1. Communicative Christmas Activities A workshop for Yilan County Elementary English Teachers

2. Outline (1) Overview of Christmas History and Traditions (2) Activities and games for the English Classroom

3. Christmas Is the festival to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem (in the middle east in what is today the Palestinian Territories near Jerusalem and Israel). There are main two types of Christmas celebrations, religious and secular (non- religious).

4. Religious Christmas Religious Christmas is based on the account of the birth of Jesus the New Testament of the Bible. The time between the birth of Jesus and the visit from the three Kings (also known as the wise men) is known as the twelve days of Christmas.

5. Secular Christmas  Secular Christmas comes from old druid traditions of winter festivals and modern interpretations of Santa Claus.

6. Santa Claus The story of Santa Clause is based on a real person, St Nicholas, who lived in 300 A.D.

7. Modern Santa Claus

8. “ Goodwill and Peace on Earth ” One thing that both types of Christmas have in common is that during the holiday season people try to remember to show more love and kindness for all people. This is an old idea, but its modern popularity can be traced to Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol published in 1843 in England.

9. A Christmas Carol Is a very famous story about a terrible man called Ebenezer Scrooge and how he is visited by three spirits one Christmas Eve and decides to become a better person. Is a very famous story about a terrible man called Ebenezer Scrooge and how he is visited by three spirits one Christmas Eve and decides to become a better person. This story is the origin of the famous phrase, “God bless us everyone.” The entire book can be read online for free at http://www.literature.org/authors/dickens- charles/christmas-carol/

10. Colors of Christmas The traditional colors associated with the Christmas holiday are red, green, white, and gold

11. Traditional Christmas Songs One of the most famous parts of Christmas is the music. Both secular and religious songs are heard and sung all over the United States. In English class these songs can be useful for teaching culture and language.

12. Communicative activities for Christmas Almost any activity or method can be adapted to include Christmas festival information and English Practice. Try to use the “high motivation” of Christmas activities to have students use more and more English.

13. Make a snowflake

14. Santa Says … A listening game for motions.

15. Make a card  Students make Christmas cards and write messages inside.

16. More resources  http://www.northpole.com (www.northpole.com (a commercial site but it has many free activities and worksheets.) Look at the Teachers section.  http://www.caslt.org/research/christmas5.htm ( A Canadian non-profit site with some good links).  http://esl.about.com/ : an excellent general resource site—type Christmas in the search area to find dozens of links to workshhets, puzzles, and activities for Christmas.

17. Any questions? Merry Christmas And Happy New Year! Email:sue.sroda@murraystate.edu