My European history students have worked really hard so far this term and had just finished their first exam so I decided to do something a little different this week - an Easter lesson and party.
An explanation of Easter actually fit in well with the current unit of the rise of Christianity in Europe and for the first class period I talked about the religious reasons behind the celebration. Then I explained how Easter is also a secular holiday for many and showed some slides about Easter egg hunts, decorating eggs, Easter baskets and of course, the Easter Bunny. They were most interested in the kind of food that many families would eat for an Easter brunch/dinner and the popular types of candy found in Easter baskets. They were fascinated by the marshmallow "Peeps" candy and by the fact that Americans actually eat giant chocolate rabbits. In China, chocolate is ridiculously expensive and eating a chocolate bunny the size of your head could set you back a day's wages, at least.
After playing a few games it was time for the break between periods and we moved to a new classroom without technology/media - one that I could get a little dirty and not feel to bad about it. The second half of class we dyed eggs and frosted and decorated sugar cookies.
Oh my goodness, my students were so excited and were literally hopping around in their seats when I told them what we were going to do. I showed them how to prepare the cups of dye, some different options of egg decoration and some suggestions for things not to get too out of control. I had visions of falling and cracking eggs and spilled cups of dye on everyone's clothes.
Then I explained what a sugar cookie was and how to frost and decorate a cookie. Some questions asked were: a) Can we eat the frosting and the sprinkles? b) Can we eat the eggs or is the dye bad for you? c) Where did you get the dye and the sprinkles?
The Easter class was a total success. The students had so much fun and behaved great. They were creative, worked together well and followed all directions carefully. It was hilarious to see how they decorated their cookies and then ate them immediately. Most of them would have taken 20 minutes working on their eggs if I had let them but I had to cut them short as we had to share the dye cups with many students. After making their cookies and eggs, elaborate photo sessions were held in which students posed with their creations to the delight of all the rest ready and waiting with their camera phones.
When they weren't working on their eggs or cookies they were filling out an Easter crossword puzzle and word game in partners. I had told them at the beginning of the class that I had a present for them if they finished the game by the end of class. When the bell rang, a few groups were frantic and almost in tears and I couldn't figure out why until they told me that they hadn't finished and wouldn't be able to get the prize. At this point I felt horrible, I didn't really think they would take me seriously. I said that everybody had worked hard and handed out the prize - a plastic egg filled with jellybeans for everyone (thanks mom!). They were ECSTATIC which is a bit silly because although all the supplies were from America, everything was made in China, of course.
Though the preparation was intensely time-consuming, it was totally worth it and all in all it was an egg-cellent class. Hehehe =)
That is awesome and admirable that you did that with your class. I'd guess there were well over 1,000 pictures up on XiaoNei and QQ Zone before dinner that day. Of course those kids were ecstatic---they weren't copying notes off the board as their teacher read them.