How Mariah Carey became the Queen of Christmas (Christmas songs)
Lesson plan overview
This intermediate Christmas ESL lesson features vocabulary about Christmas and about songs. It is centered around Mariah Carey’s hit “All I want for Christmas is you”. Students will discuss their favorite Christmas songs, will listen to different Christmas songs, and will learn how Mariah Carey became the Queen of Christmas. You can also take a look at other Christmas lessons, which you can find here.
Speaking: The lesson starts with a general discussion about Chrstmas songs.
Listening: Then students listen to extracts from different Christmas songs from this playlist, and try to guess which song it is (this activity can be skipped if you have a 1-to-1 class).
Vocabulary: Students take a look at a few Christmas-related words (mistletoe, reindeer, sleigh, stocking, fireplace), which they will later hear in “All I want for Christmas is you”. To practice, they complete 5 sentences with the correct word.
Listening: Students listen to “All I want for Christmas is you”, and complete the lyrics with the missing words. Then they work on vocabulary a bit more and complete expressions from the lyrics with the correct verb.
Vocabulary: Students learn vocabulary related to songs (e.g. cover, single, a song release, the charts). They match the words to the correct definition, and discuss a few questions given.
Listening: Students watch a video called “How Mariah Carey became the Queen of Christmas” and answer 7 questions. Finally, students engage in a post-listening discussion.
To revise the key vocabulary from this lesson, and for some more speaking practice, you can use the conversation cards.
Photo credit: Heartfox, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
All video-based ESL lesson plans include online pre-class activities, which are FREE and can be completed without registration. Perfect for teachers who wish to embrace the blended learning approach. By providing students with resources and engagement opportunities before the actual class session, educators can foster active participation, enhance comprehension, and optimise in-class discussions.
The pre-class activities are optional: if you choose not to assign them, or your students don’t complete them, it will not disturb the flow of the class. You can find and review the pre-class activities for this lesson plan here:
To send the pre-class activities to your students, copy the link below.
In-class activities
To download the PDF files for this lesson, you need to have an active Premium or Premium + subscription.
Browse FREE lesson plans here.
Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Not sure yet?
Try one of our FREE lessons plans
Share this lesson plan with someone who will find it useful