Holiday Lesson: On the First Day of Christmas...

Subjects

Arts & Humanities

• Language Arts
• Dance, Music
• Visual Arts

Mathematics

• Applied Math
• Arithmetic

• Holidays

• Pre K
• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8
• 9-12

Brief Description

Objectives

• listen to a recording of "The Twelve Days of Christmas.
• work on their own, in small groups, or as a class to write their own version of the song that begins with the words "On the first day of Christmas, my teacher gave to me
• share their work with classmates.
• publish their versions of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" in book form.
• do some other lessons based on the song (optional, links to lessons provided).

Keywords

Materials Needed

• recording of "The Twelve Days of Christmas (Internet sources provided)
• art supplies for creating books of students versions of the song

Lesson Plan

Begin the lesson by playing a recording of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

If you do not have a recording available, download the song from the Web at 12days.com or Christmas Music.

When you have students' full attention, introduce this lesson, in which students rewrite the popular "The Twelve Days of Christmas" beginning with the line "On the first day of Christmas, my teacher gave to me..."

Students might work on their own, in small groups, or the entire class might brainstorm new lyrics.

• If students work on their own, bring them together to share their work. Invite students to vote for the best "gifts" to include in a class version of the song. Or, if you have about 24 students, write two versions of the song! Then have each child illustrate one page and create two books based on the students' lyrics.
• If students work in small groups, each group can use their lyrics to create a book.

More Twelve Days Lessons and Resources

Lesson Plans

• Twelve Days of Math: A Christmas Song
• Twelve Days of Winter Break: A Physical Fitness Assignment
• Twelve Days of Chemistry
• Total Cost of the Twelve Days of Christmas
• The Twelve Days of Christmas and Pascals Triangle

Assessment

Students perform the version(s) of the song that they created!

Education World

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

FINE ARTS: Music

• GRADES K - 4
Singing, Alone and With Others, a Varied Repertoire of Music
Understanding Relationships Between Music, Other Arts, and Disciplines Outside the Arts
Understanding Music in Relation to History and Culture

• GRADES 5 - 8
Singing, Alone and With Others, a Varied Repertoire of Music
Understanding Relationships Between Music, Other Arts, and Disciplines Outside the Arts
Understanding Music in Relation to History and Culture

• GRADES 9 - 12
Singing, Alone and With Others, a Varied Repertoire of Music
Understanding Relationships Between Music, Other Arts, and Disciplines Outside the Arts
Understanding Music in Relation to History and Culture

• GRADES K - 4
Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines

• GRADES 5 - 8
Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines

• GRADES 9 - 12
Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines

• GRADES K - 12
Applying Language Skills

• GRADES Pre-K - 12
Recognize and Apply Mathematics in Contexts Outside of Mathematics

• GRADES K - 12
Basic Operations and Concepts
Technology Communications Tools

See more lessons and resources from Education World at our December Holidays Around the World Web page.

Click to return to this week's Lesson Planning article, Classroom Lessons Deliver Holiday Presence!.