[susan53]

Hi Williejean,

How about using a Christmas song? I don't know where you are but if you're not in a Christian country and you want to avoid religion, what about the Twelve Days of Christmas? You can easily find the recording and the words on the net. It does have a religious significance but it's not obvious and most native speakers don't know it anyway, so it's easily avoidable.

You could :

a) give out pictures of the twelve gifts (from the net), cut up individually, and ask the students questions like What is it? Where is it? What are they made of? Who/What are they? What are they doing? as relevant for each one. This ensures that the students understand the pictures and know the relevant vocab before you listen to the song.

b) explain the general theme of the song and play the recording. As they listen, the students put the pics in the correct order. Be sneaky - don't necessarily have the right number of swans, pipers, lords etc in the pics, or this stage is too easy.

c) Play the song again, stopping after each verse to check their answers.

d) give out the words and let them sing it.

You'll have to explain the use of a-, as in ten lords a-leaping etc. It's a prefix which comes from Middle English, and changed the meaning of the word very little even then. Now it lingers on only in traditional poetry and songs.

If you are in a Christian country and you do want to get into it, you could end by explaining that the song is symbolic and each part has a religious significance. Ask the students if they can guess what the significance of any of the parts is, and then give out the explanation - which again you'll find on the net.