P a g e
2 3
P A U 3 A !
Seasonal Songs: Caroling before the Holidays
By : David Fox, MAK 9
I well remember my first month at site and in talking
with a lot of MAK 10s over the Holidays, we TEFLrs
have similar experiences. I showed up the first week,
sat in class, learned what’s what, but desperately wanted
to find something to do. 3 months of training, I’m gearing to go, and so far all they have me to is SIT! Well,
sick of sitting, I offered this little activity which we repeated again this year. Here it is:
Christmas caroling has been an American tradition,
starting from the Colonial times, when people would go
house to house singing songs in exchange for a drink
from the Wassail bowl. Eventually, through the centuries, traditional carols were written in honor of Jesus
Christ’s birth, and in the 20th century fun songs for kids
like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Jingle Bells were written. People kept up the
traditions to go house to house singing these songs and
wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
This year, I added a few songs I wrote and expanded the activities. I worked with the kindergarten, making snowflakes and singing a song about
snow. Then I got a poster of Santa, you know that
ever trite Coke ad of Santa with the kid on his lap,
and we talked about what Santa wore, what color
his clothes were, and we did a few introductions to
parts of the body. They learned “Head Shoulders
Knees and Toes” Oh, and we also did a song
about Santa, similar to “Bingo” B-I-N-G-O, instead using S-A-N-T-A. It’s easy. Make up your
own lyrics. They also colored pictures of Santa I
got online.
My older students came to sing with them one day
also the songs they learned and the ones I taught
the kindergarten. It was a great time.
Again, my 5th-8th grade students sang for the
younger kids 1st-4th grade, this time with some
midi music I had as backup.
While it was a bit much to go door to door at my site,
the concept of teaching kids these fun songs and then
having a small program before the New Years was a
great small project that did wonders for my initiation
into the community and my school. My first Christmas,
I simply taught my older students 5 songs (all we had
time for) and we sang accapella for the younger kids just
before school let out for the winter break.