Monthly Archives: December 2009

Christmas is big deal in Western countries and I’ve compiled a few links to help you put together a fun lesson.  There are lots of ways to approach this fun holiday.


You could go for a multi-cultural theme…

Santa Clause around the world

Here is a link to a page at Hot Chalk. There are tons
to chose from. They’re divided up by discipline.
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/Christmas.htm#

More…
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Christmas/
http://www.esl-galaxy.com/holiday.html
http://www.teach-esl-to-kids.com/christmas-lesson-plan.html

Pictures of screaming kids sitting on Santa’s lap. It’s funny – what can I say? You could cherry pick a few of them and ask conversational questions like:

  1. Why is he/she crying?
  2. Do you think he/she is afraid of Santa?
  3. How old were you when you first sat on Santa’s lap?
  4. What do you want for Christmas?
  5. What is your favorite Christmas charity? Why?

…You get the idea…

Santa cam – maybe you could catch him. He wasn’t in when I checked. Probably out delivering Christmas gifts.

Best Sites for Adult ELL’s
This one looks real good. Totally appropriate for an adult intermediate class.

Oh, this one is good. I used to get their free downloads in my inbox all the time. It is worth signing up and then archiving the lessons for future use (just in case.) Scroll down for the Christmas activity.

Listening activity

Fluff Stuff
You could use this as a time filler. The videos (that I looked at) on the site were non-verbal and professionally done.

Santa at the North Pole

This is the link to the official NORAD Santa tracker. My BF’s hubby actually pulls this one up to get the girls excited about Santa Claus. You could throw it into the lesson as a transitional activity. While you are preparing for the next activity.  Tell the students that you are going to do a “random Santa Check.”

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A video archive of animals. Watching these short video clips with your students will make great discussion starters.

Put on the board questions like:

What kind of animal is that?
What is he/she doing?
What is the owner doing?
Do you have a pet?
What kind of pet do you have?
What is your pet’s name?
If you don’t have a pet, what kind would you like to have and why?

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Click here for a link to games that kids play in the West. Some are outside games and some aren’t. They are divided alphabetically, by category and favorites. Capture the Flag, Duck, Duck, Goose, Heads Up Seven Up, Green Light- Yellow Light and much more. There is also a site map button, so I’m sure you will find something that will work for you and your students. What Time is it Mr. Wolf? This is a cute game you can use to teach the kids to tell time and have fun too!

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1. tactile variation: let the students color/trace/cut out the images 2. kinesthetic variation: have the students act it out. Both ways help the students acquire “muscle memory” which helps in the acquisition process. (It lowers the affective filter too.) Auditory learners may benefit from not only hearing & repeating the target vocabulary a few times, but it may help if you can search around and find a sound bite to go with the image as well.

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What’s an oxymoron? To me, the name conjures up an image of a dumb ox. What does it meant to you? Really it is just a fancy definition or words that seem contradictory when put together, like pretty ugly.

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Our good friends at The Internet TESOL Journal have a large database of ESL conversation questions. They are alphabetically organized by topics such as – annoying things, tipping and your major American holidays.

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