Job Discussion Forums

[sidjameson]

Anybody out there know of a fun quiz about xmas? Next week is my las t week before the xmas hols. I would love to have some kind of quiz to round of my xmas themed class.

Actually any xmas related ideas would be great. I have university students in mind.

I'm going to give a speech about the history/culture/meaning of xmas.
Might try a few role plays such as a reporter interviewing Santa.
Chance to use requests( asking Santa for presents), complaints( not getting what you wanted) describing (The fat man himself)

Ideas?

[rusmeister]

If you're going to give a speech, you'd better find out what the original meaning of the x in your description is.
It's good to know that for most of its history, Santa Claus had nothing to do with Christmas, and to make stories about him a primary focus of the holiday would be to rob your students of most of that history (it's a good idea to stay one step ahead of them as well).
Are you familiar with the story of the real Saint Nicholas, who form some insane reason was attached to the legend of Santa Claus? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas_of_Myra
Or of the real Czech ruler Wenceslaus who also got thrown into the mix?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenceslaus_I%2C_Duke_of_Bohemia
Or most importantly, the Person whose birth is actually the cause for the celebration? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ

[lollercauster]

Who is ...this...Jesus? Tell me more.

[furiousmilksheikali]

[Guy Courchesne]

In Mexico, Jesus is the car wash guy at the end of the block. The Three Kings dressed in funky robes bring the gifts. Here's a quiz....what are their names, and what does each bear?

[rusmeister]

[bennyr81]

i dont think it is about anything being hidden but societies move on, they change.
I think society must choose what is good for them and disregard the rest! christianity did exactly the same with the pagan feasts that preceeded them (the connections between the old myths and christian beliefs for me are plain to see, for others mere coincedence!) So thanks JC for the year 0 but let's get back to what christmas is really all about; eating, drinking, sex and shopping and a time when we prefer to receive than to give

[spiral78]

Here in the Czech Rep, it's Baby Jesisek who brings the presents. We love him!

[Justin Trullinger]

Received an email today that said:

"Merry Xmas and a Happy NY!"

Is the "X" an elimination of Christ, or just yet another example of this awful abbreviating of the language that goes around? Are they wishing me a happy New York? Don't assume that all use of shortening techniques are intentional slights towards the eliminated sylables.

I know people who write "Xmas" but read it aloud as "Christmas." I guess their hands are just lazy.

I have no idea when "Xmas" came into common use, or what the intent of its invention was. But I think that with something as common as "Xmas" it's probably unfair to assume a common cause amongst those who use it. Some really may have an aversion to Jesus. Some may just be too lazy to write long words. Some may feel it looks better on a sign.

It's not really fair to assume that calling it "Xmas" is an anti-christian act.

But there are Christmas traditions and topics not related to Christ. Like Father Christmas, Rudolf the reindeer, elves, consumerism, drinking too much and insulting your inlaws, etc.

And I can see why, depending on the religious make up of a class, the nature (perhaps non-religious) of the organisation you work for, and other factors, some of these might be better topics than Jesus for classroom discussion.

In any case, here in Ecuador, students ask me about Christmas in the US. They don't want me to tell them about Jesus. Mostly they don't have anything against him; quite the contrary. It's just that they know about him already. They want to know what we, in the US, do to celebrate this holiday. (Of course the holiday is a celebration of the birth of Jesus! But they already know that! They just wanna know what we eat, what we do, where we meet, and what kind of presents we give each other.)


Merry Xmas Everybody.

God bless us, every one!

Justin

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I taught similarly aged students the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." First we went over vocabulary (sleigh, shiny, glows, etc), then the story itself (they got a kick out of my shoddy drawings), and finally the song.

I also had half of the students sing the song and the other half do the repetition:

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
(Reindeer)
Had a very shiny nose
(like a light bulb)
etc.........


You could probably adapt it to fill as much or as little time as you needed.

[laura1d]

Hi

I used a Boney M song this evening with my students, called 'Mary's Boy Child'. It tells the story of the birth of Jesus but in a relaxed way - I had no problem previously using it in non Christian countries. The words are very clear and all the students I have used it with have enjoyed it because it is easy to understand.

Today, I took the lyrics - picked out 15 words and wrote them on the board. Then I gave fly swatters to 3 selected students (who represented teams made of the remaining kids). I played the song and as they heard the words, they hit them with the fly swatters.

Next, we went through the 15 words to check understanding (shepherd for example, was a new word to them).

Following this I gave out the song lyrics with the 15 words from the board missing (as a gapped text). I played the song again and the students listened and filled in the missing vocab.

If a lot of them need to hear it for a third time I often get a student(s) that has finished to come to the board and cross out the words as they are sung, that way helping the slower students and preventing the fast finishers from getting bored.

It always goes down well when I do it, and is also a way to at least bring back the original reason for Christmas in a non lectural type of way.

Cheers, and Happy Holidays / Xmas / Christmas .... whatever!

Laura

[dajiang]

Xmas I read came from the greek spelling of the name Christ (Xpictoc or something like it). So people actually used that abbreviation way back as well.

I just did a google search and came up with lots of stuff on christmas. http://wilstar.com/xmas/xmassymb.htm
Also a trivia quiz.
http://wilstar.com/xmas/xmasquiz.htm

I wrote the multiple answer questions on the board (chose 6 of them), and introduced the 'true' story of Christmas. Explaining the symbols and history of each aspect of modern Christmas such as Mistletoe, the tree, Santa, the socks, the date, etc.

the kids seemed to like it, although lecturing isnt really my style.
next week we're gonna do some more communicative stuff again.

good luck
Dajiang

[sidjameson]

Thanks to all, especially to rusmeister for the links. I found out a lot of interesting stuff from them.

Gave the class; speech, quizz, role play, discussion and game. Worked very well.

[rusmeister]

You're welcome, and dajiang had some good stuff, too.

As to abbreviations, yes I think that for some the motivator is shorthand.

Bt the fny thng s we dont abrvt prpr nms n gnrl.