lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

Christmas ideas online.

Lisa Stevens

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

Help! I need something Christmas-sy for my class …..

TOMORROW!!

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

Where Can You Find Inspiration?

• Do a GOOGLE search (or whichever other search engine you use!!)

• Join a fora and ask the question – it’s amazing what other people know! I suggest ell-mailtalk.ac.uk (specifically for Primary MFL) or mflresources on Yahoo (all levels and ages).

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

Here are some websites I’ve discovered…

…..with a little help from my friends!

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

• Here’s a text I found years ago and have used with pupils of all ages.

• It’s a familiar poem about Christmas with some modifications that lead to opportunities for language work as well as cultural comment.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

Mexican Version of The Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas y por toda la casa,Not a creature was stirring-Caramba! Que pasa?Los niños were tucked away in their camas,Some in long underwear, some in pijamas,While hanging the medias with mucho ciudadoIn hopes that old Santa would feel obligadoTo bring all children, both buenos y malos,A nice batch of dulces y otros regalos.

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• Outside in the yard there arose such a gritoThat I jumped to my pies like a frightened cabrito.I ran to the window and looked out afuera,And who in the world do you think that it era?Saint Nick in a sleigh and a big red sombreroCame dashing along like a crazy bombero.And pulling his sleigh instead of venadosWere eight little burros approaching volados.

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I watched as they came and this quaint little hombreWas shouting and whistling and calling by nombre:"Ay Pancho, ay Pepe, ay Cuco, ay Berto,Ay Chato, ay Chopo, Macuco, y Nieto!"Then standing erect with his hands on his pechoHe flew to the top of our very own techo.

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With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea,He struggled to squeeze down our old chiminea,Then huffing and puffing at last in our sala,With soot smeared all over his real suit de gala,He filled all the medias with lovely regalos-For none of the niños had been very malos.Then chuckling aloud, seeming muy contento,He turned like a flash and was gone como viento.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

And I heard him exclaim, and this is verdad,

Merry Christmas to all, y Feliz Navidad!

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http://www.geocities.com/pierrejon/twas.htmlHere’s a link to a bilingual English – French version written by Pete Jones of

Whitby, Ontario!

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http://www.nacell.org.uk/resources/christmas.htm

• You can find details of published and online resources on the NACELL Christmas page at the above address.

• The page is being updated and the new version will be online soon.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/mfle/creativeteaching

/drama.asp

• This website contains a short Christmas play in French, German and Italian.

• Although it’s only November, perhaps it’s a bit late to perform this year.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

http://www.linternaute.com/noel

• Here's a nice link from the latest Internaute edition. If you go to the 'faites votre liste' - you can select which presents you would like (and you can find out what the French means by clicking on the list), and it generates a print out of what you would like. A good way of getting around the difficulty of not knowing the French for some of these gadgets.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

http://www.linternaute.com/noel page 2

• http://www.linternaute.com/jeu/enfants/attrapez-le-pere-noel/is a game to catch Père Noël – no language content but fun nonetheless!

• http://www.linternaute.com/cartes/envoi/404764/1385236786/412/dans_toutes_les_langues.shtmlis an example of an e-card. I like this one as it says ‘Happy Christmas’ in lots of languages.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

http://www.csdraveurs.qc.ca/musique/noel/

• I love this site – again a tip from a fora.• It’s always great to get something free and

there’s lots here : a great French-Canadian site with songs sung by children, complete with visual  presentation of the words. I think it would work really well on an IWB.

• It’s an Advent calendar with a song behind each door.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

http://www.csdraveurs.qc.ca/musique/noel/

2• I particularly like 1 and 2 - very

international theme runs through these two.

• 1 – Enfants de Noël is a beautiful song about peace at Christmas.

• 2 – La tourtière is all about food from around the world with a very amusing animation.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

http://www.vivenoel.com/

• Here’s a site that offers lots of fun in French.

• You can write letters to Father Christmas (best ones are published), send e-cards, play games, sing songs.

• From December 1st, there will also be an Advent calendar with lots of activities.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

http://www.ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk/Curriculum/modlang/xmas.

htm

http://www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-

sunderland/resources.htm• Always great sources of material

for all age groups – loads of links in French, Spanish, German and Italian.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

http://wgfl.digitalbrain.com/wgfl/web/ell/resources/index.htm

• On this site from Warrington, you can find various activities in French and German including a German memroy game, an Advent calendar to make and an IWB Christmas tree!

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

Other recommendations http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/

christmas/- always a good source of craft ideas and pictures – lots in Spanish and French. Some are for subscribers only, but not too expensive.

http://www.bcsc.k12.in.us/eastHS/academics/foreign_languages/spanish_christmas_activities.html – a Canadian website which has six links to look at then a quiz based on the information.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

More recommendations

• http://www.terra.es/personal/7sietes/villacas.htm - online Christmas carols.

• From this page you can also access recipes and (http://www.terra.es/personal/7sietes/recetas.htm) and traditional Nativity scenes put on by various regions, cities and neighbourhoods. (http://www.terra.es/personal/7sietes/belenes/belepop.htm)

• Well worth a look to explain the traditions of different countries.

lstevens@whitehousecommon.bham.sch.uk

Even more recommendations!

• http://www.zianet.com/ocotillo/ - Dickens’ Christmas Carol read in Spanish!!

• http://www.nenos.com/navidad/poemasnav.htm - a picture of a warm room decorated for Christmas with hidden poems in Spanish when you click on objects such as the cat (El gatito optimista) or the reindeer head (El reno amable) – perhaps could inspire poems from our pupils!!

• http://club.telepolis.com/belenes/- this link has a downloadable Nativity scene to construct – instructions in Spanish. Quite a project!! Also, some villancicos and, very usefully, ideas on wrapping those awkward shaped presents!

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And finally….