End of Semester Holiday Extravaganza!

We are now in the midst of what is commonly called "the Holiday Season" in the U.S. There are several winter holidays celebrated during the months of December and January including Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and New Year's. 

During today's class, we will spend some time talking about each of these celebrations, sharing information about traditional celebrations associated with holidays in the U.S. and Russia and enjoying some fun activities and holiday music! I've included the activity links below. 

Class Links

I. Warm-Up

How are you? How are things? What's new? How was your weekend? What's going on this week? Are you busy? Are you looking forward to the holidays? What will you do? Do you have any questions for me? 

II. Holiday Potluck

Let's enjoy some food during today's class :) Be sure to thank your classmates that were generous enough to bring something to share! 

III. White Elephant Gift Exchange

In order to decide who will go first, we will have a short, improvised "Spelling Bee". In groups of three, you will have 30 seconds to correctly spell the word. The winners will move on. The losers will not. WHO WILL WIN (and get to pick the first gift?!)

IV. Games! 

I hope we can enjoy the last day of class together with a few games including: 

1. Categories (here)
2. Find Someone Who... (here)
3. Hangman 

V. Resources

I hope this is not the end of our time together! I've really enjoyed working with all of you! You've really been one of my all time favorite classes to work with! But, just in case our paths do not cross again, I wanted to leave you with a few links to resources you can consult in the future. They include: 

1. The American Center - Moscow
2. American English
3. "Shaping the Way We Teach English" Webinar Series
4. Conversation Club/Reading Group (for next semester)

VI. Holiday Activities

If there is some extra time, we can do one or two or the following activities. I was thinking that numbers 1, 3 and 13 would be fun! 

1. Holiday Discussion Questions
2. Winter Holiday Presentation 
3. Holiday Bingo
4. Holiday Vocabulary
5. New Year's Reading
6. Christmas Reading
7. "Twas the Night Before Christmas" Video
8. The History of New Year's Video
9. The History of New Year's Discussion Questions
10. "The Gift of the Magi" (short story by O. Henry)
11. "The Gift of the Magi" Discussion Questions
12. "The Gift of the Magi" video interpretation
13. New Year's Resolutions
14. Holiday Music

VII. Final Comments & Certificates

That's it (for now) my friends! Thank you for the opportunity to get to know and work with each one of you. As I mentioned earlier, working with you has been a very positive experience (one of my best). I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors. Please stay in touch (via email or in person). I sincerely hope we'll get the chance to work together next semester!