LESSON OVERVIEW

This New Year worksheet contains a lot of speaking activities. Students also watch a video about New Year’s traditions and discuss the celebration in different cultures.

This is a Speaking Class worksheet. It includes a variety of tasks that let your students practise their speaking skills. This lesson format does not focus on grammar or vocabulary. Learn more about it here.

WARM-UP & DISCUSSION

The lesson starts with students reading some common captions (e.g. New year, new me; Cheers to 365 new chances; 9 p.m. is the new midnight; etc.) that people add to their social media posts before New Year. Students discuss what attitude towards New Year people who write these captions have. After that, students talk more about New Year’s celebrations, traditions, and reasons why some people might hate this holiday. In this New Year worksheet students also get to express their own attitude to it and choose the captions that sum up their opinion. 

VIDEO & SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

This part of the New Year worksheet includes a video about New Year’s traditions in Mexico. After watching the video, students discuss a number of questions. They talk about the traditions from the video, share the traditions from their own cultures, talk about special food and making wishes. Then, they read about more traditions in four different countries all over the world (e.g. In Denmark people greet the New Year by smashing old plates against the doors of family and friends.) and discuss them. Students share whether they think these traditions are unusual or surprising and what their origins might be. Students also discuss the title of the lesson (Out with the old, in with the new) and brainstorm the situations in which people might use this idiom. As a wrap-up activity, students imagine that they can spend one New Year’s Eve with no financial limitations. They have to describe what they would do for 24 hours.