will shine through the
eyes. Mary: Where can
we put our pumpkin?
Kate: We can put it in the garden, at the outdoor entrance,
on the window-sill.
Tom:
Let's put it in the garden.
Teacher: Oh, it’s lovely! Thank you! Let’s play a game. You must change the last
word of the first line.
In the dart dark wood, there is a dark,
dark house, (Jack-o-Lantern; castle; monster; etc.)
And in the dark, dark house, there is a
dark, dark room;
And in that dark, dark room, there is a
dark, dark cupboard.
And in that dark, dark cupboard, there is
a dark, dark shelf;
And on that dark, dark shelf, there is a
dark, dark box;
And in that dark, dark box there is…
‘A GHOST’!
Pupil 10: In Europe a few hundred years ago there were people
who called themselves witches. They worshiped the devil the way most people
worshiped a god. They claimed they could perform magic. The witches held large
meetings. There they gathered around a big fire where they cooked up magical
potions. Some of these were drugs the witches drank. There were also brooms
near the fire to sweep it clean. Witches used magic to fly about on
broom-sticks.
Pupil 11: This is the night of Halloween
When all the witches must be seen.
Some of them black,
some of them green.
Some of them like a
turkey bean.
Witch 1: The sky is blue, the sky is green.
Have you got a penny
for Halloween,
Halloween,
Halloween?
Ghosts and witches can
be seen.
Trick or treat trick or treat!
Give us something good
to eat.
Witch 2: The
witch told her daughter
To fetch her some
water.
To pick quick some
nettle.
To put it in the kettle.
Then to catch some
flies and fleas
And boil them tender
with green peas.
(The two witches are dancing and singing a song.)
Looby–Loo
Here we dance Looby-Loo
Here we dance Looby-Light
Here we dance Looby-Loo
All on a Saturday
night.
You put your right hand in
You take your right hand out,
You give your hand a shake, shake, shake
And turn yourself around. OH!
You put your left hand in
You take your left hand out
You give your hand a shake, shake, shake
Turn yourself around. OH!
You put your body in,
You take your body out
You give your body a shake, shake, shake
And turn yourself around. OH!
Pupil
12: Nothing is scarier that
a spooky tale read aloud on Halloween
night. Listen to the poem that will
send shivers down your spine.
The Moon
(By Robert Louis Stevenson)
The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;
She shines on thieves on the garden wall,
On streets and fields and harbor quays,
And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.
The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,
The howling dog by the door of the house.
The bat that lies
in bed at noon,
All love to be out by the light of the moon.
(Children are singing a song.)
It’s Halloween, the night is dark
The moon is in the sky.
We’re going to play ‘trick or treat’
Wait! Did you hear a cry?
What was that? Did something move?
Perhaps it’s just a dog
But can’t you see two yellow eyes
Shining through the fog?
Shut the door and lock it too
Close the windows tight
It’s Halloween, it’s cold and dark
We’re staying in tonight.
Teacher: Why do
people wear spooky costumes on Halloween?
Pupil 13: The custom of wearing spooky costumes on Halloween began with a group of Irish Celts called Druids. The Irish believed that evil spirit roamed about the
earth on Halloween. The Druids
wanted to fool the evil spirits into thinking that they were spirits, too. So they dressed as
ghosts and goblins.
October
(John Updike)
The month is amber
Cold and brown,
Blue ghosts of smoke
Float through the town
Frost bites the lawn.
The stars are slits
In a black cat's eye
Before
she spits
Great V's of geese
Honk overhead
And maples turn
fiery
red.
At last small witches.
Goblins hang
And pirates armed
With paper bags.
Their costumes hinged
On safety pins.
Go haunt at night
Of pumpkin grin.
Halloween Game
You'll need a large space for this game and again, six people or more. Pick a
"ghost hunter' and blindfold
him or her. The other players or
"ghosts" circle around the ghost hunter who must try to catch one of them. When someone
is caught they must wail and moan in as ghostly a way as possible and the ghost hunter must guess who it is. If the ghost hunter guesses correctly he or she can change places with the
ghost they caught. If not, the
ghost goes free and the ghost hunter must try again.
Fortune telling
Peel an apple. The peel must be one long piece. Throw the peel
over your shoulder. Can you see the shape of a letter? It shows the first
letter of the name of the person you will
marry!
Snap Apple
Hang apples on pieces of string. Players try to catch an apple with their teeth.
Bob Apple
To play this traditional Hallowee game
you need a large bowl and some apples. Fill the bowl with water and put apples
in the water. Players put their hands behind their backs. They must try to pick
up an apple with their teeth.
Teacher: OK! You've shown your talents today. Do
you know the way to deceive the evil spirits?
Pupils: Yes!!! Just to sing the song "A Magic
Chant"!
(Children sing the song using the melody of the Ukrainian song «із сиром пироги».)
If in the dark you're frightened.
Here's all you have to do.
Say: Igga, bigga,
Hunka bimka,
Dinka danka doo.
These words give you protection
From ghosts and witches, too.
Say: Igga, bigga,
Hunka bunka,
So if at night a
monster
Should whisper, "I’ll get you,"
Yell: Igga, bigga,
Hunka bunka,
Dinka danka doo.
(All witches are running away.)
Pupil 14: Stop! Dear witches! It was a joke. You're
not as horrible as you're drawn.
Thank you very much for the
information you're given to us.
Now let's make evil spirits go away!
Pupils: A Happy Halloween Day!
Evil spirits go away!
(All pupils are dancing, singing, running
and shouting "Happy
Halloween!!!")
