Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

Twas the night before Christmas

Name: Class:

1Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

Pre-reading:You have just watched the coca-cola ad ‘snow globes’Your teacher has written down what it made you think of in one or two words per student.1) Can you write down in two sentences what actually happens in this commercial?

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2) Watch the ad again and write down all the words of things that you see that are connected to Christmas.

3) Write down what Christmas makes you think about in 5 words:

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2Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Christmas

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

4) We are going to watch a youtube-film of the poem ‘twas the night before Christmas’ in a minute, first, answer these questions:

4.1 What kind of text is it? …………………………………………………………………………………………………

4.2 Do you recognize any words in the title? ………………………………………………………………………….

4.3 What do you think the text will be about? ………………………………………………………………..

Read the first part of the text, below:

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the houseNot a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

4.4 Was the prediction you wrote down at 4.3 correct? …………………………………………………………

4.5 Do you already know more information after reading the first part of the text? And, if so, what?

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Let’s check out the text!

While-readingYou have just heard and watched the poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ for the first time. Your teacher has introduced this poem to you. If you want, you can read even more information about the poem on the next page.

5) On page 5 you will find the text of the poem. Some words are missing. Let’s see if you can guess which words are missing either from rhyming or reading the context. Try to fill in the missing words. Afterwards listen to the poem again.

3Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

Information on the poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ – Clement Clarke Moore

The poem also goes by a second title "A Visit From St. Nicholas." It was published in 1823 in a New York newspaper, The Sentinel, by Moore who remained anonymous when it first came out.

It is said that Moore wrote the poem on Christmas Eve in 1822 during his sleigh ride home from Greenwich Village after buying the holiday turkey for his family. It is possible that his inspiration for St. Nicholas came from the chubby, good-humored and bearded Dutchman who drove him home that night.

Santa Claus, as we know him, came out of this poem. The traditional European Father Christmas, Old Man Winter and the historical Saint Nicholas merged into one lovable figure in this incarnation. As Moore referred to him as a jolly old elf, this set the stage for Santa's workshop and the army of elf workers and assistants who built the toys for the children every year.

For the first time St. Nicholas used reindeer with a sleigh. This came from the Northern European Christmas celebrations in Lapland where reindeer were normally used in place of horses during the snowy winters.

The eight fleet-footed, flying reindeer were called by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, came along about a hundred years later as part of the Christmas advertising campaign for a department store. The song followed and Rudolph took over as the lead reindeer with his red-glowing nose as a beacon.Children and adults never seem to outgrow the story and there is a tradition in many families to read the poem to the children as the family sits around the Christmas tree every Christmas Eve.

Descriptions of words found in the poem you may find difficult

'Twas = It wasstirring = movementnestled = comfortably in place'kerchief = handkerchiefclatter = noisesash = window covering that is pulled down from inside the roomshutters = window covering that is opened from outside the windowlustre = glow sleigh = Santa Claus' vehicle, also used in Alaska with dogsSt. Nick = Santa ClausCoursers = Animals which draw a sleighPorch = terracedash away = move onwards quicklytwinkling = a secondbound = a jump

tarnished = dirtysoot = black waste material found inside a chimneybundle = bagpeddler = someone who sells things on the streetdimples = small hollow places which appear on a person's face when they smilemerry = happydroll = funnyencircled = circle aroundbelly = stomachdread = to be afraid ofjerk = quick movementdown of a thistle = the light material on a certain type of weed that floats away in the airere = before

4Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

"'Twas the Night Before Christmas"By Clement Clarke Moore

5Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the houseNot a creature was stirring, not even a ;The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The were nestled all snug in their beds,While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,Had just settled down for a long winter's ,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,I sprang from the bed to see what was the .

Away to the I flew like a flash,Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen __________

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,When, what to my wondering should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by ;

"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the ,So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,With the sleigh full of , and St. Nicholas too.And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roofThe prancing and pawing of each little .

6Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his ,And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;A bundle of he had flung on his back,And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a !His droll little was drawn up like a bow,And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a he held tight in his teeth,And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round ,That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old ,And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;A wink of his eye and a twist of his ____________

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,And filled all the ; then turned with a jerk,And laying his finger aside of his ,And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his , to his team gave a whistle,And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A !

7Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

Post-reading

6) Answer these questions to explore the similarities and differences in culture

6.1 What Dutch tradition does this poem make you think about?

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6.2 What are your own experiences with Santa Clause? How about your experience with the Dutch tradition

Santa Clause Dutch tradition

6.3 If you had the choice as a kid would you have rather believed in Santa Clause? Why/Why not?

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7) Creating a story book – ‘Twas the day before Christmas’ in pairs

Twas the night before Christmas is famous and has been rewritten for fun many times. Watch the Muppets version on youtube (type in: ‘the night before christmas muppet family christmas’ 2.02 min) We are going to write our own version. It starts with this sentence:

‘Twas the day before Christmas and all through the school / class’

Your teacher will divide the lines

work in pairs use the worksheet on page 8 Think about your lines, what do you want to change ask your classmates or your teacher for help whenever you have a ‘writer’s block’ Write your four lines down on the worksheet Draw a picture which shows what happens in your verse on the worksheet

And last, but not least: Have fun!

8Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

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9Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

10Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

Teacher’s notesThe pre-reading activities are designed to:

raise the interest of the students on the topic of Christmas (make it meaningful) by:

showing the students the ‘coca cola ad’ and letting them respond to it letting the students work on a worksheet which asks them to fill in words that are connected

to Christmas and what Christmas means to them

introduce the text and the context (title, speaker, theme) reading the information about the poem and how the writer got his inspiration for this poem looking at a text and using the readingstrategies (Staatsen) in order to develop the student’s

reading skills.

Pre-reading Watch the coca-cola ad with the students without telling the students what you are going to

do in this lesson.Let the students respond in one or two words to what they just sawWrite these words down on the board.

Hand out the worksheet, let students work on task 1-2-3

1) Can you write down in two sentences what actually happens in this commercial?Possible answers: Santa shakes up a town (in a snowglobe) to make people come together, get the boy that is working on Xmas-eve home for Xmasdinner with his friends and family, a family gets a dog for Xmas and two teenagers sitting on a couch are shoved together and start kissing

2) Watch the ad again and write down all the words of things that you see that are connected to Christmas.lights, snow, santa, christmastree, gifts, families together, food on the table, Christmas decoration

3) Write down what Christmas makes you think about in 5 words:students’own experience with the holidayfeast

4) We are going to watch a youtube-film of the text ‘twas the night before Christmas’ in a minute, first, answer these questions:Read the title: ‘Twas the night before Christmas’4.1 What kind of text is it? PoemFor question 4.2 – 4.5 answers of the students may vary

Briefly introduce the poem to the students, you might want to use information from the text below (also in the student’s pack) to be able to do this.

11Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

Information on the poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ – Clement Clarke Moore

The poem also goes by a second title "A Visit From St. Nicholas." It was published in 1823 in a New York newspaper, The Sentinel, by Moore who remained anonymous when it first came out. It is said that Moore wrote the poem on Christmas Eve in 1822 during his sleigh ride home from Greenwich Village after buying the holiday turkey for his family. It is possible that his inspiration for St. Nicholas came from the chubby, good-humored and bearded Dutchman who drove him home that night.Santa Claus, as we know him, came out of this poem. The traditional European Father Christmas, Old Man Winter and the historical Saint Nicholas merged into one lovable figure in this incarnation. As Moore referred to him as a jolly old elf, this set the stage for Santa's workshop and the army of elf workers and assistants who built the toys for the children every year.For the first time St. Nicholas used reindeer with a sleigh. This came from the Northern European Christmas celebrations in Lapland where reindeer were normally used in place of horses during the snowy winters.The eight fleet-footed, flying reindeer were called by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, came along about a hundred years later as part of the Christmas advertising campaign for a department store. The song followed and Rudolph took over as the lead reindeer with his red-glowing nose as a beacon.Children and adults never seem to outgrow the story and there is a tradition in many families to read the poem to the children as the family sits around the Christmas tree every Christmas Eve.

Watch ‘Twas the night before Christmas’

While reading:While-Reading activities are designed to :

take student through multiple readings: from global (first readings) to detailed (repeats)help students understand the main idea of the poemhelp students understand new words by either guessing from the context or using the list of descriptions of words in Englishpractise the strategy of guessing by doing a gap-filling exercise.

After the students have watched the youtube-version of ‘Twas the night before christmas’ they can have a look at the text on the next page Some words are missing. let the students try to fill in the missing words. After trying you can show the youtube film again, or read out the poem.

12Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

"'Twas the Night Before Christmas"By Clement Clarke Moore

13Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the houseNot a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash,Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snowGave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roofThe prancing and pawing of each little hoof.As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,

14Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly,That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,And laying his finger aside of his nose,And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!

15Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

Post-readingPost-Reading: activities are designed to :

link up with theme or context (historical, current, social, moral)link up with the reader’s own experiences, knowledge of, ideas about Christmas and SinterklaasLet the students rewrite a verse and in this way create a class’picture book

6) Answer these questions to explore the similarities and differences in culture 6.1 What Dutch tradition does this poem make you think about? Sinterklaas6.2 What are your own experiences with Santa Clause? What are your own experiences with Sinterklaas?

Santa Clause Sinterklaas

6.3 If you had the choice as a kid would you have rather believed in Santa Clause or Sinterklaas and why?

7) Creative assignment – Make a (group) picture book out of this poem

Depending on the size of the class, students can work in pairs and make one or two pages for the final product: A picture book of this poem.

The first sentence of this version of ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ will be: ‘Twas the day before Christmas and all through the school/class’

The rymescheme should stay the same, they will have to change some words to make sure it fits in with the new first line of the poem. Students draw one picture per verse.

Parody A muppets family Christmas

16Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012

Task 2 Poem Package –Student’s pack

Sources:

Internet:

text about the poem: http://suite101.com/article/the-story-behind-twas-the-night-before-christmas-a308445

http://www.youtube.nl : - coca cola ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VJVZI2w2YJ0

- twas the night before Christmas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUzIF4eYRkg&feature=player_detailpage

- Muppets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eSW8_M8o2Y&feature=player_detailpage

https://www.google.nl : pictures

Literature:

Staatsen, Francis - Moderne vreemde talen in de onderbouw, Uitgeverij coutinho, Bussum, 2009

Sources:

http://suite101.com/article/the-story-behind-twas-the-night-before-christmas-a308445

17Sonia – 200970622 – November 2012