ESL Christmas 2016: Charlie Brown and Angels

I have the same ESL kids as last year, so I will review the Nativity  story  (The First Christmas) and carols we sang last year 2015.

This year I want to focus on Charlie' Brown's Christmas and the meaning of Christmas.

Charlie Brown's dilemma is about finding meaning in our modern, neurotic Christmas with its commercialism and pleasing others, over something more authentic. He cries out for meaning and Linus answers him with quoting Luke 2: 8-14 which is itself a prophetic quote.

At the end all the characters sing the classic carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" Of course we will sing it too!
Before we watch the whole 1965 version, I will introduce the whole concept of the "Holiday Blues", and the story's characters. Then we will read the script beforehand, as I didn't find any YouTube versions with Chinese subtitles. If we had time, it would be fabulous to bring some drama into the classroom and act it out (script here).

Class Handout document here.

Vocabulary:

1.     Secularism  (n.) 現世主義/ secular (adj)

2.    Faith (n.) 宗教信仰/ faithful (adj.)

3.    Non-Secular (adj) = religious

4.    Commercialism  (n.) 商業主義；重商主義；利潤第一主義./ commercial (adj.) 

5.    “Holiday Blues” winter sadness, depression, missing dead family members

6.    Meaning (n.) 重要性；價值/ meaningful (adj.) synonym:______________

The Characters（電影、戲劇或故事中的）人物，角色:

Graphic Organizer (pg 3 PDF)

Charlie Brown: lead character, depressed 抑鬱的,消沉的,沮喪的, neurotic 神經過敏的，神經質的, modern 現代的 man

Linus: The voice of Meaning 重要性 (Faith宗教信仰). He is seen as weak and depending on his trusty blanket, but he can see Charlie's real problem better than Lucy.  He is wise 明智. In the end he does help all of them back to the Nativity story.

Lucy: "Know it all" "自以為無所不知的人", psychiatrist 精神科醫生 , psychologist 心理學家
 (Secularism 現世主義) She advises Charlie to be busy (forget about his emptiness) and direct 導演 a Christmas play.

Sally: Charlie's little sister who only cares about gifts and money (Commercialism 商業主義；重商主義；利潤第一主義).





Snoopy: Charlie Brown's Beagle 華格爾犬, who only cares about decorating his doghouse better than the others. (Commercialism)
Snoopy is the world's most famous beagle.
史諾比是世界上最著名的小獵犬。

 The Ending with Chinese Subs  Here

Questions:

1. Why is Charlie Brown depressed?
2. Why isn't Linus depressed?
3. Why does Charlie Brown chose the one weak sapling 小樹 over all the big, fake 假的，偽造的 Christmas trees?

The Non-Secular Meaning: Linus' Speech 

 The author and text: This was the 3rd gospel 福音書（《聖經》中記載耶穌生平的四福音書之一） written (according to tradition) by one of Jesus' followers (one of the 12 disciples耶穌十二門徒), named Luke, who was a well educated, urban doctor who wrote in Greek 希臘式的. It was written around 80 AD.

Luke 2: 8-14 (MEV) Modern English Version	路加福音 2: 8-14  Chinese New Version
The Shepherds and the Angels	天使向牧羊人報喜信
8 And in the same area there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And then an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were very afraid. 10 But the angel said to them, “Listen! Do not fear. For I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.12 And this will be a sign to you: You will find the Baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly there was with the angel a company of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest,     and on earth peace, and good will toward men.”	8 在伯利恆的郊外，有一些牧人在夜間看守羊群。  9 主的一位使者站在他們旁邊，主的榮光四面照著他們，他們就非常害怕。  10 天使說：“不要怕！看哪！我報給你們大喜的信息，是關於萬民的：  11 今天在大衛的城裡，為你們生了救主，就是主基督。 12 你們要找到一個嬰孩，包著布，臥在馬槽裡，那就是記號了。”  13 忽然有一大隊天兵，同那天使一起讚美　神說： 14 “在至高之處，榮耀歸與　神！ 在地上，平安歸與他所喜悅的人！”

The Importance of Jesus' Birth:

1. TIME: The West counts time (the Gregorian calendar) according to Jesus' birth. BC Before Christ and AD anno Domini. So the year 2017 is 2017 years after Christ's birth. Most scholars believe Jesus birth actually happened between 4- 6 BC.
2. RELIGION 宗教信仰；宗教:  He is the founder of the Christian religion (CHRISTIANITY基督教) and believed to be God incarnated in man. He is considered a prophet預言家 by Muslims穆斯林, who also believe in His virgin birth (but not his deity).

Four Big Life Lessons from Charlie Brown's Christmas:

1. Holiday Blues are a real thing for many people.
2. Christmas is more than presents.
3. Keep it real, not fake traditions
4. Take time to enjoy

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 

(lyrics, video with Mandarin lyrics)

Extra:
Angels We Have Heard On High
Easy Angel Origami (1, 2, 3)







If we have time, I'll review from last year, A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker and the Grinch. Unlike last year, I won't test on this.

Merry Christmas!