Festival WebQuests: Christmas

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Christmas is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. How much do you really
know about how Christmas is celebrated around the world? In this month's WebQuest
you will examine famous Christmas traditions and study how Christmas is celebrated in
various countries.

Activity 1: Christmas traditions

Choose one or more of the traditions below and investigate it using the websites
provided. For each tradition complete a note card. (See questions below). You can use the
cards to give an oral presentation or write a composition.

1. Candy canes
2. Christmas cards
3. Christmas trees
4. Poinsettias
5. Santa Claus
6. Christmas carols
7. Christmas stockings
8. Mistletoe and holly
9. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Herbert Hoover Museum: Christmas around the world

http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/christmasworld/intro.html

Soon Online Magazine: Christmas

www.soon.org.uk/christmas.htm

Wilstar: Symbols and Traditions of Christmas

http://wilstar.com/xmas/xmassymb.htm

Note card questions:

 1. What is your tradition called?
2. Describe your tradition.
3. What is the origin of your tradition?
4. When is your tradition held?
5. Where is your tradition held?
6. What is the symbolism behind your tradition?

Activity 2: Christmas around the world: Treasure hunt

Use the following websites ((in addition to other websites provided in this WebQuest) to
find out the answers to the questions below:

Christmas Worldview

www.christmas.com/worldview

Why Christmas?

www.whychristmas.com

Holiday Traditions
www.californiamall.com/holidaytraditions/Home.htm

1. In India, what type of tree is decorated for Christmas?

2. Russians celebrate Christmas eating kutya. What is it and what does it symbolize?
3. Mexicans celebrate Christmas with posadas. What is a posada?
4. In Rome, Italy, capitone is served on Christmas Eve. What is capitone?
5. In Venezuela, people listen to aguinaldos. What are aguinaldos?
6. In Provence, France, people put santons in a crèche. What are santons and what is
a crèche?
7. In Japan, people are visited by Hoteiosho. Who is he, and why is he special?
8. In Greece, people have to protect themselves from Killantzaroi. What are
Killantzaroi and how can you keep them away?
9. Germans call Christmas Eve Dickbauch. Why is Christmas Eve called
Dickbauch?
10. In China, a very important person is named Dun Che Lao Ren. Who is it?

Related Resources
Festival WebQuests: Christmas webquest
 Level: Pre-intermediate, Intermediate, Upper intermediate Type: General lesson
plan

Festivals: Christmas (24th-26th December)

Christmas is celebrated in different ways throughout the world. Often, the way in
which people celebrate Christmas depends upon their family customs or
traditions. In the UK, children in primary schools often perform nativity plays,
which are reproductions or interpretations of the religious story behind Christmas
- the birth of Jesus Christ. The story explains how the Virgin Mary was informed
by the angel Gabriel that she would give birth to Jesus, the son of God. Mary and
her husband, ...

Type: Reference material