Web Quest Festivals

Web Quest: A Time to Celebrate
What is a tradition?
-The passing down of the beliefs, practices, and customs from the past to the present.
(The Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradition

Tradition
The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language:
Beliefs or customs taught by one generation to the next, often orally. For example, we can speak of the tradition of sending birth announcements.
A set of customs or practices. For example, we can speak of Christmas traditions.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Traditions are…
a way of defining who people are.
something people keep doing for a long time.
ancient.
- long-standing.
great.
essential part of our life because they join different generations together.

Introduction
There are many holidays and celebrations.
Holidays and celebrations are special days for fun and remembering the past.
In this Web Quest you will learn about Halloween, Easter, Christmas as well as other festivals all over the world.

Task
You are working at a popular radio station. You have been commissioned to prepare a radio program about traditional and exotic festivals. It should be both attractive and unusual.
Use this Web Quest to find interesting and important things about festivals.
In your program:
Describe the festival (give some general information, speak about history, decorations, costumes, what happens in the festival nowadays).
Describe what special food is cooked.

Process
Work in groups of 3 or 4.
Choose one of the festivals and complete the tasks:
Halloween
Christmas
Easter
Holi
Notting Hill Carnival

Task 1
Halloween
Use these links to learn more about Halloween:
http://www.pumpkin-carving.com/pumpkin_carving_basic.html
http://www.pumpkinnook.com/facts/jack.htm
http://www.fabulousliving.com/index.php?option=com_resource&controller=article&category_id=273&article=21470
http://www.holidays.net/halloween/trick.htm
http://food.ivillage.com/holiday/halloween/0,,dk9n0x2n,00.html?ivNPA=1&sky=ggl|ivl|fd|halloween|c
Think of the questions and create the Halloween Answer Sheet for the listeners of your program.

http://www.pumpkin-patch.com/facts.html

Task 2
Christmas
Use these links to learn more about Christmas:
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/xmas/decorations.html
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/xmas/dinner.html
http://www.dreamsalivemagazine.com/christmas2003/columns/justforkids/
http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-recipes/christmas-dinner-recipes/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/FAQ/1824 Think of the questions and create the Christmas Answer Sheet for the listeners of your program.

Task 3
Easter
Use these links to learn more about Easter:
http://www.Easterbunnys.net/easterbunnyhistory.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/oh3/page12b/index.html
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/feature/easterindex.html
Think of the questions and create the Easter Answer Sheet for the listeners of your program.

Task 4
Holi
Use these links to learn more about Holi:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
http://www.holifestival.org/holi-festival.html
Think of the questions and create the Holi Answer Sheet for the listeners of your program.

Task 5
Notting Hill Carnival
Use these links to learn more about Notting Hill Carnival:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notting_Hill_Carnival
Think of the questions and create the Notting Hill Carnival Answer Sheet for the listeners of your program.

Final Task
You are on the air now. You have only 3 minutes to present your radio program “Tell me about a Holiday”.
Ask the listeners to answer the questions of created “Quiz”
(Answer Sheet).

Evaluation
Think about your own work in your group.
Look at the chart below and answer the questions giving yourself points from 1 to 5.

Conclusion
Now you have all learned a lot about holidays and traditions. Nice work. You should be proud of yourselves! Now you can use what you’ve learned to make comparisons between different festivals abroad and your own community.
What other festivals could still be explored?
Remember, learning never stops.

Resources
http://abc.ffl.msu.ru/kolesnik/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=0&func=view&catid=2&id=16
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/FAQ/2170
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/FAQ/1824
http://www.topics-mag.com/internatl/holidays/festivals.htm
http://lucymacdonald.typepad.com/positive_perspective_quot/christmas/
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-139938377.html
http://mycrocosmos.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/christian-attitudes-toward-halloween/
http://www.pumpkin-carving.com/pumpkin_carving_basic.html
http://www.pumpkinnook.com/facts/jack.htm
http://www.fabulousliving.com/index.php?option=com_resource&controller=article&category_id=273&article=21470
http://www.holidays.net/halloween/trick.htm
http://food.ivillage.com/holiday/halloween/0,,dk9n0x2n,00.html?ivNPA=1&sky=ggl|ivl|fd|halloween|c
http://www.Easterbunnys.net/easterbunnyhistory.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/oh3/page12b/index.html
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/feature/easterindex.html
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/xmas/
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/xmas/decorations.html
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/xmas/dinner.html
http://www.dreamsalivemagazine.com/christmas2003/columns/justforkids/
http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-recipes/christmas-dinner-recipes/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
http://www.holifestival.org/holi-festival.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notting_Hill_Carnival
http://www.surfin-britain.de/dyn/150728.phtml?SID=Bft6HXIVGtyFwi1nVHo2Yjgvp8vOdQWP