LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERSCHRISTMAS CRACKERS
LinguaHouse
Dec. 8, 2022
Level: Mixed Levels (B1-B2 and B2-C1)
Type of English: General English
Tags: British Culture; Celebrations and Special Events; People and Places; Celebrations and Commemorations; Types of Holiday; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old; Article Based
Publication date: 12/08/2022
Students watch a video and read an article to find out about the very British holiday tradition of Christmas crackers. The lesson provides vocabulary development and listening and reading practice and finishes with a design challenge where students develop and present their own themed range of crackers. There is also an optional extension activity related to the seasonal jokes that crackers contain (by Stephanie Hirschman)
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English (L4)
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English (L5)
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English (L4).
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English (L5).
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English (L4).
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English (L5).
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English (L4).
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English (L5).
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Sarah Rainey (reporter) - SR
Kim Lam (factory owner) - KL
SR: I’m here at Celebration Crackers in Dorset which is the UK’s most prestigious cracker making factory. Here, they hand-make their crackers, tying each bow and cutting the paper by hand, and clients include Selfridges, Claridge’s Hotel, Liberty of London - even the Queen is said to be a fan. The factory’s run by Kim and Sam Lam, husband-and-wife team, who’ve been here since 2006 and have 30 years of cracker-making experience in between these walls. In the UK we pull 300 million crackers every Christmas and here they make 200 million of them every year. I’m here to find out what cracker making is all about.
SR: On the back of every box, Celebration print a little message about the history of the cracker. Crackers date back to the Victorian era. In 1840 a confectioner in Britain called Tom Smith got the idea of giving bonbons wrapped up in little parcels at Christmastime. One day he was sitting by the fire, and he heard it crackle and that gave him the idea for the snap. By 1900 the Smith family were selling 13 million crackers a year. Today nearly every family in Britain celebrates Christmas with a cracker.
KL: All our handmade crackers, made here down in Dorset, are made from gift wrap paper which we’ve printed or are given to us by our customers. Many different sizes and different patterns, so these all have to be cut down to the correct size according to the cracker that’s being made. They’re then perforated so that the cracker can actually pull and will snap. We then have to line them with the snaps that are all carefully stored in the warehouse, and we actually roll them. Rolled, glued and then the necks are pulled. We can then fill with all our different fillings that we have that are available, again, supplied either by ourselves or by our customers. And then they’ll be trimmed - we have many different trims: we have traditional berry trims, something very different, something like a piece of jewelry or we have different bows as well that go on.
SR: The perfect cracker has several important elements. The first part is a snap. Shall we see if this works, Kim?
KL: Let’s have a go.
SR: One two three. (snap sound)
KL: Some of the gifts that we have this year in the crackers, especially for Selfridges, we have a nice range of little teas and shot glasses. We’ve had some fun pet crackers as well which I’ve got - lovely little dog biscuits in there. And we’ve also had some fun with some little mustaches.
SR: And after the gifts, of course, there’s the all-important hat which everybody has to wear at the Christmas dinner table, and finally there’s the jokes which Kim gets, a lot of them, from her 9-year-old nephew, Thomas. So, here’s some of the crackers that Thomas has come up with this year. Why was the broom late?
KL: I can’t remember that one.
SR: He over swept. What did the cheese say to itself in the mirror?
KL: Halloumi!
SR: That’s the best one. And finally, why did the oyster leave the party early?
KL: He pulled a mussel.
SR: Brilliant. They’re cheesy, but it’s just what you want at Christmas.
Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/christmas-crackers. Accessed on December 6, 2023. © 2008–2023 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.
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