Spring is here, and this month we have a new series: Easter! We begin with the fun part: eggs, rabbits and chocolate.
Learn from Songs · Festivals: Easter · Part 1 of 3 · A1–A2
Easter: Eggs, Bunnies and Fun
Part 1 of the Easter series: Easter eggs, the Easter Bunny, egg hunts, chocolate and spring. Prepositions of place for an egg hunt (in, on, under, behind, next to), can / can’t (rabbits can jump), imperatives (Look under the table!), and Easter words, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos, Demetria and a lively song by Elton John.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Chocolate eggs! Where are they?
SOPHIA
Ah, you must find them, Marcos. On Easter morning, children look for eggs in the garden: under the bushes, behind the trees, in the flowers. Our song is short and fast, like a rabbit running across a field.
DEMETRIA
Can rabbits really bring eggs?
Before you listen: the song
Easter today, in many countries
Easter is in spring, in March or April. For Christians it is the most important festival of the year: on Easter Sunday they celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. It is also a festival of spring and new life: new flowers, baby animals, and eggs.
People paint and decorate eggs, and today they give each other chocolate eggs. Children go on an Easter egg hunt: they look for eggs hidden in the garden or the house. In many stories the eggs are brought by the Easter Bunny (or the Easter Hare, in Germany, where the story began more than 300 years ago). In America there is an egg-rolling race at the White House every year, and in Britain people eat hot cross buns. In Spain, families in Catalonia and Valencia give a mona de Pascua, a cake with eggs or chocolate figures, and people all over Spain eat torrijas.
Our song: “Jack Rabbit” is a short, fast, happy song by Elton John and his writing partner Bernie Taupin, from 1973. A jackrabbit is a big American hare with very long ears that can run and jump very fast.
Spring brings new life, and new life is worth celebrating.
Listen: the jack rabbit
PHILO
Listen to Elton John. Is the song fast or slow? Happy or sad? Can you clap with it?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🐰 Listen to the song: “Jack Rabbit” (Elton John and Bernie Taupin, 1973), by Elton John.Listen to the official recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Jack Rabbit”, Elton John.Read the lyrics →
Where is the egg? Prepositions of place
MARCOS
The egg is in the box. It’s on the table. It’s under the chair. It’s behind the tree. It’s next to the flowers. It’s between the books.
SOPHIA
in, on, under, behind, in front of, next to, between. Ask: Where is the egg? Answer: It’s under the chair!
Can and can’t
DEMETRIA
Rabbits can jump. They can run fast. They can’t fly! Can you find the egg? Yes, I can!
SOPHIA
can + verb for ability. Negative: can’t. Question: Can you…? Short answers: Yes, I can. / No, I can’t. No to after can!
Imperatives for a hunt
PHILO
Look under the table! Find the blue egg! Don’t eat it yet! Count your eggs!
SOPHIA
The imperative is the verb alone, to give instructions. Negative: Don’t + verb. Easter words: an egg, a basket, a bunny, a chick, a lamb, chocolate, a hunt, spring, flowers.
Sophia’s comparison: spring festivals
PHILO
Our great spring festival is Passover, in the month of Aviv, which means “spring barley”. We remember how God brought our people out of Egypt, from slavery to freedom: new life in the spring.
SOPHIA
And we Greeks say that every spring Persephone comes back from the underworld to her mother Demeter, and the whole earth is happy again: the flowers grow and the animals have their young.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| in, on, under, behind, next to, between | prepositions of place | The egg is under the chair. |
| can / can’t + verb | ability | Rabbits can jump. They can’t fly. |
| verb alone / Don’t + verb | imperatives | Look under the table! Don’t eat it! |
| Where is…? It’s… | asking about place | Where is the egg? It’s behind the tree. |
| egg, basket, bunny, chick, chocolate | Easter words | A basket of chocolate eggs. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. What is Easter Sunday for Christians?
2. What do children look for on Easter morning?
3. Who brings the eggs in the stories?
4. What do people eat in Britain at Easter?
5. What is a mona de Pascua?
6. Is “Jack Rabbit” fast or slow?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. The egg is the table. (on top of)
8. The egg is the chair. (below)
9. Rabbits jump.
10. Rabbits fly!
11. under the table! (imperative: look)
12. eat it yet! (negative imperative)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “Rabbits can to jump.”
14. “The egg is under the chair.”
15. “Don’t eat the chocolate!”
16. “Where is the egg? It’s on behind the tree.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Egg hunt! Hide paper eggs in the room. Your partner asks: Is it under the desk? Is it behind the door? Answer Yes, it is / No, it isn’t.
Talk. 1. What do you do at Easter? 2. Do you like chocolate eggs? 3. What can rabbits do? What can’t they do?
Write (50–70 words). My Easter egg hunt. Write instructions for an egg hunt in your house. Use imperatives and prepositions of place.