A Monthly Newsletter for Teachers of English January 2010

STARTING OFF
Discuss the questions below with a partner.

1 How did you celebrate New Year’s Eve? Which of these were important?

food friends family fireworks music weather traditions

2 What other events can you think of where fireworks are important?

BEFORE YOU READ

Look at the names of some fireworks. Are any of them the same in your language? If not, can you
guess anything about the fireworks from their names?

Banger Jumping Jack Rocket Roman Candle Sparkler

© Pearson Central Europe 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE -1 -

 ACTIVITIES SHEET January 2010

FIRST READING
Read the text quickly and match the names of the fireworks on page 1 to the correct paragraphs.

SECOND READING
Read the text again and match the fireworks (1-5) with the questions below.

Which firework…

1 doesn’t move. __5___

2 is better if you pay more for it. ______

3 moves around on the ground. ______

4 is held in the hand. ______

5 sometimes makes a noise. ______

6 is better on roads than in gardens. ______

7 doesn’t look nice. ______

8 can be used by children. ______

9 has more than one name in English. ______

10 can have more than one colour. ______

VOCABULARY 1
Match the adjectives from the text to the correct meanings.

1 frightening A liked by lots of people

2 pretty B a high temperature
3 popular C costs a lot of money
4 expensive D unsafe
5 simple E not complicated
6 hard F not as good as you thought
7 dangerous G nice looking
8 hot H scary
9 disappointing I noisy
10 loud J not soft

© Pearson Central Europe 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE -2 -

 ACTIVITIES SHEET January 2010

VOCABULARY 2

a) Work alone. Think of something which each adjective from exercise 4 could describe and write it
down.

Eg.
Dangerous – snowboarding
b) Work with a partner. Tell your partner one of your words but NOT the adjective. See if they can
guess which adjective it goes with.

Er… frightening?

snowboarding …. expensive?

… dangerous?

SPEAKING 1: DISCUSSION
Here is some advice from the ‘Firework Code’. It is to make people safe when they use fireworks.

NEVER put fireworks in your pocket.

Light fireworks at arms length using a special

firework lighter.

Stand well back and NEVER return to a

firework after you light it.

NEVER throw fireworks.

Keep all pets and animals indoors.

Wear gloves to hold sparklers and put them in

water as soon as they are finished.

© Pearson Central Europe 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE -3 -

 ACTIVITIES SHEET January 2010

Work in groups and write a code for a different activity. Use your own ideas or one of the ideas
below. Your code should give rules to make your activity safer and more enjoyable.

Being a school Taking Having a

student exams good party

Doing a Having a Owning a

sport good holiday pet

© Pearson Central Europe 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE -4 -

 ACTIVITIES SHEET
T
1 _________. hese are
probably the most popular of
all fireworks. Even three
year-olds can hold them, with
an adult to look after them.
You hold them in your hand
and light one end which lights
up with bright sparks. When
you wave the firework in the
air, you can make patterns or
even write words with the
light. Remember, when it
goes out, the other end is still
very, very hot.
T
2 _________. hey aren’t
very pretty but they are noisy!
In America, they are called
firecrackers but the English
word for them comes from
the loud bang they make
when you light them.
Because there is no smoke
or fire, they don’t look
dangerous but they are and
you should NEVER throw
5 _________. T
hese are simpleCommunication
doesn’t move but colourful smoke shoots out of the end into the sky. They can be
silent or noisy. No-one really knows where they get their name from but maybe the
first ones were made in Italy and they named them after their capital city.
© Pearson Central Europe 2010
January 2010
All over the world, the New Year is celebrated
with fireworks. Thousands watch huge displays
in capital cities and millions of other people buy
their own and light them in their garden or street.
Here are a few of the most popular types.
4 _________.
T
3 _________. hese
fireworks fly up into the These are great
sky when you light them, fun although they
just like a real rocket. can be a little
They don’t fly to the frightening. They
moon, though. They burst don’t fly up in the
into colour. Expensive air when you light
ones are very spectacular them, they jump
with lots of different
colours but, if you buy
around on the
ground making a
cheap ones, they can be noise and giving
disappointing, only off small sparks of
lighting up the sky for one light. Sometimes,
or two seconds. Make it seems as if they
sure they don’t fall over are chasing you!
when you light them or They need hard
they will fly along the ground to work
ground! well, on grass
they won’t move.
fireworks but can be very
taskbeautiful. The firework
PHOTOCOPIABLE -5 -
 ACTIVITIES SHEET January 2010

Your firework is called: Your firework is called:

THE CLOWN THE HELICOPTER

What does it do? What does it look like?
Draw a picture and describe your firework
but DON’T write the name of it.
Useful vocabulary: moves up/down/along, shoots
out, lights up, jumps, bounces, flies
What does it do? What does it look like?
Draw a picture and describe your firework
but DON’T write the name of it.
Useful vocabulary: moves up/down/along, shoots
out, lights up, jumps, bounces, flies

Your firework is called: Your firework is called:

THE GHOST THE CROCODILE

What does it do? What does it look like?
Draw a picture and describe your firework
but DON’T write the name of it.
Useful vocabulary: moves up/down/along, shoots
out, lights up, jumps, bounces, flies
What does it do? What does it look like?
Draw a picture and describe your firework
but DON’T write the name of it.
Useful vocabulary: moves up/down/along, shoots
out, lights up, jumps, bounces, flies

Your firework is called: Your firework is called:

THE TSUNAMI THE AVALANCHE

What does it do? What does it look like?
Draw a picture and describe your firework
but DON’T write the name of it.
Useful vocabulary: moves up/down/along, shoots
out, lights up, jumps, bounces, flies
What does it do? What does it look like?
Draw a picture and describe your firework
but DON’T write the name of it.
Useful vocabulary: moves up/down/along, shoots
out, lights up, jumps, bounces, flies

Your firework is called: Your firework is called:

THE THUNDERSTORM THE STAR

What does it do? What does it look like?
Draw a picture and describe your firework
but DON’T write the name of it.
Useful vocabulary: moves up/down/along, shoots
out, lights up, jumps, bounces, flies
What does it do? What does it look like?
Draw a picture and describe your firework
but DON’T write the name of it.
Useful vocabulary: moves up/down/along, shoots
out, lights up, jumps, bounces, flies

Instructions: (1) Put the class into 8 groups and give each group one card. Tell the groups
what their word means if they don’t know but make sure other groups can’t hear. (2) Each
group makes a poster showing their firework and describing it. Tell them not to be too
obvious, eg a clown doesn’t have to look exactly like a clown but may just be funny in
some way. (3) When finished, display the posters. The class look at them all and try to
guess the names of the 7 other fireworks. (4) Elicit ideas and then students give the correct
names.