Christmas markets and holiday travel

This pre-intermediate lesson plan is dedicated to the topic of Christmas markets and travelling around Christmas time. Students will learn useful vocabulary to talk about Christmas markets, watch a short video, revise forming questions in present perfect tense and speak about their holiday plans. Other interesting Christmas-related lesson plans are: “Have a sustainable Christmas!”, “Phrasal verbs: parties and celebrations” and “Idioms: Christmas”. You can also try “Three Kings’ Day”.
After an initial discussion, students brainstorm words associated with Christmas markets and talk about the things they’ve bought from Christmas markets.
Vocabulary: students learn useful vocabulary about Christmas markets and Christmas in general (e.g. mulled wine, Nativity scene, gingerbread cookies). Then students practise the target vocabulary and the present perfect tense by forming questions starting with “Have you ever…?”.
Video: Students watch a video “Top 5 Christmas markets around the world” and match the sentences given to the Christmas market they refer to.
Vocabulary: travel. Students complete 5 tips about holiday travel with the words given (book, travel insurance, pack, carry-on). Then they discuss the tips and talk about their holiday travel experiences.
Speaking: Students are given 4 destinations for a Christmas trip. They decide which one they want to do and talk about different things they will need to organise.
Writing: Students are asked to write a letter to a friend, talking about Christmas time in their city.
The printable conversation cards provide further speaking opportunities.
This lesson will work well in combination with other holiday-related topics, as well as topics about winter and travel.