Student’s Worksheet

MACMILLAN EASTER LESSON

SZKOŁY PONADGIMNAZJALNE

©

Macmillan Polska 2009

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Easter in Australia

Easter in Australia is also celebrated
in March and April but, unlike in
European countries, it is autumn
at that time in Australia. Australian
Easter contains elements of
Christianity so people attend
church services. However, they
treat it as a holiday break and they
go camping with their families or
friends. Australia is a land of Aborigines and exotic animal species. There
are some customs very specific only to Australia. One of them is an
Easter Bilby which delivers chocolate eggs to children on Easter Sunday
morning. It is a small Australian animal with a rabbit-like ears and a long
nose which is an endangered native species. Since rabbits have bad
reputation in Australia because they damage agriculture crops, Australians
decided to replace the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby. Like in
European countries, Australians eat hot cross buns on Good Friday to
remember Jesus dying on the cross. In most countries hot buns are
traditionally eaten on Good Friday. It is a bit different in Australia where
you can buy them in shops and bakeries even weeks before Easter. At
Easter Australians like playing a game called Egg Knocking game. The
rule of the game is to choose a partner and an egg. Next they tap their
partner’s egg with their own egg. The very first egg that cracks means
losing. The winner chooses another egg and another partner. The
procedure is repeated until all eggs are cracked.

Student’s Worksheet

MACMILLAN EASTER LESSON

SZKOŁY PONADGIMNAZJALNE

©

Macmillan Polska 2009

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Easter in Canada

Easter is an important festival in Canada.
Canadians follow the tradition of egg
decorating and egg hunting. You can also
find lots of Easter Bunnies and Easter
lilies around. Eggs are mainly decorated
by children at schools. Egg hunting
follows the same tradition like in other
countries. In the very morning children
wake up and start looking for eggs inside the house and even outside. It
is forbidden to eat too many eggs during the Lent but after fasting
Canadians eat lots of eggs with a maple syrup. That combination of eggs
and maple syrup is very specific to Canada. Easter is a time of feasts and
family gatherings. Similarly to European countries, Canadians prepare
Easter baskets and eggs. What is quite unique they hand in their baskets
and eggs to people they like very much. One of the main events of the
Easter fest in Canada is called the Winter Carnival. This carnival is
organised and held in the Quebec City. This is a big carnival parade
accompanied by sporting events such as tobogganing, skiing, and skating.
It is worth mentioning that Canada is the place where the biggest Easter
Egg has ever been created.

Student’s Worksheet

MACMILLAN EASTER LESSON

SZKOŁY PONADGIMNAZJALNE

©

Macmillan Polska 2009

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Easter in England

Easter is one of the major festivals in
England. You can find a lot of Chocolate
Eggs, Easter Bunny, Easter lilies and
coloured eggs. Eggs are very important
at Easter time. People in England play a
game called Easter Egg Roll. The rule of
the game is to roll an egg down the hill
without breaking it. The winner is the
person who rolls the egg the longest
distance without breaking it. In England
people attending church services wear their best clothes during these
days. Colourful Easter bonnets full of flowers are very specific to English
people. Churches are always decorated with lovely lilies which are
symbols of resurrection and new life. The major day of Easter time is
Easter Sunday when people follow tradition and eat eggs. A very typical
custom is egg hunting. English children look for dyed eggs hidden
somewhere inside or outside their houses. There is also one more typically
British custom held on Easter Sunday. Dancers called Morris dancers
perform old springtime dances. These performances are believed to
protect people against bad spirits and evil.

Student’s Worksheet

MACMILLAN EASTER LESSON

SZKOŁY PONADGIMNAZJALNE

©

Macmillan Polska 2009

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Easter in Mexico

Easter in Mexico combines elements of
Christianity and tradition of native
Indians. That is the reason why it differs
a lot from the Easter tradition in European
countries. It is hard to find Easter baskets,
coloured eggs or Easter Bunny in Mexico.
Most of the pupils and students have a
spring holiday break. Primary school
pupils and high school students take a
two-week holiday and university students
get usually a one-week break. People
take time off work so most offices and
banks are closed during these days. Similarly to our tradition, on Palm
Sunday Mexicans carry palms to churches. They can buy palms outside
the churches and they are let into the church only with a palm in their
hands. After the mass they hang the palms on their houses’ doors. It is
believed that they protect them from bad spirits and evil. One of the
traditions specific to Mexico is ‘burning a Judas’. It is still a very popular
but totally unsafe event. The dummy of Judas usually looks like a
contemporary person and resembles one of the unpopular politicians.
The dummy is filled with firecrackers so burning it always ends with a
huge explosion. In the 1960s the tradition was prohibited because of
many people dying in huge explosions. However, some Mexican inhabitants
especially in rural areas still celebrate this tradition and still burn the
dummy of Judas.

Student’s Worksheet

MACMILLAN EASTER LESSON

SZKOŁY PONADGIMNAZJALNE

Question Sheets Part A

1 Why do people in England perform special spring dances at Easter?

2 Why doesn’t the Easter Bunny bring chocolate eggs in Australia?

3 What do people in Canada eat eggs with?

4 Why is it forbidden to follow the Mexican tradition of burning Judas?

Question Sheets Part B

1 Easter is celebrated in Australia

a) in spring

b) in autumn

c) in winter

2 The winter carnival in Canada includes

a) skiing and skating

b) skiing, skating and tobogganing

c) skiing, ski jumping and tobogganing

3 People in England play a game called

a) Ester Egg Hunt

b) Egg Knocking Game

c) Easter Egg Roll

4 The dummy of Judas is filled with

a) chocolate eggs

b) old clothes

c) fireworks

5 Canadians hand in their Easter baskets to

a) their family members

b) somebody they like

c) somebody who lives next door

6 When English people play the Easter Egg Roll game they

a) roll the egg along the street

b) roll the egg up the hill

c) roll the egg down the hill

7 Easter Bilby is

a) a small rabbit

b) a small animal looking like a rabbit

c) a small endangered animal damaging the agriculture crops

8 After the church service on Palm Sunday, Mexicans hang their palms

a) on their house’s doors

b) on their neighbours’ doors

c) on the church’s doors

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Teacher’s Notes

MACMILLAN EASTER LESSON l by Iwona Wojsznisz-Gruszka

SZKOŁY PONADGIMNAZJALNE

Type of school: High school

Title of activity: Easter class

Objective of the class – get familiar with various

traditions of Easter around the world

Focus: Culture – Easter customs and traditions

Level/age group: Pre-intermediate

Time: 45 minutes

Practise skills: speaking, reading

Students work in: pairs, mini-groups, as a whole

group

Preparation

:

• (Optional) bring some objects reminding about

Easter e.g. basket, chocolate eggs, Easter

Rabbit, palm, Easter cards

• copy Question Sheets Part A and Part B for

every student in the classroom

• need a Blu-Tak or other self-adhesive tape

• if possible, bring pictures of colourful flags of

ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, and MEXICO

Warm-up

Bring some realia reminding about Easter time

e.g. basket, chocolate eggs, Easter Rabbit, palm,

Easter cards, dyed/coloured eggs etc. Ask your

students to look at them and think of their last

Easter. Tell them to work in pairs and talk about

their last Easter time in simple past. (Where did

they celebrate? What did they do?) Walk and

monitor. As a warm-up, the aim of this stage is

to make students talk freely so do not correct

them too much. Try to help them with grammar

discreetly and encourage them to take part in

this activity.

Introduction

Tell students to count from 1 to 4. When they

finish, tell them to form 4 mini-groups: number

1s sit together, number 2s sit together, number

3s sit together and number 4s sit together. Write

down ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, and

MEXICO on the greenboard (whiteboard) or if you

have a colourful flags of these countries stick

them onto the board. Tell each group to choose

one of the countries and brainstorm ideas how

the chosen country celebrates Easter time. Tell

the group to appoint a secretary who will write

down their ideas on a separate sheet of paper.

Set a time limit e.g. 4 minutes. Walk and

monitor. Help students with unknown vocabulary.

If necessary give them some clues. After the

time limit tell the groups to pass their sheet of

paper to another group on their left to

supplement them. Repeat the procedure three

times. All groups had a chance to speculate on

four countries: ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA, CANADA,

and MEXICO. The aim of this activity is to prepare

students for the reading activity.

Practise

While students are brainstorming and discussing

in their mini-groups, walk around the classroom

and stick four A4-size sheets with a Blue-Tak or

other self-adhesive tape to four different walls

in the classroom. They would look like paintings

hanging on the walls in the art gallery.

Distribute Question Sheets Part A to students and

ask them to walk around the classroom and find

the answers for the questions individually. Tell

them to image they are in the art gallery and

unfortunately the gallery closes in 5 minutes.

They should scan the texts quickly without

paying attention to details.

©

Macmillan Polska 2009

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Teacher’s Notes

MACMILLAN EASTER LESSON l by Iwona Wojsznisz-Gruszka

SZKOŁY PONADGIMNAZJALNE

After 5 minutes ask students to tell you answers

to the questions given.

Then distribute Question Sheets Part B with more

detailed questions. Go through the questions

with the students. Explain any unknown words.

Ask them to walk around the classroom and read

the texts about Easter customs abroad

individually. The aim of this activity is to find

answers for the detailed questions so students

should read the texts carefully. The texts

shouldn’t be difficult for the students. The “idea

of visiting an art gallery” gives everybody

freedom with reading pace and works perfectly

in case of kinaesthetic students. Moreover,

movement is involved so students do not get

bored with the reading activity. Set the time

limit adjusting to your students’ ability to read

in English. After the set time ask students to sit

down and compare answers with their partners

without any corrections. Then check the answers

with the whole class together.

Production

When you finish with questionnaire write down a

sentence on the green board (white board)

What similarities and differences are there

between Easter customs in Poland and in

ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, and MEXICO?

Encourage students to give ideas and discuss the

topic in a big group. To support students, you

can ask them if they visited the countries during

Easter time and if yes, ask them to talk about

their own personal observations. The aim of this

activity is to check whether the students

understood and got familiar with customs

abroad.

Follow-up / Homework

As a follow-up activity (or homework) ask

students to prepare their own crosswords with

words given by you on the board. For the

crossword select the most characteristic words

for Easter in ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, and

MEXICO. If your students are keen on the Internet

you might ask them to select a country and read

about Easter customs and traditions. As a next

class warm-up you might ask every student or

voluntary students to tell briefly what they found

out about Easter tradition abroad on the

Internet.

Answers

Question Sheets Part A

1 They believe the dances will protect them

against bad spirits and evil.

2 Rabbits in Canada damage agriculture crops

so that is why they have exchanged the Easter

Bunny with the Easter Bilby.

3 Canadians eat eggs with maple syrup.

4 It is forbidden to organize burning of the

Judas because of the risk of huge explosions.

Question Sheets Part B

1b

5b

2b

6c

3c

7b

4c

8a

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