ESL Teacher

I love teaching students in the lead-up to Christmas, and wherever I’ve been teaching I always like to tell them all about Christmas in my home country, Australia. I’ve got a few favourite activities that I have to admit to using year in, year out because they’re always such a success. You could adapt them to reflect your own nationality and customs at Christmas time:

• Australian Christmas quiz: I wrote a multiple choice quiz of about a dozen questions about typical Australian Christmas customs, with a lot of funny answers thrown in (you’d be surprised how often students pick the wrong one!) – about the food we eat, the songs we sing and what temperature it is on Christmas Day, to name a few
• Australian Jingle Bells: Instead of teaching them a normal Christmas carol – many students know these already – then I use the funny version someone wrote about Santa “dashing through the bush” in a “rusty Holden ute” instead of a sleigh. There’s also a version of the “Twelve Days of Christmas” featuring Australian animals that is a lot of fun, and easy to do even with beginners because there’s so much repetition.
• Kris Kringle: Getting students to pick names out of a hat and then finding a small (anonymous) gift for another class member is a lot of fun – I usually set the value limit small at $5 but brainstorm with them about different ideas on how to get an interesting present for a low price. And just to be safe I usually bring a spare gift or two so nobody misses out if a student is sick or forgetful!

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