Festival: Saint George's Day

What are the origins of the festival?
St. George’s day is on 23 April. It is the patron saint of England and it's national day.

The popularity of Saint George in England comes from the time of the crusades. He was a roman soldier that protested against the romans tortures of Christians and it is said that he died for his beliefs.

Saint George is always represented as a knight carrying a shield with a red cross, usually riding a horse and always killing a dragon. And for this reason the best-known story about Saint George is the one where he fights with a dragon.

What traditions are still observed?
Nowadays saint George is the patron St of scouting. They celebrate this holiday on the Sunday nearest to the 23rd of April, where all the scouts parade through the English streets and attend a service for their patron.

By tradition, the 23rd of April is the day for a red rose on the jacket. But for most people from England this date is a normal working day.

St. George frequently appears in mummers' Plays, also known as mummingl, during Easter and Christmas celebrations. The mummers' plays are folk dramas based on legends, such as St. George. These folk dramas are acted in the street or in public houses.

How would you introduce the festival into your English lesson? Plan a lesson with suitable content for Infant or Primary Education.

Development activity:
In this lesson, the teacher sits the children in a circle and explains that they will learn the story of Saint George. Firstly the teacher asks, for example, if any children know who Saint George is.

When the pupils have given their opinion and they know about Saint George, the teacher tells the true story, depending on their age, using flashcards, puppets that represent the characters or a big story book about the knight, Saint George.

Then the teacher explains that they have to make a dragon with recycled material. At this time, the teacher distributes the material and explains, step by step, how to make the dragon.

In this link you can find a tutorial, but here we will explain it briefly: http://www.dibujosparapintar.com/manualidades_reciclaje_dragon.html

Which materials do we need?:

Cardboard egg boxes.

Cardboard. For example a shoe box.

Scissors.

Glue.

Black, white, red and green paint.

Paintbrushes.

Steps:
1st. Paint the egg cup green with the paintbrush and wait to dry.

2nd. Now made the crest of the dragon: cut a piece of cardboard and paint it red. When the crest of the dragon is dry, glue it on to the dragon’s head.

3rd. Then made the tongue: cut another piece of cardboard and paint it red. Next, on the top of the head, make small holes to put in your fingers, to open and close the dragon’s mouth.

4rth. Meanwhile, we made the eyes of the dragon: cut a piece of cardboard, you can paint it black and white, or choose other colours. When the eyes are dry, glue them on to the dragons head.

Now let it dry for a couple of minutes and you will be able to play with your new dragon head.

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummers_Play

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/twelfthnight/mummers.html

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/stgeorge.html

http://www.dibujosparapintar.com/manualidades_reciclaje_dragon.html