Chinese New Year EXTENSION

CHINESE NEW YEAR

Drums, dancing lions and dragons, plus whizzing, fizzing fireworks – Chinese New Year is a really big party!

Known in China as Spring Festival, Chinese New Year is the most important Chinese festival. Lion dancing for Chinese New Year

When is it? The date of Chinese New Year changes from year to year, but it mostly falls on the day of the second full moon after midwinter.

Midwinter is the day with the fewest hours of daylight in the year. In 2017 Chinese New Year is on January 28th. New Year lantern decorations

Who celebrates Chinese New Year? In China, more than a billion people celebrate the start of the New Year. It’s holiday time for everyone.

The start of the Chinese calendar is also celebrated in Chinese communities all round the world, including in the USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia Fireworks over Hong Kong city and the UK.

The year of the rooster In the Chinese calendar, each year is linked to a different sign of the Chinese zodiac. There are 12 signs of the zodiac, all of which are animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The year 2017 is the year of the rooster. According to Chinese beliefs, people born under the sign of the rooster will grow up to be confident, 2017 is the year of the rooster hardworking and brave.

Page 1 Image Credits: Thinkstock/Getty Images © Oddizzi Guided Reading 2017 CHINESE NEW YEAR

Celebrations at home

Chinese New Year is a big get-together. Families spend days getting ready: • lots of cleaning goes on • homes are decorated with red and gold lanterns and banners Dumplings are popular to make and eat at • dumplings, fish dishes and rice cakes are New Year cooked . Presents are given and people wish each other ‘good health and wealth in the New Year’.

A lucky colour

People give red envelopes containing money or chocolate coins to family and friends at Chinese New Year. They are red because in China this is a lucky colour.

In a Chinese legend, an evil monster visits villages People give each other red and homes on New Year’s Eve to gobble up crops, envelopes at New Year animals and sometimes children!

Decorating your home with red banners and lanterns is said to scare off this monster.

Key words:

calendar celebration festival legend

tradition zodiac

Page 2 Image Credits: Thinkstock/Getty Images © Oddizzi Guided Reading 2017

Check Your Understanding – Chinese New Year

1. Which sentences are true and which are false? 4. What do people put money or chocolate coins in? Tick the answer. Tick the answer.

Sentence True False yellow bag black envelope Chinese New Year is a really big celebration.  red envelope glass jar Chinese New Year is always celebrated on January 28th. The start of the Chinese 5. How do people prepare their homes for Chinese New Year? calendar is celebrated all over the world. The year 2017 is the year of the rooster. Presents are given during Chinese New Year.

2. Name China’s lucky colour. 6. Tell me, Odd, one thing you have learned about Chinese New Year that you didn’t know ______before.

3. Why are homes decorated with red banners and lanterns? ______

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______Extension Activity: Create a poster that you can display at ______your school about Chinese New Year. Include at least five

Vocabulary Builder – Chinese New Year

1. Think of one word that can replace the word ‘big’. 5. Choose two of the key words below and write a new ______sentence for each.

2. Find two adjectives. belief decorate festival health

______& ______Word Sentence Example: banner People will decorate their homes with 3. Draw a line to link each key word to its definition. banners.

Terms Definitions ______

Banner A story from that past ______that is thought to be true

Celebration A long piece of material ______with writing that is hung up ______

Legend A special event for something important 6. Make the sentence below more descriptive.

4. Circle the adjectives and underline the nouns below. Dumplings are popular.  ______

a) Chinese New Year is a really big party. ______b) In China red is a lucky colour.

1. What type of text is this? How do you know? 5. Draw a new picture and write a caption for it. Complete the sentences.

This is a(n) ______text. I know

this because ______

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2. What is the main title of the text?

6. Why are captions included generally below pictures?

3. Find a subtitle and copy it below. ______

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7. Create your own key words! Choose five words from the text that you think are very important. 4. How do the subtitles help you understand the text? Subtitles help me understand the text because ______

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