Bonfire Night and Christmas: feelings and festivals
November bonfires, crackers and Christmas carols: I discover pictures of British festivals and I say how I feel.
Holiday videos → tap a picture to watch on YouTube
Culture → Bonfire Night and Christmas in the UK
On 5 November, British people light bonfires and watch fireworks: it's Bonfire Night. In 1605, Guy Fawkes and other plotters hid barrels of gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament in London to kill King James I. The plot failed. Children say: Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot.
At Christmas, two people pull a cracker: it goes bang, and out come a joke, a small gift and a paper crown to wear during the meal (turkey, Christmas pudding, mince pies). At 3 pm, many families watch the King's message on TV.
26 December is Boxing Day. In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol: three spirits visit a mean old man, Ebenezer Scrooge, and he learns to be generous. This story still shapes the way people imagine Christmas.
Did you know? → tap a card
Feelings and festivals
To talk about festivals, I say how I feel and what the people in the picture are doing. Tap the cards.
My words → tap a card: it turns over and I hear the word
I listen → Christmas Day
Listen. Who is laughing? What does the person love doing and hate doing?
I listen → the Bonfire Night rhyme (traditional)
Listen and repeat. Find the words that rhyme.
I watch
Video: “How do people talk about Christmas in the UK?” · channel BBC Learning English · watch on YouTube. The video only loads when you tap (youtube-nocookie player).
- Write down three Christmas words you hear.
- Find one feeling.
- Say one sentence from the video out loud.
I watch too
Video: “Bonfire Night Explained: The Gunpowder Plot!” · channel BBC Newsround · watch on YouTube. The video only loads when you tap (youtube-nocookie player).
- Write down the date and the name of the plotter.
- Write down what happens on the night of 5 November.
The lessons in this learning journey (5)
- How do you feel? Feelings (cards to turn over).
- Bonfire Night: the rhyme and the Gunpowder Plot (1605).
- Describe the picture: they are singing, they are eating…
- Christmas in the UK : crackers, pudding, Boxing Day.
- Final task: a greetings card with pictures and three feelings.
- “Happy Bonfire Night! / Merry Christmas!”
- “I feel happy because…”
- “I am excited about…”
- “I’m a bit scared of…”
- “Lots of love,”
For the teacher → goals and official curriculum
- Theme 5 “Arts and feelings” → topics: pictures of winter festivals; the power of music.
- Say how you feel and what you like: I'm happy, excited, scared; I love / like / hate + -ing.
- Recognise be + -ing to describe a picture: They are singing carols.
- Discover Bonfire Night, Christmas, Boxing Day and a classic: A Christmas Carol by Dickens.
Texts and materials: The rhyme “Remember, remember the fifth of November”; old greetings cards; Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843); BBC videos.
Theme 5 “Arts and feelings”. Source: French national English curriculum for lower secondary school, decree of 5 May 2025, BO no. 22 of 29 May 2025 (in force in 6e since September 2025).
Fill in and choose
Match each tradition with its description
Tap an item in the first column, then its partner in the second.
Bonfire Night or Christmas?
Tap a word, then the right box.
Worksheet to fill in (paper or ENT)
The same learning journey, to print or to put on the ENT. For a PDF, choose “Save as PDF” in the print window.