Refrain

Introduction:
Your second grade classroom is doing a basic study of how Christmas Across the World. Within the theme, students explore traditions of the English. One of the introductory activities is listening to a poem about a little girl who wants to celebrate Christmas in England. To test comprehension and knowledge and to ensure that students are listening, have each student on a piece of scrap paper write down all of the little girl's reasons for wanting to celebrate Christmas in England.




If I Could Visit England





I would be one happy kid,


I would be a girl who did


Everything her parents said,


Even "Amber, time for bed!"


If I could visit England.





If I could visit England, I


Would see Big Ben up in the sky,


And ride a double-decker bus


(Me, Mom, and Dad - the three of us).





If I could visit England, we


Would say, "Good day, Your Majesty,


Enjoyed the Guards at Buckingham!"


And words like bobby, bloke and tram.





But most of all I want to go


On Christmas Day with lots of snow,


When opening present would occur


At least six hours earlier!


If I could visit England.

The REFRAIN: If I could visit England

Conclusion:
Have the class write in their journals where they would like to go for Christmas and why. Students can use other resources; books, Internet searches, personal preferences, etc. to think of a place that they wish to visit for the Christmas holiday.





Classroom Curriculum Connections:


Christmas holidays - international studies / Christmas around the world


Language Arts / Reading: Poetry refrains, Christmas poems











Poem taken from:


Lewis, J. Patrick. (2007) UNDER THE KISSLETOE: CHRISTMASTIME POEMS. (Rob Shepperson, ill.) Homesdale, PA: Wordsong. ISBN 9781590784389