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How to teach … Christmas | Education | The Guardian

How to teach … Christmas | Education | The Guardian:

"Your lesson plans are likely to go out of the window this week as pre-Christmas excitement takes hold of your pupils.

But do not fear – the Guardian Teacher Network has lots of festive resources that will engage your class in the run-up to the holidays.

Younger pupils will love Kessie's Gift for Santa, a story about a little girl who suddenly feels that Santa should get a present. Suitable for KS1 and KS2, the story explores the themes of giving and receiving and provides a handy stimulus for Christmas-themed drama activities.

For KS2 and KS3, 'Twas the Fright Before Christmas is a humorous play that re-works Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Featuring three ungrateful children and a reformed Scrooge, the play has plenty of parts to get your whole class involved. A scene from the film A Muppet Christmas Carol is used in this English lesson to get pupils talking about Dickens's classic Christmas tale. The KS2-KS4 resource includes links to an edited and abridged version of the novel, particularly useful for Esol students and reluctant readers. Suggested activities include writing a diary entry for Christmas Eve. Scrooge writes his first Christmas card is a KS3 lesson in which students read an article and answer questions about the beginnings of the Christmas card in Britain. During the activity, pupils will discover what the first Christmas card looked like and why people complained about it."