Wednesday, December 16, 2009

part one done!

I have just come back from my last class at school. I can't believe I'm saying this, but... I made it! I made it to Christmas!

Speaking of which, I've really been enjoying teaching my Christmas lessons these past two weeks. Each class started with two listening activities. The first was a fill in the blank for the lyrics to "The Christmas Song." The answer was wrong, but in my class of 16 boys (who I had by myself for the first time) they said "kiss" instead of "kids" in the line "To kids from one to ninety-two." It was wrong, but I nearly melted into the floor it was so cute! So from here on out let's sing "To kiss from one to ninety-two!" After this, I split the classes into pairs and gave them bags with slips of paper, each with one line from "I'll Be Home For Christmas." We listened to the song line by line and they had to compete against each other to see who could grab the correct line first. I never foresaw this being such a huge hit, but one boy even ended up on the floor in the fight to the finish. Crazy!

One class always does something different from the others. I had them read an article on the "it" toy of the season, Zhu Zhu pets i.e. a battery powered hamster. After going through the article they got to choose whether to write an ad or film an ad promoting their own Zhu Zhu pet, showcasing its unique personality. Ronan and Jean Baptiste chose to film theirs- haha- and they did a great job:

Zhu Zhu Stinky from Sally Anderson on Vimeo.


If the class was small enough, I gave them a list of vocabulary words and had them write their own Christmas story. Here are some of my favorites...

Rayan and Rémy (seniors):
Once upon a time there was Santa Claus who was on the sled with his best friend, a woman elf, to distribute some gifts. Suddenly he fell in love. They were kissing when Bad Santa Claus came. He hunted them across the snow under the night and stars. But at the moment when they arrived next the Christmas tree, St Nicholas came with an angel who they stopped the two sleds. After a discussion, they decided to make peace with Christmas love in front of a Christmas log.

Gwendoline, Jenifer, Marion (seniors-lit):
Once upon a time there was a little snowman which didn't have any carrot as nose. He was very sad because all the other snowmen got one and they were bulling him. One day, he saw a beautiful star which was in a sparkle sky. He wishes to this star to have a carrot as gift this Christmas. Christmas day arrived, he woke up early and suddenly a big red man with angels by his side. He couldn't believe his eyes when Santa Claus gave him a little gifts under the Christmas tree. How surprised was he when he discovered a carrot! Since now on, no one make fun of the little snowman, cause he's wearing the most beautiful carrot of the world.

Florent (technical student):
One upon a time there was a little Christmas tree with his mother tree. They were from a beautiful mountain. When autumn arrived the little Christmas tree was scared of humans because they cut Christmas trees to carry on to the super market to be sold. This day arrived a fall morning. A man cut the little Christmas tree. He was so sad to leave his mother. In the market the little Christmas tree was exhibited. Because he was so sad he became ugly. The day of Christmas, the little Christmas tree was the last tree. But there was child who does not have much money. The little guy bought the little Christmas tree. When they come back to the home of the little child, the guy decorated it with tinsel and a lot of ornaments. The little Christmas tree and little child had a Merry Christmas.

a group of junior girls:
Once upon a time there was a family who waited for their gifts. The night before Christmas, the Santa Claus began his distribution... He arrived in the house of this family, he wanted to passed in the fireplace but he got stuck in. That was a big problem. To distribute the toys he eat the toys and eject them with his ass. What a strange story.

Anne Sophie, Karine, and Lydie:
Once upon a time there were children who made a snowman. During the Christmas night the snowman woke up. He invited his friend. At first there were elves, then a lot of reindeer. And to finish Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus. While they were eating a Christmas log, they saw a shadow in the night. It was Bad Santa Claus. It took lots of alcohol bottles from his bag. They had fun and drank all the night. In the morning, the little boy woke up and saw them sleeping in the living room. Santa Claus couldn't distribute all the gifts.... The moral of the story: alcohol must be consumed with moderation.

Aren't these great?!

1 comment:

  1. I nearly DIED laughing when I read that one in class! I still can't believe they said that! Ahaha!

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