Have some holiday homeschool fun with a Christmas Unit Study with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
A Christmas Unit Study with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Christmas holidays is a wonderful time to slip some unit studies into the schedule. Unit studies give some variety to your high schoolers’ educational experiences (and the younger ones, as well). This kind of educational experience during the holidays tends to be light-hearted, but still counts as education.
For homeschool high schoolers, unit studies are excellent ways to level up or help build a Carnegie unit credit for the high school transcript. You can add the hours spent on the unit study to the various subjects that it covers.
This simple but fun unit study will cover several different subject areas, including:
- Literature
- Writing
- History
- Fine Arts
Here is a Christmas Unit Study with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
This unit study talks about the role of Father Christmas in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Note: For homeschool high schoolers, you can log hours for activities and keep book lists so that appropriate credit can be given. (More details later in this post.) For information on logging hours, see this post.
Goals for this unit study:
In this unit study, we will look at the role of Father Christmas in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. There had been one hundred years of winter in Narnia, due to the work of the evil White Witch. Always winter and never Christmas.
We know that C.S. Lewis loved to have symbolism in his stories. The cool thing about symbolism is that the reader gets to choose what the symbols symbolize. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a cursed, one hundred years of snow is contrasted with the arrival of a joyful Father Christmas. We will talk more about this during the unit study.
Before we start, let’s be clear that this unit study is not an exhaustive study of C.S. Lewis’ classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It will simply offer some opportunities to enrich teens’ studies and experiences. For an in-depth but no-busywork literature study guide covering this part of the Chronicles of Narnia, download the Literature Study Guide for The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
The goals of this unit study include:
Enrich high schoolers’ awareness of the history, significance of Father Christmas
- Aid growth in understanding the British history of the Christmas traditions alluded to in the novel
- Add interest and richness to homeschool curriculum
- Give teens useful educational opportunities for leveling up their Social Studies or ELA credits
BTW: The term “unit study” is another way to describe integrated learning. If you would like a more in-depth discussion on how to create integrated learning experiences for your teens or homeschool co-op, check out this post.
For families with high schoolers and younger students:
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a WONDERFUL read aloud
- Watch the old BBC Chronicles of Narnia series or the more recent movie (BTW- We will be publishing a Cinema Studies for Literature Learning Guide for these movies/television presentations in the near future.)
- Journal about something they learned about Christmas in Great Britian
- Work on art projectttps://www.7sistershomeschool.com/product/literature-study-guide-1-the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe-for-high-schoolers-2/
Methods for High School Students:
- Reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, either as a listener in the family read-aloud or on their own
- with accompanying 7Sisters literature study guide OR
- Writing essay, report, research paper or short story (or combination, according to student’s goals)
- Journalling about what they learned or thought about as the read the novel
- Fine Arts: video presentations, art projects
- Discussions
Time Frame
The time needed for this unit study will be adjustable:
- One week for the basics
- Two or more weeks for teens who are interested in the book and movies and want to explore more
Grading
Grading will be by assignment, with the assignment’s grades going toward the total grade for the student’s ELA, American History, Science or Fine Arts totals.
- Books:
- Literature Study Guide (follow parent answer key for the 7Sisters Literature Study Guide) OR
- Writing assignments:
- Grading by rubrics given in 7Sisters materials
- Journaling:
- Grading by participation (did the student record some thoughts in the journal?)
- Fine Arts:
- Grading by participation (was the project completed?)
- Guided discussion (optional):
- Grading by participation (did the student participate?)
- Download this freebie for grading with rubric and how-to.
The book can be read in various formats:
- Traditional book form
- Audio book
- Family read-aloud where appropriate
Additional Christmas reading to enrich the study
Optional additional reading of classic Christmas literature (add to the book list)
- Links to lots of historic Christmas stories
- Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkein
- A Vintage Christmas: A Collection of Classic Christmas Stories and Poems (Thomas Nelson)
- The Night Before Christmas- Clement Clarke Moore
History
This is an informative and interesting article from English Heritage about the history of Father Christmas.
Documentaries
- History Channel’s Evolution of Santa Claus
- The Legend of St. Nicholas: The True Meaning of Christmas Giving
- The History of Father Christmas
- History Channel Origins of Christmas
- National Geographic Who Was Saint Nicholas?
Movies
Writing
Choose one of the following:
- Write a creative writing “research” paper
- Or write an essay suggested in the 7Sisters Literature Study Guide
- And/or write your own myth-fantasy short story
Fine Arts
Make some British-style Christmas decorations:
- Create some poppies for Memorial Day. Here’s a video about how to make your own poppies.
- Or some Memorial Day Stars
Syllabus for the Christmas Unit Study
Monday
- Discuss with your teen the unit study (discuss the time period, according to your family’s needs). This suggested syllabus is one week long.
- Read over week’s assignments together.
- Make choices of reading material and writing assignments.
- Begin reading and journalling assignments.
ELA Literature:
Read 1/4 of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (the book can be spread out over several weeks, if desired)
ELA Writing:
Choose one of the movies and journal a response to one or more of these questions:
Pick either Father Christmas or another character from the book. Think about their experiences.
- Describe that character’s personality
- How is their life similar or different than yours?
Or choose one of the other writing assignments listed above
History:
Read the English Heritage History of Father Christmas article.
Discussion question: What were some ways people viewed the Father Christmas type character in the past?
Fine Arts:
Pick one of the activities from the crafts in the English Heritage Victorian Christmas Crafts article.
Daily Wrap Up
- Be sure to log hours on all the activities above.
- End of day discussion. Discuss the questions together. Do you have any thoughts you would like to discuss or explore?
Tuesday
ELA Literature:
Read 1/4 of book (The can be spread out over several weeks, if desired)
ELA Writing:
Journal prompt:
How did British people in the Victorian era through C.S. Lewis’ era view Father Christmas?
History:
Watch one of the short documentaries about Father Christmas or St. Nicholas.
What did you learn from the video?
Fine Arts:
Pick one of the activities from the English Heritage Victoria Christmas crafts article.
Daily Wrap Up
- Be sure to log hours on all the activities above.
- End of day discussion. Discuss the journaling questions together. Do you have any thoughts you would like to discuss or explore.
Wednesday
ELA Literature:
Read 1/4 of book (The book can be spread out over several weeks, if desired.)
ELA Writing:
Journal prompt:
Why do you think Lewis chose Father Christmas to be part of the story? What does Father Christmas symbolize in this story.(There is no one right answer, just literary food for thought.)
Note: We know that C.S. Lewis loved to have symbolism in his stories. The cool thing about symbolism is that the reader gets to choose what the symbols symbolize. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a cursed, one hundred years of snow is contrasted with the arrival of a joyful Father Christmas.
History:
Choose a documentary from the list above.
- What did you learn in the video?
Daily Wrap Up
- Be sure to log hours on all the activities above.
- End of day discussion. Discuss the journaling questions together. Do you have any thoughts you would like to discuss or explore?
Fine Arts:
Pick one of the activities from the English Heritage Victoria Christmas crafts article.
Thursday
ELA Literature:
Read 1/4 of book (The book can be spread out over several weeks, if desired.)
ELA Writing:
Watch the movie or BBC version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
- How did the movie version of Father Christmas compare to the way Lewis depicts him?
History:
Choose a documentary from the list above or find one that would be meaningful to you.
- What did you learn from the video?
Fine Arts:
Pick one of the activities from the English Heritage Victoria Christmas crafts article.
Daily Wrap Up
- Be sure to log hours on all the activities above.
- End of day discussion. Discuss the journaling questions together. Do you have any thoughts you would like to discuss or explore.
Friday
Complete any assignments from earlier in the week.
If you need more try Fun Christmas Unit Study: A Christmas Carol.
One of things nice things about Christmas break is a chance to do a LITTLE bit of light learning with our little ones. One precious way to do some light, fun, interactive literature with our elementary homeschoolers is with 7Sisters Elementary Literature Activity Guides.
7Sisters email subscribers receive periodic practical encouragement, special offers and NO SPAM EVER.
