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Researchers work out Santa Claus' salary (13th December, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

People have wondered for years what Santa does and how he does it for free. Researchers have now come up with an answer to these age-old questions. The insurance company insure.com has calculated a hypothetical figure of $139,924 for Santa's efforts this year. This is a 1.5 per cent increase on last year, which is in keeping with austerity measures suffered by most people around the world. The figure is roughly twice the amount that caregivers in the USA would receive. Researchers at insure.com created a list of the various jobs Santa performs throughout the year to create a job description. They then estimated the total time spent on each task to get the final figure for Santa's annual salary.

The researchers discovered that Santa is indeed a multi-skilled worker, who pretty much has to be a jack of all trades. Among his skills are reindeer handling, gift wrapping, chimney expert and map reader. The vast majority of his salary, however, comes from managing his toy factory. It is estimated the bearded one spends 2,912 hours a year organizing his elves and making sure toys for the world's children are of the right quality. He gets the standard $40.09 an hour for this. His highest hourly rate is for the ten hours he spends being a sleigh pilot and delivering presents. Comparisons were made with airline pilots and researchers reckoned a sleigh pilot would earn $62.31 an hour.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://time.com/money/3623343/santa-claus-mom-dad-salary/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/12/08/santa-index-pay-value-insurecom/20083897/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2870079/Flying-round-world-tending-elves-checking-list-twice-Santa-earn-paid.html

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. SANTA CLAUS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Santa Claus. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

wondered / free / insurance / hypothetical / austerity / twice / caregivers / salary / researchers / multi-skilled / reindeer / map / majority / quality / hourly rate / pilot

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. MULTI-SKILLED: What skills and talents do these people have? How good are they at their job? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Skills	How god are they?
Santa Claus
US President
Boss of Apple
A mother
A soldier
An astronaut

4. KIDS: Students A strongly believe it's wrong to tell kids that Santa exists; Students B strongly believe it's OK to tell kids that Santa exists. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. SANTA'S TASKS: Rank these with your partner. Put the most interesting at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• reindeer handling

• piloting a sleigh

• wrapping presents

• reading kids mail

• chimney sweep

• cookie taster

• list checker

• talking to kids in malls

6. GIFT: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "gift". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	People never question why or how Santa works for free.	T / F
b.	An employment agency calculated a possible salary Santa might get.	T / F
c.	Santa's imaginary salary was 1.5% higher this year than last.	T / F
d.	A website asked Santa for his job description.	T / F
e.	The article says Santa is limited in the number of skills he has.	T / F
f.	Most of Santa's time is spent looking after the toy factory.	T / F
g.	Santa gets just over $40 an hour for looking after the toy factory.	T / F
h.	Santa gets slightly over $60 an hour for piloting his sleigh.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	wondered	a.	talents
2.	come up with	b.	correct
3.	hypothetical	c.	thought of
4.	roughly	d.	get
5.	task	e.	thought about
6.	skills	f.	gifts
7.	expert	g.	job
8.	right	h.	theoretical
9.	presents	i.	specialist
10.	earn	j.	about

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	People have wondered for years	a.	measures
2.	come up with an answer to these	b.	figure
3.	calculated a hypothetical	c.	majority of his salary
4.	austerity	d.	age-old questions
5.	the total time spent	e.	of all trades
6.	Santa is indeed a multi-	f.	rate
7.	be a jack	g.	what Santa does
8.	The vast	h.	pilot
9.	hourly	i.	on each task
10.	sleigh	j.	skilled worker

GAP FILL

People have (1) ____________ for years what Santa does and how he does it for free. Researchers have now come up with an (2) ____________ to these age-old questions. The insurance company insure.com has calculated a hypothetical (3) ____________ of $139,924 for Santa's efforts this year. This is a 1.5 per cent increase on last year, which is in keeping with austerity (4) ____________ suffered by most people around the world. The figure is roughly (5) ____________ the amount that caregivers in the USA would receive. Researchers at insure.com created a list of the (6) ____________ jobs Santa performs throughout the year to create a job (7) ____________. They then estimated the total time spent on each task to get the (8) ____________ figure for Santa's annual salary.

figure
wondered
various
answer
twice
final
measures
description

The researchers discovered that Santa is (9) ____________ a multi-skilled worker, who pretty much has to be a jack of all trades. Among his skills are reindeer handling, gift (10) ____________, chimney expert and map reader. The vast (11) ____________ of his salary, however, comes from managing his toy factory. It is estimated the (12) ____________ one spends 2,912 hours a year organizing his elves and making sure toys for the world's children are of the right (13) ____________. He gets the standard $40.09 an hour for this. His highest (14) ____________ rate is for the ten hours he spends being a sleigh (15) ____________ and delivering presents. Comparisons were made with airline pilots and researchers (16) ____________ a sleigh pilot would earn $62.31 an hour.

wrapping
quality
pilot
indeed
bearded
reckoned
majority
hourly

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	People have wondered for years what Santa does and how he ______
	a. does it for flee b. does it for flea c. does it for free d. does it for freed
2)	Researchers have now come up with an answer to these ______
	a. age-bold questions b. age-old questions c. age-odd questions d. age-hold questions
3)	The insurance company insure.com has calculated a ______
	a. hypo-theoretical figure b. hypothetical figure c. hypothetically figure d. high-potential figure
4)	This is a 1.5 per cent increase on last year, which is in keeping with ______
	a. austere measures b. austerity measures c. or sterility measures d. and sterility measures
5)	They then estimated the total time spent on each task to get ______
	a. the final figure b. the finally figure c. the finalised figure d. the finalise figure
6)	The researchers discovered that Santa is indeed a ______
	a. maxi-skilled worker b. multi-skilled worker c. malted-skilled worker d. mini-skilled worker
7)	Among his skills are reindeer handling, gift wrapping, chimney expert ______
	a. and map leader b. and map breeder c. and map learner d. and map reader
8)	making sure toys for the world's children are ______
	a. from the right quality b. by the right quality c. of the right quality d. at the right quality
9)	His highest hourly rate is for the ten hours he spends ______
	a. being a sleigh pilot b. been a sleigh pilot c. be in a sleigh pilot d. bring a sleigh pilot
10)	researchers reckoned a sleigh pilot would ______ an hour
	a. earn $62.31 b. learn $62.31 c. yearn $62.31 d. spurn $62.31

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

People have (1) ___________________ what Santa does and how he does it for free. Researchers have (2) ___________________ an answer to these age-old questions. The insurance company insure.com has calculated a (3) ___________________ of $139,924 for Santa's efforts this year. This is a 1.5 per cent increase on last year, which is in keeping with austerity measures (4) ___________________ people around the world. The figure is roughly twice the amount that caregivers in the USA would receive. Researchers at insure.com created (5) ___________________ jobs Santa performs throughout the year to create a job description. They then estimated the total time spent on each task to (6) ___________________ for Santa's annual salary.

The researchers discovered that Santa is indeed (7) ___________________, who pretty much has to be a jack of all trades. (8) ___________________ are reindeer handling, gift wrapping, chimney expert and map reader. The (9) ___________________ salary, however, comes from managing his toy factory. It is estimated the bearded one spends 2,912 hours a year organizing his elves (10) ___________________ toys for the world's children are of the right quality. He gets the standard $40.09 an hour for this. His highest hourly rate is for the ten hours (11) ___________________ a sleigh pilot and delivering presents. Comparisons were made with airline pilots and researchers reckoned a sleigh (12) ___________________ $62.31 an hour.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What have people wondered for years?
2.	What kind of company calculated Santa's salary?
3.	How much higher is Santa's salary for 2014 than it was in 2013?
4.	How much more might Santa earn than a caregiver in the USA?
5.	What did researchers create a list of?
6.	What kind of worker did researchers say Santa was?
7.	What task brings Santa the most income?
8.	How many hours a year does he spend organizing elves?
9.	What does Santa get paid $40.09 an hour for doing?
10.	Who gets $62.31 an hour besides Santa?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What have people wondered for years?	6.	What kind of worker did researchers say Santa was?
	a) why Santa wears red b) who Santa is c) what Santa does d) whether or not Santa gets a present		a) happy b) multi-skilled c) fast d) professional
2.	What kind of company calculated Santa's salary?	7.	What task brings Santa the most income?
	a) an insurance company b) a gift wrapping company c) a toy company d) a recruitment agency		a) starring in movies b) working in shopping malls c) looking after reindeer d) managing the toy factory
3.	How much higher is Santa's salary for 2014 than it was in 2013?	8.	How many hours a year does he spend organising elves?
	a) 5% b) three per cent c) 2.5% d) 1.5%		a) 2,129 b) 2,912 c) 2,921 d) 2,192
4.	How much more might Santa earn than a caregiver in the USA?	9.	What does Santa get paid $40.09 an hour for doing?
	a) 5 times b) two times c) three times d) two times		a) managing the toy factory b) giving interviews c) reading letters d) shopping mall appearances
5.	What did researchers create a list of?	10.	Who gets $62.31 an hour besides sleigh pilots?
	a) countries Santa visits b) presents c) Santa's tasks d) reindeer		a) delivery agents b) toy designers c) Frosty the Snowman d) airline pilots

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Reindeer handling

You think reindeer handling is the best of Santa's jobs. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): gift wrapping, piloting a sleigh or talking to kids.

Role B – Gift wrapping

You think gift wrapping is the best of Santa's jobs. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): reindeer handling, piloting a sleigh or talking to kids.

Role C – Piloting a sleigh

You think piloting a sleigh is the best of Santa's jobs. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): reindeer handling, gift wrapping or talking to kids.

Role D – Talking to kids

You think talking to kids is the best of Santa's jobs. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): reindeer handling, piloting a sleigh or gift wrapping.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'annual' and 'salary'.

annual

salary

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

how
figure
1.5
keeping
twice
task

multi
gift
vast
sure
highest
earn

SANTA CLAUS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Santa Claus in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

SANTA CLAUS DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'salary'?
3)	What do you think of the idea of Santa Claus?
4)	Does $140,000 sound a good salary for what Santa does?
5)	What do you think Santa does every day?
6)	When should parents tell kids the truth about Santa?
7)	Is a 1.5% pay rise good?
8)	What do you think of austerity measures?
9)	What do you think Santa's job description is like?
10)	Should Santa get paid or should he do what he does for free?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	How multi-skilled are you?
13)	What would it be like to be a jack of all trades?
14)	How do you think you would do at Santa's jobs?
15)	What do you think is the best part of Santa's job?
16)	What problem might Santa have with his elves in the factory?
17)	What do you know about the origins of Santa?
18)	What do you think is the hardest part of Santa's job?
19)	What do you think Santa thinks of Christmas?
20)	What questions would you like to ask Santa Claus?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

People have (1) ____ for years what Santa does and how he does it for free. Researchers have now come up with an answer to these (2) ____-old questions. The insurance company insure.com has calculated a (3) ____ figure of $139,924 for Santa's efforts this year. This is a 1.5 per cent increase on last year, which is in keeping with austerity measures (4) ____ by most people around the world. The figure is roughly twice the amount that caregivers in the USA would receive. Researchers at insure.com created a (5) ____ of the various jobs Santa performs throughout the year to create a job description. They then estimated the total time spent on each task to get the (6) ____ figure for Santa's annual salary.

The researchers discovered that Santa is (7) ____ a multi-skilled worker, who pretty much has to be a jack of all trades. Among his skills are reindeer handling, gift wrapping, chimney expert and map (8) ____. The vast majority of his salary, however, comes from managing his toy factory. It is estimated the (9) ____ one spends 2,912 hours a year organizing his elves and making sure toys for the world's children are (10) ____ the right quality. He gets the standard $40.09 an hour for this. His highest hourly rate is for the ten hours he spends (11) ____ a sleigh pilot and delivering presents. Comparisons were made with airline pilots and researchers (12) ____ a sleigh pilot would earn $62.31 an hour.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	winded	(b)	wondered	(c)	wounded	(d)	wandered
2.	(a)	how	(b)	age	(c)	era	(d)	ten
3.	(a)	hypnotic	(b)	hypnosis	(c)	hypothesis	(d)	hypothetical
4.	(a)	hurt	(b)	suffered	(c)	pained	(d)	stressed
5.	(a)	last	(b)	list	(c)	lost	(d)	lest
6.	(a)	finality	(b)	finally	(c)	final	(d)	finalise
7.	(a)	so	(b)	that	(c)	indeed	(d)	very
8.	(a)	listener	(b)	speaker	(c)	reader	(d)	writer
9.	(a)	boarded	(b)	barbed	(c)	beaded	(d)	bearded
10.	(a)	of	(b)	be	(c)	so	(d)	as
11.	(a)	being	(b)	been	(c)	bringing	(d)	banging
12.	(a)	adjusted	(b)	contrived	(c)	reckoned	(d)	promised

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	People have downdeer for years
2.	rcisaenun company
3.	calculated a oclphhtieaty figure
4.	teirtuasy measures
5.	yroluhg twice the amount
6.	gouhturhot the year
Paragraph 2
7.	gift wppagirn
8.	chimney erxpet
9.	The vast jmytiaro of his salary
10.	He gets the dnadsatr $40.09 an hour
11.	a elhigs pilot
12.	dielvinegr presents

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	the total time spent on each task to get the final figure for Santa's annual salary.
( )	of the various jobs Santa performs throughout the year to create a job description. They then estimated
( )	up with an answer to these age-old questions. The insurance company insure.com has calculated a hypothetical
( )	figure of $139,924 for Santa's efforts this year. This is a 1.5 per cent increase on last year, which is in
( )	reader. The vast majority of his salary, however, comes from managing his toy factory. It is estimated
( )	much has to be a jack of all trades. Among his skills are reindeer handling, gift wrapping, chimney expert and map
( )	pilots and researchers reckoned a sleigh pilot would earn $62.31 an hour.
( )	The researchers discovered that Santa is indeed a multi-skilled worker, who pretty
( 1 )	People have wondered for years what Santa does and how he does it for free. Researchers have now come
( )	the amount that caregivers in the USA would receive. Researchers at insure.com created a list
( )	rate is for the ten hours he spends being a sleigh pilot and delivering presents. Comparisons were made with airline
( )	keeping with austerity measures suffered by most people around the world. The figure is roughly twice
( )	the bearded one spends 2,912 hours a year organizing his elves and making sure toys for the world's children
( )	are of the right quality. He gets the standard $40.09 an hour for this. His highest hourly

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	have Santa wondered does for years People what.
2.	an with up Come questions old - age these to answer.
3.	has calculated Insure a hypothetical com figure.
4.	Santa Created of jobs list various performs a the.
5.	then total on They the spent task estimated time each.
6.	skilled indeed worker a multi Santa - is.
7.	are of the right quality Making sure toys for children.
8.	standard He for gets this an $40.09 the hour.
9.	hours being pilot ten spends sleigh The he a.
10.	pilot earn reckoned sleigh would Researchers a $62.31.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

People have wondered / wandered for years what Santa does and how he does it for free. Researchers have now come down / up with an answer to these age-old questions. The insurance / insure company insure.com has calculated a hypothetical figure / numeral of $139,924 for Santa's efforts this year. This is a 1.5 per cent increase in / on last year, which is in / on keeping with austerity measures suffered by most people around the world. The figure is roughly / rough twice the amount that caregivers in the USA would receive. Researchers at insure.com created a list for / of the various jobs Santa performs throughout / of the year to create a job description. They then estimated the total time spent on each task to get the final figure for Santa's annual / annually salary.

The researchers discovered that Santa is deed / indeed a multi-skilled worker, who pretty / cute much has to be a jack of all trades. Among / Between his skills are reindeer handling, gift wrapping, chimney expert and map read / reader. The vast majority of his salary, however, comes from managing his / him toy factory. It is estimated the braided / bearded one spends 2,912 hours a year organizing his / this elves and making sure toys for the world's children are off / of the right quality. He gets the standard $40.09 an hour for this. His highest hourly rate is for the ten hours he spends been / being a sleigh pilot and delivering presents. Comparisons were made with airline pilots and researchers reckoned a sleigh pilot would yearn / earn $62.31 an hour.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

P__pl_ h_v_ w_nd_r_d f_r y__rs wh_t S_nt_ d__s _nd h_w h_ d__s _t f_r fr__. R_s__rch_rs h_v_ n_w c_m_ _p w_th _n _nsw_r t_ th_s_ _g_-_ld q__st__ns. Th_ _ns_r_nc_ c_mp_ny _ns_r_.c_m h_s c_lc_l_t_d _ hyp_th_t_c_l f_g_r_ _f $139,924 f_r S_nt_'s _ff_rts th_s y__r. Th_s _s _ 1.5 p_r c_nt _ncr__s_ _n l_st y__r, wh_ch _s _n k__p_ng w_th __st_r_ty m__s_r_s s_ff_r_d by m_st p__pl_ _r__nd th_ w_rld. Th_ f_g_r_ _s r__ghly tw_c_ th_ _m__nt th_t c_r_g_v_rs _n th_ _S_ w__ld r_c__v_. R_s__rch_rs _t _ns_r_.c_m cr__t_d _ l_st _f th_ v_r___s j_bs S_nt_ p_rf_rms thr__gh__t th_ y__r t_ cr__t_ _ j_b d_scr_pt__n. Th_y th_n _st_m_t_d th_ t_t_l t_m_ sp_nt _n __ch t_sk t_ g_t th_ f_n_l f_g_r_ f_r S_nt_'s _nn__l s_l_ry.

Th_ r_s__rch_rs d_sc_v_r_d th_t S_nt_ _s _nd__d _ m_lt_-sk_ll_d w_rk_r, wh_ pr_tty m_ch h_s t_ b_ _ j_ck _f _ll tr_d_s. _m_ng h_s sk_lls _r_ r__nd__r h_ndl_ng, g_ft wr_pp_ng, ch_mn_y _xp_rt _nd m_p r__d_r. Th_ v_st m_j_r_ty _f h_s s_l_ry, h_w_v_r, c_m_s fr_m m_n_g_ng h_s t_y f_ct_ry. _t _s _st_m_t_d th_ b__rd_d _n_ sp_nds 2,912 h__rs _ y__r _rg_n_z_ng h_s _lv_s _nd m_k_ng s_r_ t_ys f_r th_ w_rld's ch_ldr_n _r_ _f th_ r_ght q__l_ty. H_ g_ts th_ st_nd_rd $40.09 _n h__r f_r th_s. H_s h_gh_st h__rly r_t_ _s f_r th_ t_n h__rs h_ sp_nds b__ng _ sl__gh p_l_t _nd d_l_v_r_ng pr_s_nts. C_mp_r_s_ns w_r_ m_d_ w_th __rl_n_ p_l_ts _nd r_s__rch_rs r_ck_n_d _ sl__gh p_l_t w__ld __rn $62.31 _n h__r.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

people have wondered for years what santa does and how he does it for free researchers have now come up with an answer to these age-old questions the insurance company insurecom has calculated a hypothetical figure of $139924 for santa's efforts this year this is a 15 per cent increase on last year which is in keeping with austerity measures suffered by most people around the world the figure is roughly twice the amount that caregivers in the usa would receive researchers at insurecom created a list of the various jobs santa performs throughout the year to create a job description they then estimated the total time spent on each task to get the final figure for santa's annual salary

the researchers discovered that santa is indeed a multi-skilled worker who pretty much has to be a jack of all trades among his skills are reindeer handling gift wrapping chimney expert and map reader the vast majority of his salary however comes from managing his toy factory it is estimated the bearded one spends 2912 hours a year organizing his elves and making sure toys for the world's children are of the right quality he gets the standard $4009 an hour for this his highest hourly rate is for the ten hours he spends being a sleigh pilot and delivering presents comparisons were made with airline pilots and researchers reckoned a sleigh pilot would earn $6231 an hour

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

PeoplehavewonderedforyearswhatSantadoesandhowhedoesitforfre
e.Researchershavenowcomeupwithananswertotheseage-oldqu
estions.Theinsurancecompanyinsure.comhascalculatedahypothetic
alfigureof$139,924forSanta'seffortsthisyear.Thisisa1.5percentincr
easeonlastyear,whichisinkeepingwithausteritymeasuressufferedby
mostpeoplearoundtheworld.Thefigureisroughlytwicetheamounttha
tcaregiversintheUSAwouldreceive.Researchersatinsure.comcreate
dalistofthevariousjobsSantaperformsthroughouttheyeartocreateaj
obdescription.Theythenestimatedthetotaltimespentoneachtasktog
etthefinalfigureforSanta'sannualsalary.Theresearchers
discoveredthatSantaisindeedamulti-skilledworker,whoprettymuchhastobeajac
kofalltrades.Amonghisskillsarereindeerhandling,giftwrapping,chim
neyexpertandmapreader.Thevastmajorityofhissalary,however,com
esfrommanaginghistoyfactory.Itisestimatedthebeardedonespends
2,912hoursayearorganizinghiselvesandmakingsuretoysfortheworld
'schildrenareoftherightquality.Hegetsthestandard$40.09anhourfor
this.Hishighesthourlyrateisforthetenhourshespendsbeingasleighpil
otanddeliveringpresents.Comparisonsweremadewithairlinepilotsan
dresearchersreckonedasleighpilotwouldearn$62.31anhour.

FREE WRITING

Write about Santa Claus for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

Santa should get a very high salary for his work. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about Santa Claus. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. SALARIES: Make a poster about salaries around the world. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. SANTA'S SALARY: Write a magazine article about whether or not Santa should get a salary. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on Santa Claus. Ask him/her three questions about Santa. Give him/her three ideas on how to reward Santa for his efforts. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

F

c

T

d

F

e

F

f

T

g

T

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	wondered	a.	thought about
2.	come up with	b.	thought of
3.	hypothetical	c.	theoretical
4.	roughly	d.	about
5.	task	e.	job
6.	skills	f.	talents
7.	expert	g.	specialist
8.	right	h.	correct
9.	presents	i.	gifts
10.	earn	j.	get

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	What Santa does
2.	An insurance company
3.	1.5%
4.	Twice as high
5.	Santa's tasks
6.	A multi-skilled worker
7.	Managing the toy factory
8.	2,912
9.	Managing the toy factory / quality control
10.	Airline pilots

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

c

2.

a

3.

d

4.

b

5.

c

6.

b

7.

d

8.

b

9.

a

10.

d

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Researchers work out Santa Claus' salary (13th December, 2014)

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