A Letter to Father Christmas!

Objective & content

This activity sheet is about writing a letter to Father Christmas. Father Christmas himself opens the sheet: "Ho ho ho! Read Edie's letter. Then write me a letter too!" Pupils read a short letter from Edie, check six sentences about her, then write a letter of their own. By the end, pupils write a few sentences about themselves with I'm, I like and I can, ask politely with Can I have a ..., please?, and know how a letter starts (Dear ...) and ends (Love from ...).

Pedagogical guide

Task 1 is Edie's letter, which gives each fact once: she is nine, she lives in Leeds with her mum, her dad and her little brother, Teddy, she likes reading and she can ride a bike. She asks for a new bike and for a ball for Teddy, then signs "Love from Edie". Show the start and the end of the letter: they are the model for task 3. Task 2 gives six sentences and pupils circle Yes or No. Three are true (Edie is nine, she can ride a bike, she wants a new bike) and three are not: Edie has got a brother, not a sister; she lives in Leeds, not London; the ball is for Teddy, not for Edie. Task 3 is the pupil's own letter, with six sentence starters that follow Edie's: "Dear Father Christmas, my name is", "I'm", "I like", "I can", "Can I have a" and "Love from". Pupils then read their letter to a partner. Page 2 gives the answer key and the teacher notes.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Ask a few pupils: "What do you want for Christmas?"
2. (10 min) Task 1: read Edie's letter together; show the start (Dear Father Christmas) and the end (Love from Edie).
3. (5 min) Task 2: pupils read the six sentences and circle Yes or No; check together.
4. (15 min) Task 3: pupils write their own letter with the six sentence starters.
5. (5 min) In pairs, pupils read their letter aloud to a partner.

Adaptations

[S] Give pupils a word bank of presents on the board.

[A] Pupils add a sentence about their family or their favourite Christmas food.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy per pupil of page 1, in colour or black and white. Pupils need only a pencil. Page 2 is the answer key with teacher notes: keep it. Pupils should know how to say their name and age, and have met I like and I can; Can I have ...? is in the letter for them to copy.