7/3/2012 presentation

1. Learning Through Celebration
St. Patrick's Day and April Fools Day
By Walter Steele

2. Objectives
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17107435
 Go over the history of Saint Patrick's Day and
April Fools Day
 Discuss how the two are celebrated in the United
States
 Group work
 In groups of three design a lesson plan from the
material presented in class
 Class critique
 Groups will present their material to the class to
share their ideas and receive feedback on the
strengths and weaknesses of their lesson plan

3. History of Saint Patrick's Day
 Celebrated on March 17th
 On this day in 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, dies at
Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.
 Who is Saint Patrick?
 Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland
 Captured and enslaved at age 16 by Irish
marauders
 Had dream, in which an individual named
Victoricus gave him a letter, entitled "The Voice of
the Irish." As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the
voices of Irishmen pleading him to return to their
country and walk among them once more

4. History of Saint Patrick's Day
 Said to have baptized hundreds of people on a
single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover--
the famous shamrock--to describe the Holy Trinity
 In art, he is often portrayed trampling on
snakes, in accordance with the belief that he
drove those reptiles out of Ireland – this is
thought to represent
St Patrick’s ridding Ireland of the
druids.
 For thousands of years, the Irish have
observed the day of Saint Patrick's death
as a religious holiday

5. History of Saint Patrick's Day
 Corn Beef and Cabbage!
A traditional Irish dish?
 No! It’s an Irish
American dish!
 Boiled Bacon and
potatoes is a traditional
Irish dish
 Literature
 http://www.history.com/this
-day-in-history/saint-
patrick-dies
 Video:
 http://www.history.com/topi
cs/st-patricks-
day/videos#corned-beef-
cabbage

7. Photos
Chicago River

8. St. Patrick's Day and the United
States

9. History of April Fools Day
 On April 1st 1700 English pranksters begin
popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools
Day by playing practical jokes on each other.
 Its exact origin remain a mystery
 Historian’s speculate
 1582 when France switched from the Julian
calendar to the Gregorian calendar, people who
were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that
the start of the new year had moved to January
1st, and continued to celebrate it during the last
week of March through April 1st became the butt of
jokes and hoaxes.

11. Methodology
Introduce the topic. Allow students to imagine/predict what they are going to do. Familiarize
the students with the topic and vocabulary.
Pre (2-3 exercises)
The lesson objective:
listening, speaking, reading, writing, gr During (2 exercises) Doing the activity that focus’s on what you’re trying to teach (i.e. speaking, listen, exc.)
ammar (only focus on one)
Post (2-3 exercises)
Reinforce what the students just learned

12. Pre-Activity Ideas
Pre Listening
Predict/ Compare/
Vocabulary Perception
Anticipate Contrast
Visuals (with Brainstorming, sil
Identify stress of
concrete ent Charts, Venn
words, pronuncia
words), sentence viewing, discussi diagrams
with context tion
on
(abstract
words), matching
exercises, definition
s, clustering

13. During Activities
 Remember, the during activity depends on what
you are trying to teach. It is the action of doing
either listening, speaking, reading, writing, or
grammar.

14. Post Activity Ideas
Category Activity
 Social meaning  Group
discussion, comparing
countries
 Comprehension  Role
play, dialogues, parap
hrasing, summarizing
(oral)
 Spin off
 Readings, presentatio
Remember, the purpose of the post activity is to personalize and reinforce
ns, questionnaires
what the student just learned.

15. Critiquing
 Rate each question from 1 (no/very poor)-10
(yes/very well)
 Were the instructions clear?
 Was the objective of the activity clear?
 Would you find it interesting to do as a student?
 Comments:
 What do you like and dislike about the activity?