PREVIEW ACTIVITY Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2022. For use only with license.

The Harvard of Santa Schools (B1 - B2)

PAGE 1

Work with a partner, group, or your teacher. Do the activities below together.

PART 1 Discuss what you know about Santa Claus according to the mind map topics below.

His physical appearance

His personal qualities/
characteristics His impact on pop culture

His job/duties (according His impact on children

myths, stories, movies, etc.)
SANTA CLAUS

PART 2 Describe the activities you see the Santas doing in each image below.

1 2 3

4 5 6

Imagine a ‘Santa School’ exists in which people learn how to become Santa
PART 3
Claus. Discuss the questions below about this Santa School.
Santa
School

1 Why do you think people would want to learn how to become Santa?

2 What kinds of activities do you think the Santa students do in the school?
Try to think of activities other than the ones depicted in Part 2.

3 What do you think the Santa students enjoy about learning to become Santa?
THE HARVARD OF SANTA SCHOOLS Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2022. For use only with license.
The Harvard of Santa Schools (B1 - B2)
PAGE 2

PREVIEW DISCUSSION: Read the discussion topic

below and discuss it with your partner or teacher.

Are there any fictional characters, such as Santa,

associated with Christmas (or a similar holiday) in
your home country’s culture? If so, describe them.

VIEWING ACTIVITY
Write the missing verbs below to describe the activities you see the Santas doing
PART 1
in the video.

0:13 1 Beard and personal hygiene

2 Toy
3 on the Polar Express
4 sleighs
5 and staying healthy

PART 2 Discuss/Write short answers below according to the information from the video.

0:36 1 What do the men in the video enjoy about learning to become Santa?

0:41 2 Where is the school and when did it start?

1:34 3 Why is it important to be healthy and to be a “skilled Santa”?

1:55 4 How do they describe the growth of the Santa School?

Refer back to Preview, Part 3. Compare your answers/predictions to the actual

PART 3
information in the video. Did you predict any of the information correctly?
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY 1 Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2022. For use only with license.
The Harvard of Santa Schools (B1 - B2)
PAGE 3

PART 1 Discuss the questions below.

1 What do you think about this Santa School concept? How did it make you feel?
2 Would you like to attend a school like this if you were older? Why or why not?
3 What do you think would be the challenges of being the dean of this school?

Read the following quotes out loud from the dean of the Santa school. Then discuss
PART 2
the questions below the quotes.

2 There’s a real sense of

camaraderie in this school.
1 3
Most of them will tell
I hope that each and every
you they enjoyed being a
Santa and Mrs. Claus goes out
child, so they’re reliving
and spreads the spirit of
their childhood.
Christmas.

1 What do you think it means to relive your childhood? Do you think it’s
important to relive your childhood as an older person? Why or why not?

2 What do you think a sense of camaraderie means? Where do you go to

experience a sense of camaraderie in your life?

3 What do you think it means to spread the spirit of Christmas? What can
people do to spread the spirit of Christmas?

PART 3 Read the next two quotes out loud from the dean and then discuss the question.

“ This is the oldest-running Santa school in the world.”

“
At Santa Claus school, we learn everything from beard keeping
to personal hygiene, to toy making to flying the sleigh.”

Compare the words in bold in the two sentences above. How is the word in the first
sentence different than the ones in the second sentence?
 POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY 2
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The Harvard of Santa Schools (B1 - B2)
PAGE 4

PART 1 Study the usage and examples of compound words using present participles.

In the video, the dean of the Santa School describes the school. He says...

“ This is the oldest-running Santa Claus school in the world.”

At Santa Claus school, we learn everything from beard keeping to

“ personal hygiene, to toy making to flying the sleigh.”

A compound word is one which contains two or more words. The ones in the sentences above are in
the form of adjective + present participle (oldest-running) and noun + present participle (beard
keeping, toy making) Compound words that function as adjectives are often hyphenated, whereas
compound words that function as nouns are often not hyphenated. See the next examples below:

EXAMPLES Sleigh riding is one of Santa’s most important skills.

This candle is the longest-lasting candle I’ve ever bought.

Convert each sentence to one using either an adjective + present participle (with a
PART 2
hyphen) or noun + present participle (without a hyphen).

EX. This candle lasts longer than any other candle I’ve ever bought.
This candle is the longest-lasting candle I’ve ever bought.

1 Another one of Santa’s skills is his ability to carve things out of wood.

2 Although he doesn’t look so skinny, Santa has an interesting and unique appearance.

3 Many of the Santas at the school seem like jolly people and they also sound very clever.

4 I think it’s a nice idea to give gifts, but I really hate shopping for them.

5 Santa’s red and white costume fits loosely around his body.
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY 3
Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2022. For use only with license.
The Harvard of Santa Schools (B1 - B2)
PAGE 5

Choose one of the two tasks to do below.

GRADUATION SPEECH TASK:

• Imagine you are a Santa student at the school, and it’s the end of the course.
• Write a graduation speech (3 - 5 sentences) for the school graduation ceremony.
• In your speech, include at least three of the of the vocabulary terms below:

VOCABULARY TO USE IN THE GRADUATION SPEECH:

relive camaraderie Christmas spirit toy making beard keeping

SPEECH PREPARATION NOTES:

After you write your speech, read it a few times, and then hide it. Give your speech out
loud to your teacher or class without looking at your written speech!

COURSE DEVELOPMENT TASK:

• Imagine you work as an administrator for the Santa School.

• Brainstorm some fun ideas for new classes at the Santa school.
• Come up with two new classes that Santa students will be required to do.
• Write the name and short descriptions of the classes, and then present your ideas.

NEW CLASS IDEA 1:

NEW CLASS IDEA 2:

QUIZ & REVIEW ACTIVITY Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2022. For use only with license.
The Harvard of Santa Schools (B1 - B2)
PAGE 6

Work with a partner. Complete the quiz and review activities below.

PART 1 Questions. Discuss the answers to the questions / topics below.

1 Describe the Santa School. Who goes there? Why do they go there?
2 What kinds of things are learned in the classes and what activities do they do?
3 Why is it important for the Santas to be mentally healthy?
4 How do they describe the experience for a child who meets Santa?
5 What is the general or overall purpose of the school?

PART 2 Vocabulary: Write the missing phrases used in the dean’s quotes from the video.

1 Most of the Santas will tell you they enjoyed being a child, so they’re
.

2 There’s a real in the Santa school.

3 I hope that each and every Santa and Mrs. Claus goes out and
.

PART 3 Vocabulary/Grammar: Write the missing compound words used in the video below.

1 This is the Santa Claus school in the world.

2 At Santa Claus school, we learn everything from to

personal hygiene to to flying the sleigh.

Vocabulary/Grammar: Write a few of your own sentences using compound words

PART 4
below. Use either an adjective + present participle or noun + present participle in
each sentence. Make your sentences Santa, holiday, or Christmas themed.