LITERACY LESSON IDEAS - Storytime Magazine

A Visit from St Nicholas is a famous poem by Clement Clarke Moore, which describes a child’s experience of Christmas Eve and what happens when he or she sees Santa arrive.

IN BRIEF

LITERACY LESSON IDEASA Visit from St Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore was first published in 1823, but Moore didn’t admit to writing it until years later. It’s thought he wrote it for his six children and was inspired by the Christmas traditions of Dutch, Norwegian and German people who had moved to America. Moore was a professor who lived in New York.

Read the poem to your class. When you read it a second time, can you find the rhythm of each line? Tap it out or use percussion instruments.

The poem also reveals the language people once used. See our Word Wise Sheet to discover the meanings of some of the old-fashioned words. You’ll also find some comprehension questions and writing exercises here.

Recount the story using our Tell a Tale Sheet with our illustrations to guide you.

Moore was the first person to name St Nicholas’s reindeer. The names Donder and Blitzen were based on the Dutch words Dunder and Blixem, which mean Thunder and Lightning. What would you call Santa’s reindeer? Fill in our Name the Reindeer Sheet.

Moore was the one of the first writers to describe St Nicholas as “chubby and plump”. What other words can you use to describe Santa? Look at our Santa Adjectives Sheet.

Perfect your pupils’ letter writing skills using our decorative Letter to Santa Sheet. Ask them to write a letter to Santa asking three questions (rather than asking for gifts):

1. How do your reindeer fly?2. How does you fit all those toys in one sack?3. How does you get into houses that have no chimney?

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Poems and Rhymes: A Visit From St Nicholas 1 StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources


For fun, complete our Poem Wordsearch and Fill in the Vowels challenge. Complete our Word Pairs puzzle on the same page too.

Work out the poem’s rhyme scheme in class (AABB). Can you write an extra four-line verse using the same scheme? What did the child in the poem do after St Nicholas flew away?

Write a full Christmas poem using our Christmas Acrostic or Christmas Shape Poem Sheets. Download our Poetry Writing Resource Pack for help or inspiration. Visit: www.storytimeforschools.com/teaching-resources/ to download it.

Act out the poem or your own version of the perfect Christmas Eve using our St Nicholas and Reindeer Character Masks.

HISTORY LESSON IDEAS2

This poem is almost 200 years old. It’s like a time capsule, revealing what the ‘perfect Christmas’ was like in the early 19th century, what people used to wear (kerchiefs and caps in bed) and the treats they looked forward to (sugar-plums). Make a Christmas Then and Now board to compare how Christmas has changed. Compare Christmas now to a Victorian Christmas, when Christmas trees were first introduced to the U.K.

Use our pictures in the poem as a starting point for talking about winter weather. Make a Winter Weather Board, sticking on wintry images. Discuss places around the world that have snow all the time or are colder than the U.K. Here are some ideas for locations:

– Lapland region of Finland– North Pole– Alaska– The Alps

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GEOGRAPHY LESSON IDEAS3


Teaching Resources


What do you know about reindeer? Get some fun facts about this favourite animal on our Reindeer Facts Sheet and explore other animals that live in the same habitat.

SCIENCE LESSON IDEAS4

Use the poem as a starting point for a discussion about Christmas traditions around the world. See our Christmas Traditions Sheet and fill in your own Christmas traditions. You could also discuss how different religions celebrate Christmas.

CITIZENSHIP LESSON IDEAS 5

Make a wall display, inspired by the illustrations for our poem – include all eight reindeer and Santa on his sleigh. Give each reindeer a name label.

Alternatively, make reindeer headbands. Give each pupil a wide strip of brown paper. Make sure the strips fit around everyone’s heads. Stick each strip together at the back. Draw eyes on the front (or stick on googly eyes) and stick on a red nose. This could be red card or a pompom or a splodge of red paint. Use brown pipe cleaners to make antlers or ask pupils to draw around their hands on brown card. Stick an antler to each side of each headband. Now you have a class full of Santa’s reindeer!

Draw your own scene from the poem in our Christmas Picture Frame and colour in the reindeer on our Christmas Colouring Sheet.

ART LESSON IDEAS6


Teaching Resources

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Discover the meanings of some of the longer or trickier words in Storytime Issue 40’s poem, A Visit from St Nicholas.

WORD NERDOne line in the poem says: While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads. Which food or toys do you dream about on Christmas Eve? Replace the word sugar-plums with something modern. Write your new poem line here.

Imagine your perfect Christmas Eve. If you were in charge,

what would you eat? Would you make any new traditions?

What would you leave for Santa as a treat? Write three

paragraphs about it.

’Twas – short for ‘it was’

Nestled – snuggled

Sugar-plums – boiled sweets

’Kerchief – a square scarf that

covers the head

Clatter – noise, clanging, banging

Sash – a window you push up to open

Lustre – shine, brightness

Coursers – a fast-moving animal

Tarnished – made dirty

Pedlar – someone who goes from

door to door selling goods

Droll – funny

Ere – before

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MAGIC STACKLook at our poem pictures. Which toy in Santa’s sack would you give to a friend and why?

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WRITE IT!

A Visit from St Nicholas: Word Wise Sheet StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

WORD WATCH


QUICK COMPREHENSION CHECKER

1. Why does the narrator describe St Nicholas’s sleigh as miniature and the reindeer as tiny?

2. Find five similes in the poem that describe how Santa looks. Write your favourite one here.

3. Find two verbs that describe how the reindeer move. Write them here.

4. How did St Nicholas’s clothes get dirty?

5 How did the narrator know he or she had nothing to dread?

A Visit from St Nicholas: Word Wise Sheet StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

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NAME CLASS Using the pictures below, write the story in the poem in your own words.

A Visit from St Nicholas: Tell the Tale StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

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NAME CLASS

Poems and Rhymes: A Visit From St Nicholas StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

NAME THE REINDEER

ANTLER ANAGRAM

Rearrange the letters in these baubles to spell the name of a very famous reindeer.

D R H L P o U

St Nicholas has eight new reindeer to pull his sleigh, but they don’t have names. Can you name each one?

Answer: Antler Anagram – Rudolph

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NAME CLASS

Circle the words below you think describe Santa best.


Teaching Resources

SANTA ADJECTIVES

Can you think of three more words to describe Santa? Write them here.

Jolly THINgrumpy

kindbald

sadbusy

oldmerry

beardedstrict

chubby


NAME CLASS

ChildrenChimneyChristmas ElfJollyMerry

ReindeerSleighSnowSt NicholasStockingsToys


Teaching Resources

All the words listed below appear in Clement Clarke Moore’s poem. Can you find them?

POEM WORDSEARCH

K R T O Y S F N R S O T A H S

G Y G C P H E F T H I T A E L

L U M A L R I N Y F S F B S E

K J Q K D N I S Y E Q R M I I

W L Q L D C L Q V O N L E D G

K A I Y H R N L H J P M Z L H

D H E O W E T Z L B Y S I P S

C R L M L I R Y W J A F J H U

Y A B J N N A I C M B A A J C

S Y C W J D H R T S M E R R Y

M U J K T E Y S F I A Y S L C

W Z Q M I E I O L L N L L I R

O L N I Q R T H A X P O F J F

N D R V H Y H D E U J K H P L

S T O C K I N G S V V R E O E

TOYSNSSETL

RNYEDIEI

LCNGIHRMH

HOESICLIAH

ANMCSDTMERRY

ESLWEILOROFNHJLSTOCKINGSE

ANSWER:


NAME CLASS

LETTER TO SANTA


Teaching Resources

Write a letter to Santa here. Don’t forget to tell him who you are.

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NAME CLASS

FILL IN THE VOWELS

CO mET vi

cu xenPID

Answers: Cracker, Carol, Holly, Mince Pie, Presents, Tinsel, Santa Claus, Tree, Reindeer, Turkey, Snowman. Word Pairs – Comet, Cupid and Vixen.

C _ R _ LC R _ C K _ R

S _ N T_ C L _ _ SM _ N C _ P_ _ P R _ S _ N T S

T R _ _T_ N S _ L

H _ L LY

S N _W M _ NR _ _ N D_ _ R

T_ R K _Y


Teaching Resources

Fill in the missing vowels on these Christmassy words.

WORD PAIRS Match up the syllable pairs to make the names of three of Santa’s reindeer.

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NAME

CLASS

CHRISTMAS ACROSTIC POEM

C H

R

I

S

T

M

A

S


Teaching Resources

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NAME CLASS

CHRISTMAS

SHAPE POEM


Teaching Resources

snow

ho ho ho! tree

Mehollysack

jollyback


Reindeer live in Northern Europe, Northern Asia, Greenland, Alaska, Canada and Iceland.

Their favourite food is lichen, which many people call ‘reindeer moss’.

Both males and females have antlers. Male antlers can grow up to 130cm long, but they drop off and grow again every year.

Older male reindeer drop their antlers in November, but females and young males drop them in spring. That means Santa’s reindeer must have been females or young males.

Male reindeer use their antlers to impress females and fight off competitors. Female reindeer use them for shovelling snow!

Reindeer are built for freezing temperatures. They have two layers of fur, super-grippy hooves for the ice and their magic noses warm up the cold air when they breathe in.

Reindeer can’t fly, but they can run faster than humans and reach speeds of up to 80km (50 miles) per hour. Baby reindeer can walk within an hour of being born.

Wild reindeer live in herds of up to 500,000 animals and they can travel thousands of miles every year.

In North America, reindeer are known as caribou. This is a French word, which means ‘snow shoveller’.

Reindeer can see ultraviolet (UV) light, which is invisible to humans. This special skill allows them to spot lichen hiding under the snow.

poems and rhymes: A Visit from St Nicholas StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

REINDEER FACT SHEET


Santa delivers presents on Christmas Eve, when children eat rice pudding for breakfast and roast pork for dinner. Children decorate their trees with gingerbread. Meanwhile, outdoors, the pathways are lit up with lanterns made from ice.

In some cities, it is traditional to rollerskate to Christmas church services! Presents are delivered on Christmas Eve, and people eat chicken, roast pork or hallacas – steamed meat, raisins and olives wrapped in plantain leaves.

Children go carol singing on Christmas Eve morning, but

Greeks have their own version of Santa Claus called Saint Vasilis. Children open their presents on January 1 and celebrations last until January 6.

Christmas presents are opened on Christmas Eve here too, but on the night of December 6, which is Saint Nicholas’s Day, Santa also leaves little gifts in children’s shoes.

Children celebrate Christmas Day on January 7, and Grandfather Frost and his helper, the snow maiden Snegurochka, deliver the presents. On Christmas Eve,

many people don’t eat until they see the first star in the sky.


Teaching Resources

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

Children in other countries celebrate Christmas in different ways. Learn about some of them here.

FINLANDGERMANY

GREECE

VENEZUELA

Children send their Christmas letters to the three wise men on Boxing Day and leave shoes outside their homes on January 5, hoping for gifts. They open their Christmas presents on January 6.

SPAIN

RUSSIA

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NAME CLASS

Draw your favourite scene from our poem here.


Teaching Resources

CHRISTMAS PICTURE FRAME


NAME CLASS

A Visit from St Nicholas: Christmas Colouring StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

Colour in Saint Nicholas’s reindeer. Can you give it a hat or a scarf, like the ones in our poem pictures?

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Visit from Saint Nicholas: Character Mask 1 StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

Cut out our Santa and Reindeer masks to act out the poem in Storytime Issue 40.

2017

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Visit from Saint Nicholas: Character Mask 2 StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

Cut out our Santa and Reindeer masks to act out the poem in Storytime Issue 40.

2017

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LITERACY LESSON IDEAS - Storytime Magazine