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後になって、仲田律子先生がIIEECのサイトでこんなエッセーをお書きになっているのに気づきました。イースターになじみのない日本人に、英語でイースターを説明しています。同様の説明を、わたしも英語の先生から口頭で聞いたことがあるのですが、文字にはなっていなかったので、これは勉強になります。掲載元のサイトはこちらです。
EASTER
Easter will be coming soon, and I am sure many teachers are thinking of the various activities they could do for Easter so that they can share some cultural information about this event to their students.
The date for Easter changes each year as it is based on the Spring Equinox, which is on March 21st this year. Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon that appears after the Spring Equinox. This year Easter will be on April 8th.
I always think of the Easter Bunny that brings Easter (chocolate) eggs in a basket is like a Spring Santa! When I was little, growing up in Los Angeles, a pretty little Easter basket was set by the front door of my house with lots of goodies in it. Of course, the Easter Bunny brought it! We also decorated and dyed eggs in many different colors and designs and hid them so that we could have an egg hunt.
After coming to Japan, I had a big Easter picnic party at a big park for my students. I remember boiling and dye-ing more than 300 eggs for the Easter egg hunt (and practically dying whenever I looked at an egg for several weeks after that!) Those who found special colored eggs (like yellow or green) got extra prizes. You can do a similar game with plastic eggs and fill them with goodies or little items for an extra surprise.
Don’t forget to have the kids tell you where they found the eggs – in, under, on, by, behind, next to, etc. If there’s a prize in the egg, let them tell you what they found –There’s a ~ in my egg. You can also ask them to tell you the color of their eggs – It’s blue, yellow and red, etc. Don’t forget to count how many eggs they found – I found 4 eggs. However, if they already know how to ask and answer, let them do it in pairs. It’s much more fun for them to be able to talk to each other! Always make sure there is some target language in your activities for the students to say.
Eggs represent rebirth and rabbits were chosen as one of the symbols because they can reproduce quickly. Baby chicks are also a symbol of Easter. Well, why not? They come from eggs!
In New York there's the Easter Bonnet Parade, where men and women wear their fancy hats to show off to everyone. Many of them are hand made, some very elegant, others rather strange, and many show off their pets with funny looking hats. To see some pictures of these Easter hats you can go to
http://gonyc.about.com/od/photogalleries/ig/Easter-Parade/index.htmA charming picture book about why the Easter bunny brings the Easter basket is The Story of the Easter Bunny by Katerine Tegen, published by Harper Trophy. I am sure it can be found in major bookstores in Japan.
Some Easter activities were presented at the IIEEC Study Group meetings in Osaka and Fukuoka. Nagoya will have some good ideas to show on March 25th. They will focus on teaching prepositions, so don’t miss their workshop for teaching ideas as well. You will find many more techniques and activities to learn at each meeting. Be sure to come, and don’t forget to bring a friend!
Have a Happy Easter!
