Seasons and Celebrations Stage 2

Before Reading 6 In 1960, Hawaii became the fiftieth state of the

USA.

activities answers
7 Hundreds of years ago, people made jack o’lanterns
Activity 1 before reading
in November to keep the bad spirits away.
Encourage students to speculate and make guesses.
8 At Halloween, children knock on people’s doors and
They will discover as they read that the answers
say ‘trick or treat?’
are: songs, fires, church, flowers, food, soldiers, presents,
9 In 1605, Guy Fawkes tried to kill the King of
cards, parties
England.
Activity 2 before reading 10 People in Britain have bonfires on 5 November.
1T 2F 3T 4F 5T 6F
chApters 8 And 9 while reading

1 In the UK, people are silent for two minutes at

While Reading eleven o’clock on 11 November.
2 Many people wear red paper poppies on
chApters 1 And 2 while reading
Remembrance Day.
1 + d Easter and Christmas are old festivals that 3 In 1915, thousands of young soldiers from Australia
became Christian festivals. and New Zealand died in Turkey.
2 + g At special times like Mother’s Day people often 4 The Pilgrim Fathers were a group of English people
send cards. who sailed to America in 1620.
3 + f In London, a lot of people go to Trafalgar 5 The Wampanoag started living in North America
Square on 31 December in the evening. before the Pilgrim Fathers arrived.
4 + b Auld Lang Syne is a song about old friends. 6 In the USA, Thanksgiving Day is near the end of
5 + e In Scotland, New Year’s Eve is called November.
Hogmanay.
6 + a Things in the shops are cheaper in January chApters 10 And 11 while reading

7 + c When Valentine was in prison, he fell in love. 1 The Notting Hill Carnival is in London at the end
of August. Immigrants from the Caribbean began it
chApter 3 while reading
in the 1960s. About a million people come to see it
1c 2e 3b 4a 5d every year.
chApters 4 And 5 while reading 2 The biggest Chinatown in the USA is in San
1 How . . .? Forty. Francisco. A lot of Chinese immigrants live there.
2 What . . .? Pancakes. 3 Jesus was born about two thousand years ago in
3 What . . .? Eostre. Bethlehem. People remember that special time at
4 Why . . .? Because many animals are born in the Christmas.
spring. 4 At Christmas, people send cards and presents to
5 When . . .? At Easter. their friends and families. They sing carols and put
6 How . . .? For about a hundred years. decorations in their houses.
7 When . . .? On 1 April.
8 Why . . .? Because they saw a TV programme about After Reading
spaghetti trees on 1 April.
Activity 1 after reading
chApters 6 And 7 while reading
Subject: New Year’s Eve Time: 23:30
1 The summer solstice is the longest day of the year.
Date: 31 December
2 The word solstice comes from the Latin word ‘sol’,
Hello from Edinburgh!
which means sun.
There are thousands of people in the streets. Everyone
© Oxford University Press

3 The big stones at Avebury and Stonehenge have been

is singing and dancing. There are a lot of fireworks,
there for about five thousand years.
too. It’s very noisy! In half an hour it will be midnight.
4 The ‘Boston Tea Party’ in 1773 was a fight about
Everyone is excited! Nobody will go to work tomorrow
paying taxes.
– it’s a holiday, and all the banks and shops will be
5 Americans celebrate Independence Day every year
closed. Everyone will stay in bed!
on the Fourth of July.
Bye!
Tim

oxford bookworms library stage 2 69 seasons and celebrations

 Subject: Halloween Time: 19:45 Date: 31 October
Hi!
I’m staying with a family in New York. The children are
having a party tonight. They’ve dressed as witches and
ghosts – they say it keeps the bad spirits away! There are
a lot of decorations in the house, too – they’re black
activities answers

and orange. Outside the door there’s a strange light.

Someone has cut a face in the side of a pumpkin, and
they’ve put a light in it!
See you!
Tania
Activity 2 after reading

T H A N K S G I V I N G
P A N T O M I M E S B E
M R Y F C E A S T E R B
V V A O A P P L E S L O
D E C O R A T I O N S N
E S N L O P U M P K I N
T T I S L P A N C A K E
C H R I S T M A S N E T

SPRING AUTUMN WINTER

Easter Thanksgiving pantomimes
pancake apples Christmas
bonnet pumpkin carols
fools harvest decorations

1 Be my Valentine.
2 In a Valentine’s card, on 14 February.
Activity 3 after reading

The picture goes on page 39.

1 There are two children, some presents and a
Christmas tree.
2 It’s 25 December, Christmas Day.
3 The children are opening their Christmas presents.
4 It’s probably morning. The children are still in their
pyjamas.

Possible captions:
On Christmas morning children open their presents.
Christmas morning is an exciting time.
Children open their presents by the Christmas tree.
Activity 4 after reading

Open answers.
Activity 5 after reading

Open answers.
© Oxford University Press

oxford bookworms library staGe 2 70 seasons and celebrations