Christmas Lesson Plan

Christmas discussion questions 1/4
What does Christmas mean to you?
Is Christmas celebrated in your country? If so, what happens at Christmas and how do you celebrate it?
5 minutes

Christmas discussion questions 2/4
What do you do on Christmas Day?
Do you celebrate Christmas where you live?
Do you have a special lunch?
Do you give presents to family and friends? Are you good at choosing presents? Do you look forward to receiving presents?
What's your favourite part of the Christmas holiday?
10 minutes

Do you think of Christmas as a religious occasion, a holiday occasion or both?
Is Christmas the same today as it was 100 years ago?
Christmas discussion questions 3/4
5 minutes
More questions

What are the origins of Christmas?
Christmas discussion questions 4/4
Do you know where the
name Christmas comes from?
What is the etymology of the
word „Christmas“?
5 minutes

Did you know Christmas wasn't always celebrated on December 25th? Get the whole story behind the holiday.
Watch online – history.com
video 3 min, discussion 7 min

Christmas Glossary
5 minutes

Christmas Puzzle
Make an acrostics puzzle to brainstorm a new vocabulary
Words must be interlinked like crosswords areWords must be interlinked like crosswords are.
10-15 min

COPYRIGHT

New Vocabulary
Listening
Learn English via Listening - Level 1 - Christmas
Learn English via Listening - Level 2 - Christmas
5 minutes

If you could ask Santa for a gift, what would you ask for ?
☺

Complete the sentences below
1. _____is the period of four weeks before Christmas.
2. In cultures across pre-Christian Europe, _____ was seen as a representation of divine male essence (and thus romance, fertility and vitality), possibly due to a resemblance between the berries and semen.
3. In Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and some states of Australia, _____is primarily known as a shopping holiday.
4. _____ a Christmas Tree is one of the favorite activities of children and their parents.
Additional materials – 5 minutes

How much do you know about what happens at Christmas around the world?
Try to match the customs on the left with the country on the right.
Additional materials – 10 minutes

Correct answers
1 –e 2 –c 3 –h 4 –b 5 –f 6 –d 7 –a 8 –g

Adjectives
Additional materials – 5 minutes

The Christmas Gift
What do you think is the meaning of the title, "The Christmas Gift," in this story? What ideas come to your mind when you think of Christmas gifts?
Listen to the podcast online (with exercises)
Additional materials – 15 minutes

Additional Materials – 10 minutes
CHRISTMAS IDIOMS AND PROVERBS

The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038. "Cristes" is from Greek Christos and "masse" is from Latin missa (the holy mass). In Greek, the letter X (chi), is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Hence, Xmas is sometimes used as an abbreviation for Christmas.

Learn English via Listening - Level 1 - Christmas
In December, Christmas comes. We get a holiday from school, and our parents get a few days off from work.
Our family gets ready for Christmas by decorating the house. We decorate inside and out. On the outside of the house we put up lights that twinkle and glow. We have a wooden Santa Claus and reindeer set that my father puts up on the roof. Inside, we put up a Christmas tree. Some years we have a real tree. Real pine trees smell nice, but you have to be careful that they don't dry out and start a fire. This year we have an artificial tree. We hang tinsel and ornaments on the tree. We also hang strands of lights on the tree and put a star at the top. Everyone thinks that the tree is beautiful when we turn on the lights. We place gifts under the tree.
There is a gift for me under the tree. It is wrapped in red paper, and it has a big green bow on it. Red and green are the Christmas colours. On Christmas Eve, my brother and sister and I will hang our stockings near the fireplace. Santa Claus comes down the chimney and fills our stockings full of toys and goodies. On Christmas morning, it is exciting to see what Santa has left for you.
My mother will make a big turkey dinner for us on Christmas day. We will have lots of vegetables and good tasting foods to go with the turkey. We will have dessert too. Some of my family like Christmas pudding, but I will just have ice cream.
Last year some carolers came to the door. It was snowing outside.
They stood in the snow and sang Christmas carols to us. My father gave them some money, and my mother gave them some hot chocolate to warm them up. They had lovely voices, and they sang some of my favorite carols.
We also collect food, gifts and money for some of the people in town who cannot afford
to have Christmas. My family is collecting things for a poor family who live near here.
We had fun deciding which toys to buy for the children in that family.
It is a good feeling to share with people who do not have as much as you do.
My parents have always taught us that Christmas is a time for giving, not receiving.
I think they're right.

Learn English via Listening - Level 2 – Christmas
In most Western countries, Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year. People gather
with their families to celebrate this day, which occurs on December 25th each year.
The holiday of Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Christian religion,
Jesus Christ is recognized as the Son of God. During the Christmas season, many
people celebrate the events of the birth of Jesus Christ. For example, they recall the
three wise men who visited Jesus Christ shortly after his birth. Also, they recall that
Jesus Christ was born in a manger (a place where horses are kept), because his parents
could not find a place to stay.
In Western countries, Christmas is also celebrated by many people who are not religious.
People view Christmas as a time for being together with one's relatives. Children, parents,
and grandparents gather to exchange presents and to eat special foods.
The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas is unusual in one way. When children go to bed
on the evening before Christmas, they hang large socks (called stockings) in their house.
When they wake up on Christmas morning, the stockings have been filled with toys and candy.
According to tradition, the presents have been given by a fat man who wears a white
beard and a red suit. This man, called Santa Claus, flies around the world in a sled that is
pulled by reindeer. He stops at each house and flies down the chimney to deliver his
presents. In the weeks before Christmas, children are usually very well behaved. Their
parents tell them that Santa Claus will only give presents to children who are good!
Another Christmas tradition is the Christmas tree. People put a small tree inside their
house and decorate it with various pretty objects. Nowadays, most people use an
artificial tree instead of a real tree. The tradition of the Christmas tree is actually older
than Christmas itself-the people of Europe celebrated the beginning of the winter season
in this way even before Christianity reached Europe.
Christmas is certainly one of the most important and most enjoyed holidays in Western
countries.