All across the nation, just before winter break, teachers are scrambling to find last-minute activities that lightheartedly combine ELA skills and holiday anticipation. Here’s an idea: have students read, listen to, or watch these three humorous holiday rhymes (2 songs and 1 poem). I’ve provided the lyrics, links to their multimedia versions, and ideas for how to incorporate these into the ELA setting just in time for winter break. (And have yourself a relaxing winter break — you deserve it!)

1) Snowball: This is a silly poem by Shel Silverstein.

SNOWBALL

I made myself a snowball
As perfect as could be.
I thought I’d keep it as a pet
And let it sleep with me.
I made it some pajamas
And a pillow for its head.
Then, last night it ran away
But first — it wet the bed.

Ideas for how to use in ELA: 1) This poem is a very basic example of dramatic irony (when the audience knows something the character doesn’t). Have students research this literary device and write about how it’s used here. 2) Have students write a poem using the same structure: 4 verses, 8 lines, ABCB rhyme, about a winter theme, etc.

2) You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch: To accompany his 1966 animated TV movie that’s based on his original short story, Dr. Seuss (along with Albert Hague) wrote the song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” He asked Thurl Ravenscroft, with his lovely deep voice, to sing it. The song is full of similes and metaphors (saying something is something it is not.) and hyperbole (exaggerations) See how many you can find!

YOU’RE A MEAN ONE, MR. GRINCH

You really are a heel
You’re as cuddly as a cactus
You’re as charming as an eel
Mr. Grinch
You’re a bad banana
With a greasy black peel

You’re a monster, Mr. Grinch
Your heart’s an empty hole
Your brain is full of spiders
You’ve got garlic in your soul
Mr. Grinch
I wouldn’t touch you
With a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole

You’re a vile one, Mr. Grinch
You have termites in your smile
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile
Mr. Grinch

Given the choice between the two of you
I’d take the seasick crocodile

You’re a foul one, Mr. Grinch
You’re a nasty, wasty skunk
Your heart is full of unwashed socks
Your soul is full of gunk
Mr. Grinch

The three words that best describe you
Are as follows and I quote, “Stink, stank, stunk”

You’re a rotter, Mr. Grinch
You’re the king of sinful sots
Your heart’s a dead tomato splotch
With moldy purple spots
Mr. Grinch

Your soul is an appalling dump heap
Overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable
Rubbish imaginable
Mangled up in tangled up knots

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch
With a nauseous super-naus
You’re a crooked jerky jockey
And you drive a crooked horse
Mr. Grinch

You’re a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich
With arsenic sauce!

Ideas for how to use in ELA: 1) Have students list as many metaphors, similes, and hyperbole as they can find. I have a free, one page-printable that includes the lyrics and information about the Dr. Seuss story.

Links to Multimedia Versions: 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35WgpMq6e3o 2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6bqbPdGOZk

3) Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer:  Randy Brooks of Dallas, Texas wrote this song in 1977. At the time, he was in a band, and he wrote funny songs to make the crowd laugh.

GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER

How about save this pin to your “Holidays and Seasonal Resources in ELA” or “Christmas in ELA” or “Poetry” Board so that you can come back to this post again?