Santa only gives presents to those who have been good during the year. If you have been bad, you won’t get any presents. So, use this questionnaire to calculate whether you deserve any presents or not this year.

The Good: / 1 point for each ‘yes’ answer
  1. Have you done anything for charity?

  1. Have you held doors open for people?

  1. Have you remembered all your friends and family’s birthdays?

  1. Have you always done what your teacher tells you?

  1. Have you been neat and tidy?

  1. Have you remembered to brush your teeth twice a day?

  1. Have you kept all your New Year’s resolutions?

  1. Have you done anyone a favour?

  1. Have you smiled at any strangers?

  1. Have you forgiven anyone who hurt you?

Calculate virtue points: / Total: +
The Bad: / 1 point for each ‘yes’ answer.
  1. Have you bitched about anyone?

  1. Have you had a hangover?

  1. Have you told any lies?

  1. Have you committed any traffic offences (cycling through red lights ...)?

  1. Have you kissed anyone you shouldn’t?

  1. When you fart, have you blamed someone else?

  1. Have you sworn unnecessarily?

  1. Have you picked your nose when you thought no one was watching?

  1. Have you lost your temper?

  1. Have you killed or hurt any living creatures (flies, spiders ...?)

Calculate sin points: / Total: -

To find your score, calculate (good) – (bad). If your score is less than 0, then I’m really sorry, but do you really think you deserve any presents this year? Santa doesn’t!!!

This speaking activity reviews the present perfect. You can change my questions if there is any vocabulary which you think is inappropriate for your students (for example, ‘bitched’) or much too difficult.

Introduction

Elicit how Santa decides who to give presents to. Try to elicit some examples of what Santa would think is ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Then explain that they are going to find out if, as adults, they still deserve any presents.

Activity

Students work in pairs. They should interview each other with the question sheet and write down their partner’s answers. Warn them that their partner probably wants presents, so might not be 100% truthful – so they should ask for more information (where, when, how often, why ...). I’m sure your students always tell the truth, but this is a speaking activity and we want to encourage as much communication as possible. For higher levels, you could get students to allocate between 1 and 3 points per question, depending on how naughty their partner was.

Follow-up

For lower levels, they could discuss what presents they would like – real or imaginary ideas (e.g. an ipod, world peace).

  • What 3 three things would you like most for Christmas?
  • Do you have any ideas for presents for your friends or family?
  • Who is the most difficult person you know to buy presents for?

For higher levels, they could discuss the commercialisation of Christmas:

  • What is meant by ‘Christmas is too commercialised nowadays’?
  • Do you think this is true? If so, how do you think it happened? Will it ever go back to how it was?
  • Are there any other holidays in your country which have become commercialised?

The song ‘Santa Baby’ is quite nice for discussion about Christmas presents and commercialisation of Christmas if you can get hold of it.