Winter Solstice Celebrated at Newgrange

S?quence 11

Public cible

2de, 1e / ?couter : B1+ ; Parler (EOC) : B1

Winter Solstice Celebrated at Newgrange

Tous les ans, le solstice d'hiver est c?l?br? sur le site pr?historique de Newgrange dans le comt? de Meath, pr?s de la rivi?re Boyne. Une centaine de personnes ayant ?t? tir?es au sort peuvent venir voir pendant 17 minutes la lumi?re du soleil inonder la chambre en ce jour unique de l'ann?e.

Transcript

RT? North East correspondent, Richard Dowling: Gathering in the predawn light from millennia people have come here to Newgrange, close to the River Boyne, to celebrate the winter solstice. The huge passage tomb was built five thousand years ago so this could happen. The first rays of sunlight on the shortest day of the year flood the inner chamber, bringing light for a few minutes into a place of perpetual darkness. Inside the chamber today were winners of the Office of Public Works World Wide Lottery and Children's Art competition.

First girl interviewed: Oh, it's class, it was amazing like, just when the light came in and it was all lit up, and it was dark before that and it just lit up the whole place!

Holly Kelly, Dublin: Oh, it was really good, it was amazing, it was like... it just lit up! It looked like magic, (laughs) in my opinion!

Alan Killeen, Clare: It was class when the light came in!

Richard Dowling: Even for those who work here it's a place that never loses its magic.

Clare Tuffy, OPW: It was perfect! It was gorgeous, beautiful warm light that filled up the whole chamber. The people who were inside felt really blessed. It's been great!

Richard Dowling: Outside hundreds gathered. Usually it's just in the hope of seeing the sunrise on the solstice, but today was different. For many it's a spiritual event. For others it's life-changing.

Peter Gallagher: The moment was just right, it was, and the sun was going up, and so we said, `why not'? Her eyes said `why not'? (laughs)

Claire McGinnity: (laughs) He said like, `oh, the sparkle of the sun', and then he said `I have another sparkle for you!' And then I, I... (laughs)

Richard Dowling: Today was the first time the sun lit up the chamber on the solstice in six years. But regardless, people will gather here every December to mark this event.

So the moment of winter solstice has now passed. So from now until the end of June the nights will start to get shorter and the days will be longer.

Richard Dowling, RT? News, Newgrange.

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Objectifs et d?marche p?dagogique

Liens avec les programmes culturels de lyc?e

?? Seconde ? M?moire : h?ritages et ruptures ?? Cycle terminal ? Espaces et ?changes / Lieux et formes du pouvoir

CECRL

Peut comprendre une information factuelle directe sur des sujets de la vie quotidienne ou relatifs au travail en reconnaissant les messages g?n?raux et les points de d?tail, ? condition que l'articulation soit claire et l'accent courant. ? Compr?hension g?n?rale de l'oral, B1+ Peut comprendre une grande partie des programmes t?l?vis?s sur des sujets d'int?r?t personnel, tels que br?ves interviews, conf?rences et journal t?l?vis? si le d?bit est relativement lent et la langue assez clairement articul?e. ? Comprendre des ?missions de t?l?vision et des films, B1+ Peut r?sumer avec une certaine assurance une source d'informations factuelles sur des sujets familiers courants et non courants dans son domaine, en faire le rapport et donner son opinion. ? Essais et rapports, B1

Faits de langue

?? Les formes du comparatif et du superlatif : get shorter; be longer; the shortest day.

Contenu lexical

?? L'enthousiasme : class, amazing, magic, perfect, gorgeous, great... ?? Ombre et lumi?re : light, darkness, lit up, dark, predawn, sunrise, nights, days...

Exploitation de l'extrait vid?o

A. Anticipation ?? Montrer l'image des visiteurs autour de la tombe et leur faire ?mettre des hypoth?ses sur la nature du document, du lieu et du moment.

B. Overall comprehension ?? Visionner une premi?re fois l'extrait vid?o en entier. Si vous le souhaitez, vous pouvez recueillir la r?action des ?l?ves ? ? chaud ? sur le reportage, en fran?ais pour faciliter l'expression de quelques ?l?ves, ou bien en anglais pour les plus aguerris. Visionner la vid?o une deuxi?me fois, leur faire ensuite r?pondre aux questions sur les protagonistes, l'?v?nement d?crit et compl?ter l'exercice sur la ligne temporelle.

C. Detailed comprehension ?? Visionner la vid?o une troisi?me fois avec des pauses, afin de r?pondre aux questions sur les r?actions des visiteurs et sur le vocabulaire.

D. Language study ?? Exercice sur l'utilisation de diff?rents temps grammaticaux.

E. Final task ?? Guessing game : diviser la classe en deux groupes. ? l'oral, faire choisir et d?crire aux ?l?ves un jour sp?cial dans l'ann?e, sans mentionner explicitement la date ou l'?v?nement. Description d'une minute maximum. Les ?l?ves de l'autre groupe doivent deviner de quel jour il s'agit. Un jour sp?cial peut ?tre No?l, P?ques, un jour f?ri?, une f?te nationale, un anniversaire...

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Corrig? des activit?s

A. Introduction Topic a news report, from RT?, about the winter solstice Place in Newgrange, Ireland, County Meath Time December 21st, 2013: on winter solstice

B. Overall Comprehension

1. Who are the people interviewed? Match a name and a person.

a. Holly Kelly b. Peter Gallagher c. Claire McGinnity d. Alan Killeen e. Clare Tuffy

abcde 25314

1. a young boy 2. a teenage girl 3. a newly-engaged young woman 4. a woman who works on the site 5. a newly-engaged young man

2. How do they react? They are excited / thrilled / enthusiastic...

3. What exactly is going on?

They are celebrating the winter solstice, which is exceptional this year, as the sunlight is flooding the inner chamber of the tomb.

4. Complete the sentences about the chronology of events. a) 5,000 years ago, a passage tomb was built in Newgrange. b) For a few minutes, the sunlight floods the inner chamber. c) Today it is different, it is a spiritual event. d) Every December, people gather to mark the winter solstice. e) From December to the end of June, the nights will get shorter.

C. Detailed Comprehension 1. List the expressions which reveal the visitors' enthusiasm, if possible in order of intensity.

"good, class, amazing, beautiful, magic, gorgeous, great, perfect"

2. Is there a difference between the generations as regards the words they use? The young use "class" twice, while older people tend to use more varied expressions.

3. List the words related to light and darkness. Light: dawn, rays of sunlight, light, sunrise, sparkle. Darkness: perpetual darkness, tomb, chamber, nights.

4. Do visitors only have a visual experience? Explain. No, they experience both a visual and spiritual experience, as the site seems to be a magic place. One couple even got engaged on this occasion.

D. Language study ? Complete the summary and conjugate the verbs:

5,000 years ago, stone age men (build) built a tomb. This year on the winter solstice, one hundred people were impressed while the light (come) was coming in. Every December many visitors (gather) gather around the tomb. The winter solstice (just pass) has just passed, and the nights (grow) will grow shorter from now on.

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Fiche d'activit?s

S?quence 11 Winter Solstice Celebrated at Newgrange

Nom : A. Introduction

Classe :

Date :

Topic

Place Time

B. Overall Comprehension 1. Who are the people interviewed? Match a name and a person.

a. Holly Kelly b. Peter Gallagher c. Claire McGinnity d. Alan Killeen e. Clare Tuffy

abcde

1. a young boy 2. a teenage girl 3. a newly-engaged young woman 4. a woman who works on the site 5. a newly-engaged young man

2. How do they react? ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................................

3. What exactly is going on? ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................................

4. Complete the sentences about the chronology of events. a) 5,000 years ago, ........................................................................................................................................ b) For a few minutes, .................................................................................................................................... c) Today ......................................................................................................................................................... d) Every December, ...................................................................................................................................... e) From December to the end of June, .........................................................................................................

C. Detailed Comprehension 1. List the expressions which reveal the visitors' enthusiasm, if possible in order of intensity.

...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................................

2. Is there a difference between the generations as regards the words they use? ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................................

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63

Fiche d'activit?s

S?quence 11 Winter Solstice Celebrated at Newgrange

Nom :

Classe :

Date :

3. List the words related to light and darkness. Light: .......................................................................................................................................................... Darkness: ...................................................................................................................................................

4. Do visitors only have a visual experience? Explain. ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................................

D. Language study ? Complete the summary and conjugate the verbs:

5,000 years ago, stone age men (build) ...................................................... a tomb. This year on the winter solstice, one hundred people were impressed while the light (come) ...................................................... in. Every December many visitors (gather) ...................................................... around the tomb. The winter solstice (just pass) ......................................................, and the nights (grow) ........................................... shorter from now on.

E. Final Task Guessing game. Divide the class into two teams and take turns describing a special day in the year. The teams take some notes and list events or activities describing that day and the other team must guess what day it is. It can be a traditional or a religious holiday, a bank holiday, a national holiday, a local festival, a birthday, etc.

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