8th grade. Unit 4. Lesson 1. Time to celebrate!

👉Communicative area: speaking and writing about holidays

👉Active vocabulary: Catholic, to dedicate, harvest, moreover, to observe, on the one hand, on the other hand, Orthodox, public holiday, saint, Thanksgiving, veterans

What date is it today?

Look at the date below. Which way to read it do you prefer?

25 December 2023

A. It is the twenty-fifth of December twenty twenty-three. 

B. It is December the twenty-fifth, two thousand and twenty-three.

What holiday is on 25 December? 

Is it a Catholic or Orthodox holiday? 

Is this day a public holiday in Belarus?

Match the pictures to the holidays and celebrations.

When are these holidays and celebrations observed?

Quiz created by Veronika Bebekh with GoConqr

Read the glossary and make sentences about the holidays. 

observe (v.) – 1. to notice, to see; 2. to watch carefully; 3. to celebrate a holiday or a festival in a traditional way 

dedicate  (v.) – 1. to give completely your energy, time to something; 2. to do something in honour of a person or event

                                                                         

                                                                   in many countries. 

Labour Day                                               annually.

Thanksgiving Day      is dedicated to        a saint.

St Patrick’s Day          is observed             in autumn.

Victory Day                                               Irish culture.

                                                                   the veterans of WWII. 

                                                                         

   Answer the questions.

1. What tense are the sentences in exercise above? 

2. Why is the Passive voice used? 

1. What is the other name for International Workers’ day?  

2. What holiday has its origin in the USA? 

3. What holiday is marked with the parade of war veterans? 

4. What day is the largest summer festival in Belarus? 

5. What day is the global celebration of Irish culture? 

6. What holiday is dedicated to love? 

7. What holidays have different dates for Orthodox and Catholic celebrations? 

8. What religious holiday has a tradition of Egg Hunt? 

9. What holidays are usually celebrated with fireworks? 

10. What holidays are celebrated in summer / autumn / winter / spring? 

11. Which of the holidays above are observed in Belarus? Are they public holidays?

Read the article about Labour Day. Do you agree with the author? How do you celebrate 1 May? 

 

Labour Day isn’t the most popular holiday, but maybe it should be! On the one hand, it doesn’t have the excitement of Christmas, the great fun of Halloween, or the honour of Victory Day. Most people do not really count down the days. On the other hand, there are a lot of things to celebrate about Labour Day! First of all, it’s the People’s Holiday. It’s the holiday dedicated to a regular, go-to-work kind of person. Then, it’s a day off! Moreover it’s a springtime. Labour Day signals the end of cold and the coming of warmer weather. So it may be a great day indeed. 

 And, of course, the best thing about Labour Day is to hang out with friends or family or to have a picnic.

What function do the phrases serve in the text? 

What are the two phrases that introduce two opposite ways of thinking about one situation? 

What are their equivalents in your language? 

Write a paragraph about one of the holidays in the lesson. Use the phrases from exercise above to plan your paragraph.