Adding a grammar point to a Christmas lesson can be a great way of combining the seasonality and fun of the end of year topic with a language point that is more generally useful. This site has another article on teaching past, present and future verbs forms in Xmas lessons, so this article will deal with other common grammar points.
Prepositions of time Xmas lessons
Students try to make questions like “When did the real St Nicholas live?” to get answers that they have been given like “In the 4th century”, “Since 1923” and “For 12 days”, starting with no help and then choosing from mixed questions. They can also be tested on their knowledge of the grammar with gapped versions of the same questions and/ or answers.
Adjective word order Xmas lessons
Students can practise the “adjectives of opinion before adjectives of fact” word order pattern by choosing the best options from a list of nouns with many adjectives (“a huge cheap plastic Xmas tree”, “a small natural Xmas tree”), putting such adjectives in order, and/ or adding two or more adjectives to nouns to make good things for Xmas.
Be and get used to Xmas lessons
Students choose an action that happens around Xmas and give hints like “Older people are still not used to it”, “I think everyone could quickly get used to it” and “Foreign people rarely get used to it” until their partner works out that they chose “Eating KFC on Xmas Day”, “Having cranberry sauce with turkey”, etc.
Have and have got Xmas lessons
Students make hints like “Rudolph has got one”, “I’ve got a plastic one” and “My father has one after drinking too much” until their partner guesses “a red nose”, “a star”, “black boots”, etc.
Students can also make sentences for each other to draw like “Santa has a big stomach” and “The roof has lots of snow”.
Plural nouns Xmas lessons
Students decide if they want “A snowman in the garden”/ “Two snowmen in the garden”, “A star on the Xmas tree”/ “Some stars on the Xmas tree”, “A reindeer model with four feet on the ground/ with three feet on the ground/ with two feet on the group”, etc. You can then test them on the regular and/ or irregular plurals in the list of options that they just chose from.
This, that, these and those Xmas lessons
Find or make Xmas pictures with things both in the foreground and in the background such as a sleigh coming towards you with the reindeer at the front of the picture. Students can answer questions like “What are those?” as the pictures are flashed up, or try to draw from descriptions like “This is a mince pie for Santa. That is a carrot for the reindeer” and then compare to the original pictures.
There is/ There are Xmas lessons
The simplest practice for this topic is for students to take turns describing a Xmas scene, decorations on a Xmas tree or in a living room, the picture on a Xmas card, etc for the other person to draw (“There is a star. There are many fairy lights” etc).
It’s also possible to having a guessing game where students give each other clues like “There are some in a Xmas dinner” and “There are three in a nativity scene and nativity play” until their partner guesses “They are potatoes”, “They are the Three Wise Men”, etc.
Prepositions of position Xmas lessons
Students can describe and draw a Xmas living room etc with prepositions (“There are many presents under the tree. There are two black boots in the fireplace”, etc).
The guessing the Xmas vocabulary from hints game above may also work with “He is in the chimney”, “They are on the roof”, “It is on Rudolph’s face”, etc.
Comparative adjectives Xmas lessons
Students can make comparisons between Xmas in different countries (“Australia is hotter than Germany at Xmas”), or debate which of two options is better (“A natural Xmas tree is more environmentally friendly than a plastic Xmas tree” “But a plastic one last longer”).
If you do a picture dictation with a Xmas scene, the student who can see the original drawing can also give hints on how their partner can improve what they have drawn with “The Xmas tree is taller”, “Santa is fatter”, etc. When they have finished, groups could also criticise other teams’ efforts with the same language before everyone votes on which is best.
Similar hints like “Much higher” and “Slightly shorter” can also be given as students guess numbers like how much CO2 is caused by wrapping paper, how tall the most famous public Xmas tree in London (in Trafalgar Square) is, and how long a Xmas pudding should be left to mature.
Superlative adjectives Xmas lessons
Students debate which is “The greenest way of wrapping presents”, “The healthiest Xmas dinner that is still quite traditional and tasty”, “The best thing to put on hot Xmas pudding”, “The earliest kids should be allowed to open their presents”, etc. If you also give them versions without the superlative (“___old____ a child should believe in Santa until”) to be used for more challenging practice and/ or to fill in after finishing the speaking.
Students can also compete to draw “The most original Xmas wrapping paper”, “The fastest-looking Santa’s sleigh”, etc.
Countable and uncountable nouns Xmas lessons
Students decide how many or how much of each thing they need for a Xmas meal or office Xmas party, then match “how many” and “how much” and the answers to the different kinds of nouns.
Possessives Xmas lessons
Students make sentences like “Santa’s nose is big” and “The presents are all round” for their partner to draw on a scene of the house while the kids are asleep, a Xmas poster for the classroom wall, etc.
Modal verbs Xmas lessons
Modals of speculation Xmas lessons
One student chooses a topic (“Xmas in Lebanon”, “Xmas crackers”, etc) and gives hints about what they chose. The other students list to the hints and use the right level of certainty or uncertainty to describe what it can’t be, could possibly be, may be, might well be, and then must be, making sure that they don’t guess with “must” until there is only one option.
Modals of obligations Xmas lessons
Students decide on rules for a staff Xmas party, dealing with business partners in that season, etc.
Can and can’t Xmas lessons
Students give hints like “You can’t open two doors on the same day”, “It usually can’t make people laugh, but it can make people groan” and “You can write to him” until their partners guess that they are describing an advent calendar, a Xmas cracker joke or Father Xmas.
Relative clauses Xmas lessons
Students define Xmas vocabulary with “It’s a place where you can buy Xmas decorations and snacks”, “It’s a creature who helps Santa”, “It’s a thing that you put around presents”, etc until someone guesses what they are speaking about.
Question formation Xmas lessons
Indirect questions Xmas lessons
Students change slightly sensitive questions about Xmas like “Does your family celebrate Xmas?” to indirect question starters like “Can I ask…?”, asking any less sensitive questions in their original form, and avoiding any completely taboo questions like “Are you Christian?”
Yes/ No questions Xmas lessons
Students ask questions like “Do you have one in your house?”, “Is it delicious?” and “Do you want one this year?” until they guess which Xmas thing their partner chose.