All materials including this lesson plan can be found in a PDF file along with a PPT at the bottom of this post.

Every December around Christmas I take a holiday, so I'm never in the classroom. This means I miss all the Christmas lessons and activities that teachers usually do. It's been a few years since I was last in the classroom doing a Christmas lesson and I thought I wouldn't let the lesson plan I used to use each year gather dust until I get to use it again.

I hope you and your students enjoy the lesson, and I'd love to hear how the lesson goes.

All materials including a PPT and this lesson plan can be found at the bottom of this post.


1. Show Ss the 1st slide and ask how many days there are to Christmas. Ask if they have bought any presents or are they expecting anything this year. Have an open-class chat and generate interest in Christmas.

You could also ask Ss to write down the best present they ever received and why.

2. Put Ss in pairs and then ask them to come up with 7 nouns that they associate with Christmas. Let Ss share their ideas in open-class feedback and then show Ss the nouns on the slide and clarify any they are unsure of. Ask them to work in their pairs again and to think of the verb that collocates with the Christmas noun. In feedback clarify any unsure collations and accept other answers from the Ss if they collocate.

Ss might need these collocations later when they retell their advert stories

3. Tell Ss that we experience a lot of different emotions at Christmas before asking them for some ideas. Then show Ss the slide with some feelings. Clarify any ones they are unsure of, and then put them in pairs to think WHY? And WHEN? Someone might feel like this at Christmas. After a couple of minutes have some open-class feedback and get Ss to elaborate on their own experiences.

4. Show Ss the next slide of the world map, and ask if anyone knows of any traditions that other countries do at Christmas time. Then tell Ss you are going to give them 10 traditions from 10 different countries around the world, and it's their job to read the tradition and then decide if it true or false in their pairs or groups. End with feedback and getting their ideas before telling them the fake ones.

Depending on the size of the class, you could just cut out the traditions and give each student one country, and then get them to mingle and share. You could also limit the amount of traditions you give to each pair/group. If you do give them all 10, make sure they read one and then talk about that one before moving onto the next.

5. Ask Ss what TV is like in their country at Christmas time and if they show any kind of films (Home Alone) and ask if they have a lot of Christmas adverts at this time and if there are any famous ones. (the Coca-cola one) Explain in the UK all the supermarkets and shops have a Christmas advert and some of them are usually really good and tell a Christmas story.

6. Divide the class into A's and B's and tell them that A's will watch an advert that will tell a story and then have 5 minutes to prepare to retell it to the B's. Tell B's they will have to use 12 words (connected to A's advert) to come up with a story that might be in the advert

Advert 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrty4kt2KKA

7. After 5 minutes put Ss back in pairs or groups and get them to retell their story. Then show Ss the whole advert (WITH SOUND ON) and ask how well A's told the story and how similar it was to Bs

Advert 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGY-T4W-BOc

8. Repeat stages 6 and 7 again if time allows.

Feel free to change the adverts and key words.

I hope you enjoy the lesson, and have a good Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Luke - Native Speaker Online

PDF / PPT / Extra Post with lots of useful vocabulary about Christmas!