Christmas and New Year ESL Resources

Check out the rich Christmas resources on our SOCEM site including Christmas lessons from the Virtues series and the Conversation Guides:

• https://eslministries.org/resources/teaching-materials/seasonal-resources/

An excellent reading about the North American Christmas traditions, with a glossary:

• http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/christmasday.pdf

Christmas traditions around the world; good for starting conversations with students:

• http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/
• http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm
• https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/

Stories behind favourite Christmas carols and hymns:

• http://hubpages.com/entertainment/ChristmasCarols

Christmas vocabulary:

• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/christmas.shtml
• http://iteslj.org/lists/christmas.html

Christian Christmas scripts, if you are thinking along the lines of producing a Christmas play:

• http://bobsnook.org/seasonal.htm (scroll down to find “Christmas”; lots to choose from)

Grief and the holiday season:

While not written specifically for ESL, these readings are relatively short and in plainer language. They deal with an important topic. Consider simplify the language further through Rewordify if you are to use them for lower level students:

• Grief and the Holidays

December Resources from Q Place (https://www.qplace.com/), many of these are applicable in ESL contexts:

Christmas Tips and Resources (All FREE)

• Two Christmas Gifts – This article helps you unpack two Christmas gifts: our Christmas Party how-to and our four 1-session Christmas discussions for a group. (The four 1-session Christmas Studies are also available in our web store.)

• An Online Christmas Party – Ideas for a meaningful event with family or friends who live far away.

• Plan A Christmas Party . . . about Christmas!

• Christmas Ideas to Start a January Group – These trust-building, doable December ideas can help you start a group for spiritual seekers in the New Year.
• When Someone in Your Group Is Grieving – Helpful tips as well as a PDF called Getting through the Holidays that you can print and share with a friend who is grieving.

A few websites for New Year resources later on:

• Warm up conversation questions, and a host of other links with readings, questions, worksheets: http://www.eslmadeeasy.ca/2014/12/happy-new-year.html
• New Year lessons, quizzes and worksheets for different levels: https://www.esolcourses.com/topics/new-year-celebrations.html