Job Discussion Forums

[pancakes]

The thread about Christmas songs showed me that you guys have lots of Christmassy ideas.

If you've got great lesson ideas with a Christmas theme, then why not share them in this thread? We could make a giant stocking-sized one-stop Christmas info and ideas thread.

Have you got great Christmas lessons aimed at kindy students? Primary? Intermediate? High? University? Adult?

Start your thread with the students it's suitable for, and let 'er rip!

This is the time for giving and sharing, so let's do that, and keep those eggnog-induced fixed smiles on.

(I know it's traditional to start off one of these threads with info yourself, but this will be the first Christmas I'm teaching!)

[Spiderman Too]

I put together a Power Point presentation on Christmas (10 minutes / 7.3 megs) and I have Mr Bean's Christmas Special in .avi format (25 minutes / 173 megs) but I don't know how I can share them with anyone?

Before showing them to students I give them the following speech;

Christmas

The word �Christmas� comes from two other words that have been joined together. The first word is �Christ� which means Jesus Christ, 耶稣基督, and the second word is �mass� which means a religious celebration, 宗教庆祝仪式.

So, the word �Christmas�, means a celebration for Jesus Christ and the celebration is for his birthday. Christians believe that Jesus Christ was born on December 25, two thousand and five years ago.

As you know, the English language began as the language of England but now it has become the international language, a language for all countries.

The same can be said about Christmas. Christmas began as a festival for Christians but now it has become an international festival, a festival for all countries.

One example is Singapore, 新加坡. 76% of Singapore people are Chinese. They speak mandarin, 普通话, and they are not Christians. But Christmas, December 25, is an official government holiday in Singapore.

Another example is Japan. 84% of Japanese people believe in the Shinto religion, 神道, they do not believe in Jesus Christ. But Japanese people celebrate Christmas.

The reason that Christmas has become so popular throughout the world is because the festival promotes peace on earth and good will to all people - 增进友谊.

For many people around the world Christmas is not a religious day but is a festival of happiness and a time for being kind, 惇, and giving, 给予物, to all the people in your life.

The way most people show their kindness to others is by giving presents.

You probably already know that westerners, 西方人, give presents to their families on Christmas day. Parents give presents to their children, children give presents to their parents and brothers and sisters give presents to each other.

But did you also know that westerners give presents at Christmas to people who have given them service, 服务 / 客服, during the past year? For example, westerners give presents to their teachers, their postman, 邮差, even to the driver of the bus that they catch to go to work every day.

And, of course, Christmas is a time to give presents to unfortunate people, 不幸人, such as orphans, 孤儿, poor people, and old people who don�t have families to take care of them.

All of this is called the Christmas Spirit.

Everyone here knows about the Olympic Spirit, 奥运精神, a time when all Chinese people are thinking the same thing about being hopeful,乐观, for China having great success, 成功, and winning many gold medals.

Well, the Christmas Spirit is similar, 是相似. It is a time for all people to share the same thoughts about being kind and generous to other people. A time for all people to think about making peace and happiness in the world, if only for 1 day.

So, should Chinese people celebrate Christmas? What do you think?

[chengdude]

An essay I wrote from various sources that I have given to students who ask about Christmas...a bit advanced, admittedly:


Although arguments can always be made, it's probably safe to say that, in terms of recognition, symbolism, and money, Christmas is the most popular holiday in the world. Christmas is one of the two major holidays for Christians worldwide. There are about 1.8 billion Christians in the world and, since approximately 85% of Americans say they are Christian, most Americans observe Christmas in some way. In the United States especially, Christmas is also economically critical for retailers, who earn from 25% to 70% of their profits during the Christmas shopping season. The story of Christmas is very complicated, but at its heart is the birth of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God according to Christianity. It is Christ's message of forgiveness, love, hope, equality, and kindness to all that represents the true meaning of Christmas. "Xmas" isn't just a short way of writing "Christmas;" X is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Xristos, and has been used since the 1500's to represent Christmas. As is so common with all widely celebrated holidays, a lot of the original meaning has been lost or forgotten and, for many people, Christmas today only means time off from work, parties, family reunions, big meals, and especially, gift-giving.

Origins

Christmas is celebrated on December 25th each year, the day that most people associate with the birth of Christ. Although it can be a sensitive subject for those with strong religious belief or a strong sense of tradition, historians and scholars generally agree that Christ was not born on December 25th. In fact, there is no agreement on exactly when he was born. There has even been some disagreement among the various churches of Christendom as to what happened when, for example, one branch today observes the birth of Christ on January 6th. What is known from historical records, however, is that in 336 A.D. Christmas became an officially recognized Holy Day by the Church of Rome and the day chosen to celebrate it was December 25th. The word Christmas comes from the Latin "Cristes Maesse," or Christ's Mass, which eventually became just Christmas. A "mass" is a church service in the Churchof Rome. Even after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century A.D., people continued to observe older, pagan rituals like Saturnalia, the Roman harvest festival honoring the god Saturn and held from December 17th to 21st. The birth of the sun god Mithras, originally a Persian god but also honored by Romans who believed in this cult, was observed on December 25th. Other peoples in northern Europe also observed mid-winter harvest festivals, usually around the winter solstice, the middle of winter and shortest day of the year. The Church of Rome was unhappy with these very un-Christian celebrations and decided to make a mid-winter holiday of their own. Thus, by combining elements of pagan holidays with the observation of Christ's birth, Christmas was created. The only setback to Christmas's rise in popularity came in the 17th century during the Age of Reformation. At this time, when Protestantism was born, Christmas was seen as sacrilegious because so many elements of the old pagan festivals remained in the celebrations. Christmas was actually banned in England and in Colonial America for a time during the 1600's.

History and Traditions

From these origins, the traditions of Christmas have been borrowed from various traditions and beliefs found all over the world. Most traditions that people believe are "American" aren't American at all. The story of Christmas comes from the Bible, the Christian holy book. In chapter 2 of the Gospel of St. Luke, the story of the birth of Jesus is told and, from this, we get many of the images of Christmas, for example the Christ child lying in a manger surrounded by animals and the Star of Bethlehem, which eventually became the decoration at the top of almost every Christmas tree. From the Book of Matthew in the Bible, we take the images of the Three Wise Men who followed the Star and brought gifts to give in honor of the birth of Christ all come from the Bible. The Three Kings are also believed to have arrived 12 days after the birth of Christ (thus, the 12 days of Christmas) on January 6th, known as Epiphany or Three Kings Day. Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season.

Many other traditions can be traced back to the mid-winter and harvest celebrations that predated Christianity. Gift-giving, feasting, drinking, singing songs, red and green colors, the light of fires and later, candles, and evergreens (especially mistletoe and holly) all come from these pagan celebrations. The Christmas tree is an old tradition as well, beginning as a symbol in the 8th century in Germany. Later, in much of northern Europe, a pyramid made of wood and decorated with fruit, evergreen branches, and later, candles was the main decoration in homes during Christmas. In the 16th century, decorated trees began to replace pyramids in homes and a legend says that, around the same time, Martin Luther, the leader of the Reformation in Germany, was the first to decorate a tree with candles in an effort to duplicate the beauty of the stars in heaven. The tradition of Christmas trees came to the New World with German immigrants and the first known mention of a decorated tree in America dates from 1821. Decorations on trees were originally fruits, nuts, other food, and flowers. Trees started to fall over with so much weight on them, so German glassblowers began making glass balls to hang on trees to substitute for the foods. A large chain of stores in America called Woolworth's first sold mass-produced Christmas tree decorations in 1880. Various dates and places are given for the first electric lights on Christmas trees, but the 1880's is the generally accepted time.

Santa Claus is another Christmas tradition that has a long, complicated history. The name comes from the Dutch, Sinterklaas. Is Santa Claus real? Well, yes he really is: he is based on an actual historical figure, Nicholas, who after his death was elevated to Saint Nicholas because of his lifetime spent in the church helping poor and desperate people. Nicholas was born and lived in what is now Turkey and, from the legends surrounding his life, we get even more Christmas traditions. The tradition of someone bringing gifts to children, the red and white of Santa's suit (which come from the clothes that important people in the church wore), and the stockings that are hung in the home in hopes of receiving gifts, all come from the stories of the good deeds of St. Nicholas. Saint Nicholas has his own day, December 6th, which is still observed in many countries. It is also a day for children to receive gifts, often put in their shoes or socks. The image of Santa Claus as a fat, bearded man with a pipe and red cheeks who rides a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer and comes down the chimney, is actually quite modern and comes from two sources. In 1822, a man named Clement Moore wrote a poem for his children called "A Visit from St. Nicholas." It was published and, over time, reprinted in more and more newspapers and magazines as people heard about it. This poem has since become one of the most famous pieces of writing about Christmas. Between 1863 and 1886, a man named Thomas Nast made a series of engravings for "Harper's Weekly," one of the most popular magazines in America at the time. From those drawings, the first pictures of a fat, bearded Santa with a sack of toys, Santa in his workshop building toys, and Santa reading over a list of good and bad children, entered the American imagination. The very modern picture of Santa we have in our minds today comes from the Coca-Cola Company, which created a series of popular advertisements beginning in the 1930's and featured Santa Claus enjoying a cold Coca-Cola.

The poinsettia, which is now the "official Christmas flower," was brought to the U.S. from Mexico in 1828 by Dr. Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico. It is a plant native to Mexico and Central America and there is a Mexican legend that associates it with Christmas.

The tradition of Christmas cards began in England in 1843. In 1875, a printer named Louis Prang began printing his own cards in the United States. Prang is credited with the mass popularization of Christmas cards because he held nationwide contests to find the best designs for the cards. In past years, up to 2 billion Christmas cards were exchanged each year in the United States, but this number is going down rapidly with the popularity of the Internet, e-mail, and "e-cards."

Customs

Today, the Christmas season officially begins the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. Stores are overcrowded with people taking advantage of the big sales offered by retailers who rely on Christmas for much of their yearly sales. This day is now known as "Black Friday." Because Christmas is so important economically, it's not hard to find Christmas displays in some stores as early as the beginning of November...or even in October! According to historian Daniel J. Boorstin, Christmas wasn't even very popular in the U.S. until the 1860's. In 1867, Macy's, a famous department store in New York, first stayed open until midnight on Christmas Eve to allow shoppers extra time to buy gifts. In 1874, elaborate Christmas window displays to attract the public first appeared in department stores, beginning a tradition that continues today. With all students home from school on winter vacation and many people taking week-long vacations from work, Christmas is a busy time of the year. Many houses in many neighborhoods are decorated with thousands of lights and other symbols of Christmas; in true American spirit, it often becomes a competition to see who can create the best display. Many people enjoy driving or walking through these neighborhoods in the evening to see these houses. It is also very stressful as people fight heavy traffic and crowded stores to buy gifts, entertain visiting relatives, attend numerous parties given by friends, work and family, and prepare for their own Christmas celebrations. People often speak about the "Christmas Spirit," but Christmas is also a time of depression for many. Feelings of loneliness, emptiness, and sadness are common among people who feel they don't (or cannot) fit into the images and expectations that surround them during Christmas: a big, happy, successful family, a warm comfortable house filled with beautiful decorations, excited children waking up Christmas morning to find lots of gifts under the tree, and many close friends sharing the holiday spirit. For the poor in America, these images are even more artificial. Christmas today has developed far beyond the simple messages delivered by the man whose birthday we remember on this day.

[JDYoung]

Find or write yourself a few paragraphs about Christmas traditions in various countries - one paragraph or so per country. Divide the students into groups. Each group gets one country. Give more difficult paragraphs to groups with better students. Each group studies their paragraph and presents its information along with their own observations about it to the class. I did have a bunch of paragraphs already written but they've disappeared into the bit bucket. If anyone sees them flying around out in the ether somewhere please send them home.

[Hainanien]

Can someone give a simple rundown of Boxing Day for us who didn't grow up with it?

Maybe someone can a quick list / explanation of major religions that don't celebrate Christmas under that name, like Hanukkah?


Hanukkah starts tomorrow this year, yes?

[frigginhippie]

Doesn't the gift giving on Chirstmas have something to do with the 3 wise men bearing gifts? I know Santa Claus came into the Christmas picture later, but should the wise men be part of the origins story?

Hannukah I think the word Hannukah means 'dedication'.

[pancakes]

Boxing Day

In England the church kept donation boxes for the poor. The day after Christmas they traditionally went around breaking open the boxes and giving out the money.

Another theory is that it comes from the upper class tradition of giving gifts in boxes to the lower classes, or to tradesmen in lieu of money.

I'm not sure if they do either of those any more in England, but in NZ Boxing Day now is just an opportunity for all the kids to break the toys they got yesterday (if they haven't already), the teenagers to eat the left-over food, and the adults to lie back and continue trying to digest yesterday's feast. It's a public holiday, although many shops now in NZ are open.

Boxing Day history links:
http://homepages.tesco.net/~derek.berger/holidays/boxingday.html
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/around/boxingday.html
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/boxingday.html
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/boxingday1.html
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-box1.htm
http://www.britainusa.com/faq/showfaq.asp?SID=260

[pancakes]

PS Excellent work so far guys!

[pancakes]

Christmas Spelling Game - good for young (5-10yrs) students above the beginner level

(Doesn't have to be Christmas-related, but would work with anything I guess)

First, quickly review the alphabet, sing the song, do a few tests on the blackboard.

Second, teach a series of Christmassy vocabulary words, 'Christmas', 'Santa', whatever you wish. Put those vocabulary word cards on the walls around the students' desks.

Third, (or before class, if you can) stick up a bunch of letters on paper outside the classroom, or on the far side of the class if you have a large classroom. Fold the paper over so the kids can't see the letters without going up to them and opening the paper. These letters will eventually spell out some of the Christmas vocab you've just learnt.

Put the students in pairs, and divide the pairs into runners and writers.

When you say so, the runners stand and walk (walkers?) quickly to the letters, then go back and quietly tell their writer what the letter was. If they can remember more than one letter at a time, they can do so, but they must get EVERY letter (crucial).

Once they've got every letter, the runner sits down and helps the writer. Together they put the letters into words - those same words you've put up around the desks.

For trickiness' sake, don't use every word card that you've put up, otherwise the kids can just sit there and write them out.

The first pair to finish (and checked by the teacher) gets a small prize, but let the others finish as well.

A bit complex, but fun!

[frigginhippie]

[pancakes]

Hi fh,

Yes, I was mmm... pancakes. Last year I was teaching, but I took holidays over the Christmas period, so missed doing this sort of class.

Do you think the students would all front up with a gift or even a card? I guess if you start badgering them early enough in preparation? It's a good idea though.

pancakes