CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES SUBMITTED TO THE XMAS DRAW
Many thanks to the contributors below.
Submitted by Yulia Grigoryeva
Have a look at you my Christmas site which was created for thestudents of the Institute of Foreign Languages, Far Eastern StateUniversity,Vladivostok, Russia.
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Submitted by Nedra Rivera, Madrid, Spain
Santa's Favorite Christmas Superstitions
Can you match the two halves of these Christmas superstitions?
1. To have good health in the following year … / a) … as the number of houses where you eat mince pies during Christmastime.2. A child born on Christmas day … / b) … means that Easter will be green.
3. Snow on Christmas day … / c) … eat an apple on Christmas Eve.
4. If you eat a raw egg before eating anything else on Christmas morning … / d) … where a fire is kept burning throughout the Christmas season.
5. Good luck will come to the home … / e) … will have a special future.
6. You will have as many happy months in the coming year … / f) … you will be able to carry heavy things.
Do you believe in this type of superstition?
Are there any similar Christmas or holiday superstitions in your country?
ANSWERS:
To have good health throughout the next year, eat an apple on Christmas Eve.
A child born on Christmas Day will have a special future.
If you eat a raw egg before eating anything else on Christmas morning, you will be able to carry heavy things.
Snow on Christmas means Easter will be green.
Good luck will come to the home where a fire is kept burning throughout the Christmas season.
You will have as many happy months in the coming year, as the number of houses where you eat mince pies during Christmastime.
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Submitted by Kate Senior, Madrid, Spain
Fun and Games with Sounds and Letters
Suitable for all ages and levels
Follow the verse to discover what I am. When you have found me, think about what I am to you.
______(9 letters)
My middle is in ship and also in sheep,
My next is a drink that won´t help you to sleep,
My last but one letter is the first of them all,
While my third is in rise but never in fall,
With my fourth you can't hear, listen, smell, taste or eat,
But my seventh begins the words music and meat,
My last makes the plural of son or of daughter,
My first's an expanse of lovely salt water,
My second is for hope and for happiness too,
And my whole, after 'Happy' is my wish for you!
Have fun!
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Submitted by Gwyneth Box, Madrid, Spain
For advanced students:
Get them to brainstorm words which are the 'motifs' of Christmas. Agreeon about a dozen. Then get them to write a text that includes all thosewords, but is on any subject *other than* Christmas.
They need to be advanced level to be able to see that PRESENT can be notjust a noun but a verb or adjective etc.
I haven't actually done this (my students aren't that level) but I haveseen poems produced as part of a similar challenge. They were veryinteresting. The words to be included were ivy, star, pudding, shepherd,
birth, present, stable, crackers, child, party.
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Submitted by Simon Gill, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Here's one that works well for me and fits in well with my criteria for a good classroom activity:
1. no preparation
2. no special materials
3. no direct teacher involvement
4. fun
5. produces a lot of language
6. lasts a long time
You need a pile of small pieces of paper, enough for everybody in the classto have as many as there are other people in the class (eg for a class of 16 you need 16 X 15 = 240). If you want to be involved yourself you can be; it's up to you.
Distribute them.
Get each person in the class to write the name of ONE classmate on each piece of paper they have.
Next to the name they should write the gift they'd like to give that person.
Money is no object. It should be suitable for them, though.
Students circulate and give their "gifts" to one another, explaining the reason for their choice.
Feedback: get students to say what were the funniest/ craziest/ best/ mostuseful etc gifts they got.
This is more a fluency than an accuracy activity but can be used to focus on various aspects of language: offers, expressing gratitude, clauses of justification etc etc.
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Submitted by Lucienne Martinez, Madrid, Spain
This is an activity I've tried:
Teacher brings some realia related to Christmas: a Christmas card, atape, a present, maybe draw some pictures on the board...and he /shecould tell the group briefly how she usually celebrates Christmas
himself/herself.
In groups students have to oraganise the family celebration. Theybrainstorm ideas under topics such as
place
meal
music
presents
go to church
and practise functional exponents for giving suggestions such as:
- Why don't we...
- We could do this
and others that the teacher may elicit/present to the students.
Difficulty and detail in each activity will vary according to the levelof the group.
As it is a religious celebration for some people, teachers should bearin mind cultural and religious differences.
When they finish (it should take around 20 minutes) one member of eachgroup reports back to the class and then discuss the different ways inwhich they have planned it.
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Submitted by Patrice Palmer, Hong Kong
I teach in Hong Kong so I think it is interesting to have students learnabout how Christmas is celebrated around the world and in their owncountry.
CHRISTMAS LESSON PLAN
Introduction and Brainstorm
1. Write Christmas in a large circle on the board.
2. Elicit from students what comes to mind when they think of Christmas(e.g. when is it, traditions, turkey)
Group Activity
Before the lesson, go to the website Thereis a map of the world and you can click on a part of the world and get aprint out of how Christmas is celebrated in that country. The print outis 3-4 short paragraphs.
Have students pick out the main points of how Christmas is celebrated inthat country.
They should write some points on the board under the country heading.
It will then be easy to compare and talk about the similarities anddifferences.
Class Activity
Prepare a sheet with columns. One column for student name and other forwhat they do at Christmas. (This was interesting to me because so manypeople buy and give gifts at Christmas even though they do not celebrateit formally in Hong Kong).
Whole Class Activity
Ask students what they found out through their interviews. How is itcelebrated?
At the end of the activity, I give each student a candy cane which theyabsolutely love!
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Submitted by Cindy Dominick, Japan
I teach Japanese students and most of my lessons are private rather than group.
One favorite Christmas idea has been that they choose some kind of Origami project that we can make as a Christmas decoration. The trick is that they cannot show me how to fold the paper but must give me all verbal instructions. They usually find out a week in advance so that they can write their instructions and we do it the following week. I follow their instructions to the letter and correct when I need to along the way.
It always is a lot of fun and makes for a light-hearted lesson during thebusy Holiday season!
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Submitted by Gwyneth Box, Madrid, Spain
Christmas is a time when students want fun activities, and songs and bits ofcoloured cardboard always go down well.
My students enjoy sorting out the words to the Twelve Days of Christmas, whichis readily available on any festive cassette.
We listen to the start of the song so they get the hang of how each phrase isrepeated.(There is no need for them to hear it all at this stage.)
I give the students the information about the gifts as follows (a total of 36
pieces of cardboard for each pair of students.)
a partridge in a pear tree.
two turtle doves
three French hens
four calling birds
five gold rings
six geese a-laying
seven swans a-swimming
eight maids a-milking
nine drummers drumming
ten pipers piping
eleven ladies dancing
twelve lords a-leaping
They have a few minutes to sort out the words - the bright ones will begin toline up the numbers in a column at this stage.
We listen again and they have to get the twelve combinations.
Because of the way it repeats over and over, they have plenty of opportunity tocorrect and confirm as they go. However they invariable panic and enjoy a smallriot with their partner as they scrabble for words. (All good clean fun.)
After listening all through, it's a good idea to let them have a few minutes tosee if they can add any of the remaining words.
We usually listen again all through before checking, as it is a trickyexercise.
When we get to the checking stage, I find that some of the students can'tresist joining in with the tape.
(If you really can't bear to listen all through again to confirm their answers,you can always just play the very last verse and check from '12 lords' back to'a partridge', but I think the students enjoy the whole thing.)
If you want ,you can then move on to discuss the most unsuitable/unwelcomepresents the students have ever received, or presents in general.
NB:I refuse to explain any vocabulary until the song is complete, although I willtell them how the words are pronounced.
I use this as a pure sound exercise, and find it gives them confidence to seethey can do it without understanding more than a few words.
This really needs the students to be working at large tables - unless they'reyoung enough to get down on the floor - as they need plenty of space.
One point which is useful for any activity like this that uses lots of littlebits of cardboard, is to colour code: I had copies of the song made on sixdifferent coloured cards (i.e. one on each) several years ago. At the end ofthe class they all get swept into a big envelope and can easily be sorted outnext time they are needed. This saves the hassle of repeatedly having to cutout new sets of materials - you can use the same ones over and over again.
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Submitted by Stephen Rogers, Madrid, Spain
LESSON PLAN
ANTI-CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS LESSON
Level: Upper-intermediate to proficiency
Time: Half an hour to a lifetime
Focus: Fluency speaking, advanced vocab, conversation, destroying students’ enjoyment of Christmas.
Age: Adults or older teens.
No. of students: 6+ (though you could miss out some of the roles, or double up on the kids roles to be more flexible)
Materials: Role cards and props – something to represent a TV, a remote control for father, a tray for mother, perhaps drinks and food.
Procedure:
1. Do usual ‘So what’s a typical Spanish Christmas like? Oh, really?’ stuff. Students should go on about how much fun it is, all the family together, etc. etc.
2. Then tell them that a typical British Christmas is a bit different, as our traditions involve eating too much, drinking too much, watching crap TV, and arguing with the rest of the family. Consolidate this by telling them about your last Christmas, using all the usual sitcom cliches about unpleasant relatives, bored sulky kids, the Bond film you’ve seen a million times but have to watch because Granny wants to, etc.
3. They are now prepared for the row. Assign roles and give them the cards. The language is very advanced so you will need to give individual help with any problems. It is essential they all understand fully what their role is, but that they don’t see the other cards.
4. Arrange the room into typical living room style and give out the props.
5. Let them go for it! Most classes will love it and keep going for a good half hour to an hour. If things start to pall, leave the room and knock loudly until someone lets you in. Be the neighbour from next door who is having a lovely Christmas, singing carols, making punch etc. This should be enough to kick the whole thing off again.
6. Homework: Tell your students to go home and practise the row on their family on Christmas Eve.
Have Fun!
CHRISTMAS ROW - ADVANCED
KIDS
You have had too much to eat and aren’t feeling too well. You know Mother wants you to be on your best behaviour so you are determined to annoy everyone. You don’t want to do the washing up, only play with your toys which you aren’t happy with as you wanted something different and more expensive.
Earlier you overheard Granny criticising Mother’s cooking and know that you shouldn’t really say anything about this to Mother, who is looking a bit overwrought, but . . .what the hell! You’re bored and it’ll be good for a laugh.
MOTHER
You have spent all day slaving over a hot stove trying to make this the perfect Christmas, but no one has thanked you and no one seems keen to help you with the washing up. You have had a couple of sherries and are feeling a bit squiffy and unappreciated. Seek compliments; the less you get the more upset you get. Try to politely persuade the kids to do the washing up (or Father, but not Sharon’s boyfriend - he’s a guest!), and try to control them as you don’t want them to annoy everyone and spoil Christmas for the adults. Try to diplomatically stop Father from drinking any more as you know he gets belligerent when drunk. Try to be the perfect host. You feel no one is eating or drinking enough (especially after all the money you have spent on food and drink!). Try to organise some party games.
FATHER
You’ve had a varied mixture of drinks, far too much to eat and are started to get irritated and argumentative. There are far too many people about, the kids are making too much noise, Granny is being boring and keeps making critical comments about everyone, and Mother is started to get on your nerves because she seems to feel doing a bit of cooking on Christmas day is the equivalent of organising a Royal wedding! You haven’t complimented her and don’t intend to as it would just make her worse. You are feeling far too placid to do the washing up and just wish everyone would shut up and let you watch the Bond film in peace (it’s your favourite). What’s more, Sharon’s new boyfriend seems like a shiftless good-for-nothing who’s only after one thing and is trying to ingratiate himself with everyone. Interrogate him to find out his job, prospects, intentions, etc.
SHARON (16 years old)
You are just about at the end of your tether. The kids are too loud, father is being a slob, mother is hovering about and appears to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Granny is hassling you (and every one else). To make matters worse your new boyfriend is spending Christmas day and your family are embarrassing you in front of him (as you knew they would). Mind you, you’re going off him fast. He’s being so oily and ingratiating with everyone and you’re starting to think he may only be interested in you for one thing . . . Refuse to do the washing up (you always end up doing it and think the kids should do it for a change). Stand up to Granny, you’re old enough to speak your mind to her THIS year. You want to watch Top of the Pops on TV. Try to make Father switch over.
SHARON’S BOYFRIEND (17 years old)
You’re feeling a bit stressed out as there seems to be a lot going on you don’t know about. You’re trying to be nice to everyone (even listening sympathetically to Granny, who is sooo boring!!) as you think it will score points with Sharon. You don’t have a job or any intention of studying and are content to hang out in pubs with your mates, picking up girls. You’re hoping that if you impress her family, Sharon will be pleased and tonight could be your lucky night! Her Father seems to be a bit suspicious, so try to avoid him. Offer to help Mother.
GRANNY (78 years old)
Ooohh, it’s awful. Things didn’t use to be like this when you were younger. That’s the problem with the younger generation, they don’t realise how lucky they are. The kids are spoiled, when you were a child you used to get an apple for Christmas (if you were lucky) and didn’t complain. Sharon is wasting her time going to school and then university, she’s only going to get married and have kids so what’s the point? Mind you, her new boyfriend seems like a nice chap. The TV is awful, as usual. All sex and violence, and terrible music. Your daughter (Mother) is panicking and over-reacting about the whole day. You used to cook Christmas dinner for twice as many people as this, with only £1.50 to spend, and didn’t complain. Her lazy husband is a waste of space, she should have married nice Mr Jenkins from the undertakers.You’ve had four sherries and are determined to tell everyone what you think. You made a negative comment about Mother’s cooking a while ago and hope no one overheard and mentions it.Everyone seems to have forgotten how old you are. Keep reminding them.