Christmas

Christmas Stories
By Charles Dickens
Dickens wrote several Christmas stories. The most famous is "A Christmas Carol", but you can also read these other Christmas stories:
A Christmas Tree
What Christmas is as we Grow Older
The Poor Relation's Story
The Child's Story
The Schoolboy's Story
Nobody's Story
http://www.authorsdirectory.com/b/cdscs10.htm
"A Christmas Carol" is an interesting way to introduce students to the Victorian way of life. You can download the full text at:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/46
then here is an excellent page of resources, including several sites of reading notes, learning guides and projects:
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/dickens.html#chrcar
and two webquests :
A well organised webquest, with students working in teams to perform different roles and study different aspects of the problem: Scrooge is running for Mayor and want to convey what he has learnt to the citizens and help them change things for the better. This webquest includes information from the novel, but also from several online sources of information about life in the Victorian period.
http://www.coollessons.org/Dickens.htm
Another webquest, only based on the novel/play. The content and the process are easier and interesting, but I think it needs to be adapted and can't be used as is. The students take the roles of the three ghosts, but the first task each time requires the students to draw a picture of themselves as the ghost, and this is neither useful nor interesting for our ESL students.
http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/crc/webquest/Christmas%20Carol/

other Christmas stories
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/stories.html
The Gift of the Magi Online version of O. Henry's classic story,
courtesy of the Gutenberg Project. An excellent feature is the linked net
dictionary to define difficult words. Gr 3-6
http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/Gift_of_the_Magi.html
Yes, Virginia. There is a Santa Claus The famous 1897 New York Sun
editorial answering Virginia's letter. Still touching after all these years. Gr 2-8
http://www.educa.rcanaria.es/usr/zonzamas/virginia.htm
Read and hear traditional Christmas stories
http://www.northpole.com/Overview/StoryList.html

Christmas stories from the White House (à écouter, sans texte)
Listen to bedtime stories read from people from the White House! (barbara and Laura Bush, etc)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/2003/index.html

Gifts and shopping in New York

Voici la vitrine en ligne du catalogue de Neiman Marcus.
Vous pourrez acheter en ligne une Mercédès rose pour votre enfant de 3 ans. A seulement $410, soldé $172 !
http://www.neimanmarcus.com (gift and collectibles)
http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod5690037&parentId=cat2570789
Online Shopping and Charities
This holiday season, if you're planning to shop for gifts online, make a difference with your wallet by using this site as your shopping
directory. When you use one of these sites to access an online store, a percentage of the money you spend will be donated to the charity of your choice.
My Cause
http://www.mycause.com
[ intéressant pour sa vaste liste interactive de 'Charities' ]

BillyBear4Kids - A fun page for the kids (Gr. 2-5) to visit and participate in fun filled activities relating to Christmas.
http://www.billybear4kids.com/holidays/christmas/christms.htm
screen savers, wallpaper, printable gift tags, and an impressive list of links to related sites.
http://www.kate.net/holidays/christmas/
Easy Fun School (including word search, recipes, coloring pages, ornaments making and other handicrafts)
http://www.easyfunschool.com/IndexChristmas.html
Printables and coloring pages
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Printables/Christmas/
Lots of activities and stories
http://www.merry-christmas.com/
Lots of resources (traditional and a bit patriotic)
http://www.santaland.com/
a page from the White House, including recipes, videos and decorations
http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/holiday/deck-halls/
here are some useful documents from teachers in France:
for beginners and intermediates : http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/christmas.htm
a treasure hunt for beginners and lower intermediates : http://lve.scola.ac-paris.fr/anglais/ukxmasTH.php
a page of activities for intermediate students and above : http://lve.scola.ac-paris.fr/anglais/xmasactivities.php