Santa Claus
Is Coming to
Town!
A Fun-Filled, Song-Selecting ESL Activity
Leading up to Christmas!
for Primary Cycle 3
By Steven Jansma, CP
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Objective:

In this light ESL activity before Christmas, your cycle 3 students listen to several
versions of the popular Christmas song, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and vote on their
favourite version. They must justify their vote, reinvesting understanding and using
functional language. Stretched over three weeks, but still allowing most of the time for
your regular planning, this activity is designed for the last 15 to 30 minutes of one ESL
class per week leading up to Christmas, starting in the first week of December.
Materials:

A computer and computer projector or SMARTboard

Audio speakers

The PowerPoint presentation

The Lyrics sheet for each student (in annexe)

The voting ballots for the final vote – optional (in annexe)
Procedural Variations: (best understood after reading the basic procedure below)

The activity is designed for students to vote between two versions of the song at each
listening session over three weeks (two versions per week, therefore 6 versions of the
song in total.) However, if you want to condense this procedure into a smaller time frame,
feel free to do so. Also, two extra links to versions of the song are provided in the
PowerPoint, so you can extend the activity, or stick to the six versions of the song outlined
in the basic procedure below. One idea for extending the activity would be to have
students listen to and choose between any two of the versions (to complete one vote) at
home. The easiest way to do this would be to send them the two Youtube links you choose
for the home vote by email. (In addition, a link to the first-ever recorded version of the
song is available on the last slide of the PowerPoint. You can play it to include in the voting
or for increasing students’ cultural knowledge of music history or of media history. Ask
students, for example, if they know what the machine in the video is… or what the disk is
made from… Here is a link to the history of the song, although it’s not necessary for the
activity as described in the basic procedure:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus_Is_Coming_to_Town)
Basic Procedure:
Week 1: The first week of December (30 minutes – can be stretched longer depending on
how many questions you ask…)
Part 1: Teaching the Song (15 minutes)

Choose the last half of one ESL class in this first week of December and teach the song
using the first slide of the PowerPoint and the lyrics sheet. (Click on the picture, and the
hyperlink will take you to a traditional version of the song on Youtube.)

Have the kids practice once or twice and then ask them some questions about the lyrics.

Here are some questions you might ask your students. It’s your choice. Whatever
questions you ask, you might want to do a little summary of the info you want students to
retain at the end of the period and then at the beginning of the following period to
reinforce learning. When you need them to remember similar information in the future,
have them recall the song. (For example: Do you remember in the song “Santa Claus is
comin’ to Town”, we learned the word “cry”…? …we learned that an apostrophe replaces a
letter?)
o
Vocabulary: What does “nice” mean? What does “naughty” mean? What does “cry”
mean? What does “pout” mean? What does “twice” mean? What does “awake”
mean?
o
Rhyming: Have the students highlight or underline the words that rhyme on the
lyrics sheet.
o
Spelling and Grammar: In the phrase Santa Claus is comin’ to town, why is there an
apostrophe in the word comin’?
o
Santa Claus is comin’ to town: Now? Or in a little while? (Reinforce the idea that if
we have the intention of an action now, we don’t use “will”. For example: What are
you doing on the weekend? “I’m cleaning my bedroom. My mom insisted!” (I know I
will do it; it’s in my plans now for the weekend.) (Note: the 2 or 3 more advanced
kids will get this right away, but don’t worry about overkill on this particular
grammar point – you can bring it up again later! This song is a classic example,
however, of the present progressive form being used for a future event, which
happens so often in English.)
Part 2: Comparing the first two versions of the song (15 minutes)

Now that the kids are more familiar with the words, let them know they’ll be listening to 6
versions of the song, but just two today. They have to watch, listen and vote on the
version they prefer. They can sing along, but softly, at least for the first listen.

Show the 2nd slide and ask the kids some background info on the Justin Bieber and the
Jackson 5 (Do you know him? Do you know them? What can you tell me about him/them?

Play the Justin Bieber version (Click on the photo in the PowerPoint; the hyperlink takes
you to the Youtube video.)

Play the Jackson 5 version (Click on the photo in the PowerPoint.)

Return to the PowerPoint. Have the students vote on their favourite.

Have the students explain their vote in a quick small group discussion and then as a large
group. Write down key vocabulary/phrases the students needed to explain their vote and
invite the kids to do the same in a notebook. (This is a good chance to teach more/less,
too/not enough. Ex: I like it better because it’s more catchy! The Jackson version is
catchy, but less catchy. I think it’s too slow! I think it’s too fast! I think his voice is too…
It’s too difficult to sing along! I like the beat! I like the drums, the trumpets!)

Inform the students that the class will listen to 4 other versions of the song before
Christmas, two versions next week and two versions in the last week before Christmas.
Then, they’ll all vote on the big winner out of the 6.
Week 2: The second week of December (15-20 minutes)

Review some of the new language the kids know so far based on their learning of the song
and of the functional language used to judge the songs.

Display Slide 3 of the Powerpoint.

Ask the kids to talk about what they know of the artists. Help them along with functional
language.

They may not know of the Carpenters. Ask them what decade they think the Carpenters
are from. Be prepared to share a little info about the Carpenters. You can find out more
on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Carpenters

Follow the procedure from last class, playing the Miley Cyrus version and then the
Carpenters version. (Note, there is some dialogue in the Carpenter’s video, as it was taken
from one of their T.V. Christmas specials in the 70s. Play this version first, so the kids
can see the group sing, but to bypass the dialogue if you play the song more than once, play
the version you can link to using the small green album cover with the picture of Santa
Claus on it.)

Tell the kids, that next week, the two final versions of the song will be revealed and voted
on… And then, the big vote will decide on the BIG WINNER!!!
Week 3: The 3rd week of December (20-30 minutes)

Follow the procedure previously outlined, using the Michael Bublé and Bing Crosby version
of the song now (page 4 of PowerPoint). You might want to find out more about Bing
Crosby to give info to the kids: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Crosby

Have the students review the PowerPoint to cast their votes. Perhaps you could have them
listen to a 30 second excerpt of each song (like on iTunes) to help them make their final
selection.

VOCABULARY EXTENSION IDEA: Have students create evaluation criteria before the
final vote to help them make their final choice. They can rate each song on a scale 1 to 10
based on categories such as: the singer’s voice, the beat, the instrumentation, the length
of the version (too long or too short or just right), etc.

Have students use the vocabulary and functional language they’ve built up to express their
opinions before the final vote. (Extend this to a few sentences for C3 if you’d like to.
There is a voting ballot below for this.

Do the final vote to determine the BIG WINNER!!! At the end of the class, everyone can
sing along to the BIG WINNER version.)
Example for voting ballot: I chose this version because I really like her/his voice. The
song is catchy and I really like the beat. The song is easy to dance to. I don’t like slow
songs, and this version is fast. It is more fun than the other songs. It’s the best of all.
The student handouts and other resources are on the following pages…
My name: _________________
Santa Claus is Coming to Town - lyrics
My notes:
You better watch out.
_______________________________________
You better not cry.
_______________________________________
You better not pout.
_______________________________________
I'm telling you why;
_______________________________________
Santa Claus is coming to town.
_______________________________________
He's making a list;
_______________________________________
He's checking it twice.
_______________________________________
He's gonna find out who's naughty and nice. ________________________________
Santa Claus is coming to town.
_______________________________________
He sees you when you're sleeping. _______________________________________
And he knows when you're awake. _______________________________________
He knows if you've been bad or good. _____________________________________
So be good for goodness sake!
_______________________________________
You better watch out
_______________________________________
You better not cry
_______________________________________
You better not pout
_______________________________________
I'm telling you why
_______________________________________
Santa Claus is coming to town.
_______________________________________
Other lyrics:
Version 5 (extra line):
I'm a big fat man with a long white beard
Some versions have these verses:
Little tin horns, little toy drums.
Rudy-toot-toot and rummy tum tums.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
Little toy dolls that cuddle and coo,
Elephants, boats and kiddie cars too.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
The kids in Girl and Boy Land will have a jubilee.
They're gonna build a toyland town all around the Christmas tree.
VOTING BALLOT
My Choice: ______________________
I chose this version because ___________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
My name: __________________
VOTING BALLOT
My Choice: ______________________
I chose this version because ___________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
My name: __________________
VOTING BALLOT
My Choice: ______________________
I chose this version because ___________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
My name: __________________
Youtube links in PowerPoint
Slide 1

Generic Kids Version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWv72L4wgCc
Slide 2

Justin Bieber
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=GSRahX6vnLk&NR=1

Jackson 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFHF_1FhtIo
Slide 3

Miley Cyrus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_ANhC0QlJE&feature=related

Carpenters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVdTlIIM7cs
Slide 4

Michael Bublé
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l6Lmav6a6g

Bing Crosby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWfRVSqV6h0
Slide 5 (extra versions)

Beach Boys Smile’s Version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9KuaO6fs84

Opera version (Razvan Sararu)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT_rqrV5Cj4
Slide 6

(First ever recorded version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZG98tOnO3w