My sts had a great speaking activity when we did the following things (you �ll know the level and age with which to use it):
1. interview Grinch/ Santa Claus - one of them or you can be Grinch or Santa and they interview you
2. Christmas shopping situations (you can use cards with various situations - st 1 is the customer - an old granny who needs a toy nobody has any more so she starts crying and pleading, and st 2 is a shop assistant who finally calls another store and gets it for her; st1 who is a shop assistant who is new at his/her job and the other colleagues send him the most demanding businessman ever who wants the perfect gift for his wife, etc. - you can even have sts invent situations)
3. role play - Santa �s workshop, the elves and Mrs Claus - the fuss right before delivering presents
4. have word cards of famous Christmas persons (Santa, Grinch, elf, Mrs Claus, Scrooge, Snow Queen...) and pull out pairs of cards and then have them sit down, pretend they �re having a cup of cocoa and chatting over the difficulties of their jobs (imagine Snow Queen and Grinch at the same table)
5. Santa �s having a bad day - first part - go thorugh Santa �s normal Christmas delivery day and make notes on board - when he gets up, what he eats, what he wears...; then tell them to pretend everything went badly one day - have them create funny situations (the alarm clock didn �t go off, his trousers ripped, the reindeer went on strike...) - my kids loved this, and later on I paired them up and had them write it down - I got role plays, poems, stories...
Sorry, have to go now! Trust me, I did some of these with kids from 8-15 and we had a fantastic time!( we even chose the best ones in the last activity and I got them those chocolate Santas as Oscars - they were surprised, laughed, acted out and read aloud their stuff.... great lessons)
Anita