Implementation of “Celebrations in Europe” (SOI-TR-341)
Author: Çağla AVCI ESENDEMİR, English Teacher
School/Organization: Edebali Anatolian High School
My learning scenario is an implementation of ‘Celebrations in Europe’ by Tiina Malt. My scenario is aimed at the 10th grade English class in which students have approximately A2-B1 levels. In this original scenario the creator settled the scenario on an interdisciplinary and multicultural basement which helped me re-organize it effectively. In my scenario we enlarged the borders and widened it for all continents. We started with a curious question ‘Do we have the same celebrations in every country in the world?’ Then we read, listen, and watch to learn. We listen to a variety of songs reflecting the celebration mood of different countries and cultures. We prepared and presented presentations about different countries and created a padlet map-formed page on which we have pinned different cultural features (celebrations, festivals, and food/cuisine). The project-based structure of the original scenario also took place in my implemented version as it enables the students to comprehend the varieties and enrichments of the culture itself. My students have worked as groups and conduct collaborative studies as well as individual ones both of which can help learning and producing.
“Festivals and cuisines of the world”
This learning scenario aims to familiarise the students with the festivals and cuisines of the world. Thanks to a variety of visual and video digital material from the Europeana platform, students can have the opportunity to read, watch and learn about the festivals and cuisines.
As an example:https://www.europeana.eu/en/blog/8-things-you-should-know-about-chinese-new-year
They can learn about the process of a festival/cuisine and improve their vocabulary related to the topic. This learning scenario is integrated into the national curriculum of English of 10th grade classes in Turkish schools in connection with the theme named “Food & Festivals”. In this theme students learn and use “Present Simple Passive Voice” to describe actions and talk about the steps of a process related to national and international festivals. At the final part of this learning scenario students are asked for imagining that they are from different countries and describing what are the process and actions of the festivals and cuisine of their imaginary hometowns. Finally, they critically reflect their opinions about each other’s festivals.
Subject: English as a Foreign Language
The age of students: 15-16 years old
The size of the group of participants: 90 students (30 students in three different classes of the same grade)
Here is a brief description of each step of this learning scenario, the implementations are shown for each step.
| Name of activity | Procedure | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Warmer | Students are asked what they know about international festivals andlet them talk about this issue for a couple of minutes. Questions:Do you know any international festivals?Which country’s festival is it?When is it held?How long does it last?What are the main events?What is the special event of it?This quiz can be applied if the students do not have enough information about international festivals. If necessary, questions can be also used during answering the questions.https://create.kahoot.it/details/5f58cb07-3635-46ca-8f21-68f922af3965*** Here we have used a video of the original scenario: https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/exhibitions/celebrations-in-europe#ve-anchor-intro_16824-js | 10 minutes |
| Task1Listening | Students are asked to listen to the video about the Chinese New Year.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhSv7mWanzcIn this video they learn about the origin of an international festival “Chinese New Year” and they can have detailed information of the festival. At the end of the listening, students are asked to do a quiz related to the video.https://create.kahoot.it/details/a66084ab-b6a9-4777-ab92-db4c7b53789b. If necessary, students watch the video again and at the end of the quiz students are asked to explain and check understanding.*** Here we have a class-discussion as int the original learning scenario. | 15 minutes |
| Task 2Reading | First Europeana Platform and its facilities are presented to the students and let them ask their questions/unclear parts about using the platform. After students have the necessary knowledge to use the Europeana platform, they are asked to read the blog page on the Europeanahttps://www.europeana.eu/en/blog/8-things-you-should-know-about-chinese-new-year*** Here we have reading studies as in the original learning scenario. While reading they are asked to find “be-V3” formed verbs in the blog page. A sentence is explained as an example. They are asked to think about the passive sentences and the function of the structure.Now that the students get informed detailly about the festival, let them describe the steps of a process related to the festival and take part in a dialogue about introducing the festival. | 20 minutes |
| Task 3Matching the halves | In this part, students are expected to study the passive sentences from the text. Their attention is drawn on how these sentences are formed, and they are encouraged to think both the use and usage of passive form. Students are asked to match the two halves to make meaningful sentences as a group work.*** Here we have worked in groups as in the original learning scenario. This task aims to help them to practise passive sentences. Suitable amount of time is given to complete the activity and finally the answers are checked orally. | 20 minutes |
| Task 4Your festival? | At the final part of this learning scenario students are asked to imagine that they are from different countries and describe what are the process and actions of their national countries’ festivals. To minimise the inhibition, students are encouraged to use nicknames. Finally, they critically reflect their opinions about each other’s festivals.They use the Padlet page- Map of the World- during the task to describe different festivals/celebrations and/or food/cuisine all around the world.https://padlet.com/caglaavci86/festivals-and-food-all-around-the-world-ormhaomlis8he3q7At the final step the students shared their presentations with their classmates orally, visually and a google drive link was given to upload their own presentations and can examine the other’s works detailly. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FFdL3uhdz96RVDkXUg-8F9hFkxRmHjCT*** Here we have presentations of the original learning scenario. | 20minutes |
Learning outcomes for the students/learners
The main learning outcomes of this learning scenarios are;
*Using the aimed vocabulary passively (comprehension) and actively (performance/production)
*Producing sentences in the passive voice
* Having knowledge about the cultures of the world and sharing their ideas on the subject (discussion)
* Working collaboratively and individually as well.
*Doing research on a topic and preparing presentations.
At the final part of this learning scenario students are asked to imagine that they are from different countries and describe the process and actions of their national countries’ festivals. Finally, they critically reflect their opinions about each other’s festivals.
They use the Padlet page- Map of the World- during the task to describe different festivals/celebrations and/or food/cuisine all around the world.
https://padlet.com/caglaavci86/festivals-and-food-all-around-the-world-ormhaomlis8he3q7
At the final step the students shared their presentations with their classmates orally, visually and a google drive link was given to upload their own presentations and can examine the other’s works detailly.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FFdL3uhdz96RVDkXUg-8F9hFkxRmHjCT
An excellent source for language learning: Europeana
Authentic materials related to school subjects can be seen as the most impressive feature of Europeana resources. Their lavishness of written and visual documents arouses the interest of my students. Therefore, students can experience the usage of English with real world documents. The students are focusing on the curious world of Europeana and using their language skills unintentionally. This way of language learning and practising decreases the stress and inhibition of the learner and helps creating a learner friendly environment in which the learners can use the language with less stress and pressure. In my Europeana, whatever the content is, this learner friendly is the most valuable part. Whilst learning and practising the language, the resources of Europeana are unique. For instance, for this learning scenario my students not only engaged in English but also grasping the diversity of the cultures form the world.
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? Implementation of ‘Celebrations in Europe’ (EN-CUR-481) created by Tiina Malt
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? You might also like:
- Festivals in March: Saint Patrick’s Day (LS-RO-66) implemented by Emilia Marina Alexe
- We wear culture! (LS-PL-111) implemented by Elżbieta Pryłowska – Nowak
- Easter is here! Let’s decorate some eggs! (EN-CUR-649) implemented by Aikaterini Spitsa
Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.
CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Helsingin kaupunginmuseo.