In my last class this semester I talked about Christmas and New Years and we did a lot of activities related to the holiday season. It was really fun sharing some of the traditions and seeing their opinions, perspectives and surprise on some of the more imaginative Christmas beliefs (A jolly fat man lives at the North Pole with elves? A flying reindeer with a red nose? Covering your house and trees in tiny lights? Hanging your socks on the fireplace?) It made me realize that to an outsider, a typical American Christmas might seem a little nuts. This made it all the more fun and entertaining to share, however, and the students' obvious favorites of the lesson were singing Christmas carols (no surprise there - they sing every chance they can get) and talking about kissing under mistletoe and at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve.
First we played a trivia game about Christmas and then I went over the answers and showed them pictures of some key elements like elves, candy canes and Santa with his reindeer. Between each game and activity we sang a new Christmas carol like Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Deck the Halls, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, O Christmas Tree etc.
Then I asked them to think about the quote "No two are alike" and share what different things come to mind. They said that in China this phrase is often used to describe leaves and eggs. I said that many Americans believe that no two snowflakes are alike and that a common activity during the holiday season is making snowflakes to decorate your house. We spent the next 10 minutes of class making snowflakes and listening to Christmas music and they had a blast. It was really cool to see them be creative, relax and have a little fun. Some of the snowflakes turned out pretty impressive!
After making snowflakes I had them try an activity in which they had to describe some simple Christmas pictures to their partner to see if they could copy them correctly. After struggling initially they caught on and eventually most produced a motley version of a snowman and a Christmas tree. To conclude the class we went Christmas shopping. I divided half the class into store owners and half into shoppers who had $100 to buy gifts. We practiced some English buying/selling/bargaining phrases and the activity was a huge hit. For the next 25 minutes the class erupted into a chaotic shopping frenzy complete with copies of U.S. money flying around (for those of you from OSU who are reading this and have taught Chapter 5 of Amistades you can relate with being up until one the night before cutting out bills).
It was a really fun class and a good way to end. Next week they have their oral exams in which they will talk with me for about 3 minutes each about a topic they pull out of a hat. I'll let you know how it goes =)
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