Well, there are no prizes for guessing the December Open Day Theme at Lixian and Hongshan Primary Schools.  Of course it was Christmas and as you would expect children were eagerly awaiting their classes, and staff at both schools were warm and welcoming.

JESIE’s distinguished and highly accomplished Academic Director, Val Gagas enthralled the Lixian grade 5 students and Hongshan’s grade 6 students with a participative Christmas Demonstration Class that featured the Meaning of Christmas.  Children eagerly joined in a range of games aimed at reinforcing the students’ Christmas vocabulary.  They were also keen to participate in a world-wide popular activity at this time of year, namely writing a letter to Santa Claus; the cheerful and bearded old man at the North Pole. 

Christine Canning, a relatively new JESIE primary school teacher also joined Val.  She delivered Christmas demonstration classes to grade 5 students at both primary schools.  It wasn’t long into her classes before the words of the popular Here Comes Santa Claus Song were heard echoing around the classroom and nearby corridors.  Children were keen to learn the song because of a game that required them to listen for specific words and race to grab them off the class room back wall when they were heard in the song.

Christine used the Total Physical Response (TPR) technique to assist children to learn and remember a range of Christmas vocabulary words.  Several games were played that saw boys competing against girls and points being recorded for both teams.  The games involved drawing and recalling Christmas vocabulary words and actions.  They were highly competitive with the noise volume going up as children cheered for their respective team members. 

Overall, a fun time was had by all students and was witnessed by the wide smiles across the students’ faces, as both teachers left their classrooms.