Plays for the Holidays
Student's Guide

You can use this book to learn about and enjoy the holidays in America. For each holiday there is a play about the holiday. The book begins with Labor Day so you can begin in September and follow the holidays through the school year. This is how you can use the book to understand and enjoy the holidays and improve your English:

Page 1 Look at the picture of a typical holiday celebration and read the information under it.
Talk about the picture and the information. Share what you know about the holiday.

Page 2 Prepare for the Play: Listen and Write. Your teacher or another student will read the short dictation in the back of the book. Listen and write it down. This dictation introduces the reading about the play.

Background Reading for the Play.
Read this passage. It gives information about the play.
The reading will help you understand and perform the play.

Page 3 Answer.
After you do the reading, fill in the blanks in these sentences. First try to do it without looking at the reading. Then go back to the reading to check your answers.

Pronounce. You will use these words in the play. It is important to say them well. One syllable (part of the word) is louder than the others. This is called stress. It is important in speaking English. After the words you will see some phrases that are in the play. It is important to say these phrases smoothly and quickly. Practice saying them.

Page 4 Match.
Put the parts of the sentence together. This helps you understand the meanings of the word.

Write and Say.
Write all the sentences from the match. Then practice saying them quickly and naturally.

Page 5 Talk About the Poster.
The picture is an ad or poster for the play. Think and talk about it before you perform the play.

Page 6 The Playbill.
Decide who will be the different people in the play. You can write their names right on the Playbill. You can copy this page and give it to the audience if you perform the play.

Page 7 The Play.
First, read the play slowly and carefully. Ask questions as you read. It is important to understand the words and the lines in the play. Then practice the play until you can do it easily. Then, you can do it with props (clothes and things) and sounds. Finally, you can read or perform the play for an audience, or tape it and watch it yourselves.