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Macmillan Polska 2010

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Teacher’s Notes

St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Committee

by Agnieszka Szeżyńska

Type of activity: individual: matching,

groupwork: speaking

Focus: planning a St. Patrick’s Day city festival
Level/age group: gimnazjum, grade 2

Time: 20-25 min
Preparation: copy one worksheet per student

Procedure:

1. Ask students to work in groups and brainstorm

St. Patrick’s Day symbols. Try to elicit green,

going to pubs, (Guinness) beer, shamrock (or

three-leafed clover), leprechaun, pot of gold

at the end of the rainbow, celtic cross.

2. Ask students if they celebrate St. Patrick’s

Day in any way and if they know how it is

celebrated around the world. Get ideas from

the whole group.

3. Distribute the worksheets and ask students to

try to guess where St. Patrick’s Day is

celebrated in the ways given by completing

the sentences. Allow time to compare in pairs

and check with the whole group.

Key:
In New Zealand people party in the streets from

early afternoon till late at night and everyone

wears something green.
In Manchester, UK, a two-week festival is

organised, including parades, but also cultural

and learning events.
In Chicago, Illinois, USA, the main city river is

coloured green for a few hours.
The biggest parade is organised every year in

New York, NY, USA.
In Rolla, Missouri, USA,the streets in the city

centre are painted green.
In Chicago, Illinois, USA, the city basketball

team wear green shirts during games.
In Savannah, Georgia, USA, the water in the city

centre fountains is coloured green.
In Dublin, Ireland, a 6-day celebration is

organised, with street theatre, music, comedy,

outdoor performances, exhibitions and a street

race.

4. Ask students to work in groups and imagine

they are members of the Warsaw St. Patrick’s

Day Festival organising committe. Draw their

attention to the table in part 2 and say they

need to plan at least one activity within each

space given. Ask them to make use of the

ideas in part 1 and their own ideas. Explain

that money is no issue. Allow time for group

discussion and monitor. (Students could also

do this part as a project, for example preparing

a poster with the festival timetable.)

5. Ask each group in turn to present their festival

and let the class vote for the most interesting

proposal.

(pre-intermediate)