Tag Archives: halloween

3 Spook-tacular Halloween Activities to Thrill Your Students

General

This lesson plan aimed at B2 students or + is loaded up with  engaging activities, some of which are easily adaptable to other levels.

As you’ve probably noticed over the years,  I am not a huge fan of Halloween. In fact, when I was a kid, I didn’t even know what Halloween was. But, even if it’s not my cup of tea, embracing Halloween in the classroom can be a fun and meaningful way to connect with students and broaden their cultural awareness. And this particular combination of  activities will surely prove to be a hit in my classes and hopefully, a time-saver  for some of you!

1. Setting the right atmosphere to Tell a Scary Story

Do you have a smartboard in the classroom? Then, you already have some Halloween decor, like this one below,

Right , now that we are in the mood, dim the lights and ask students to think of a time in their lives when they felt fear or anxiety. After about 5 minutes and with just the light from the smartboard, ask students to share their stories.

2. Short Film: THE TEN STEPS

In this 10-minute film Katie, a young girl, is babysitting her younger brother Steven while her parents are out for the evening.

Useful vocabulary

  • A fuse box is an electrical panel that contains fuses, which protect circuits from overloads.
  • To give the creeps means to make someone feel uncomfortable, scared, or uneasy.
  • To be haunted means to be visited or troubled by a ghost or spirit. It can also refer to a place that has a spooky or eerie atmosphere.

Ask students these three questions related to what happens at the beginning of the film

  1. Why is Katie babysitting her brother Steven?
  2. Why does Katie panic when asked to go to the cellar for the fuse box?
  3. What is the backstory behind Katie’s fear of the cellar?

Enjoy this short film; one of the best, in my opinion!

3. Debate on the Global Adoption of Halloween Traditions

In this activity, students argue for or against the global adoption of Halloween traditions. This activity will, hopefully,  challenge my students  to use advanced language skills, including persuasive techniques, formal language, and complex argumentative structures.

Expanding their Vocabulary. In this activity and with the aim of expanding their vocabulary, students will be asked to use the verbs in the exercise below

The debate

How to do it

  1. Divide the class into two teams: one supporting the global adoption of Halloween, the other opposing it.
  2. Give those in favour these three ideas to get started and some preparation time to organise their ideas

Potential arguments for global adoption:

  • Cultural exchange and understanding
  • Economic benefits for businesses
  • Entertainment and creative expression
  1. Give those against these three ideas to get started

Potential arguments against global adoption:

  • Cultural imperialism and loss of local traditions
  • Commercialization and consumerism
  • Religious or cultural conflicts in some societies
  1. Pair up students to discuss their opposing views on the subject
  2. After the debate, have a class discussion to reflect on the arguments presented.

I hope you have enjoyed this 3 Spook-tacular Halloween Activities.

A Simple Way to Add Digital Decor to your Halloween Lessons with YouTube

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OMG!The things you can find on the Internet. We are talking Halloween here  and setting the right mood before a Halloween activity with some engaging digital decor.

If you have a digital board or a computer, you can easily transform your space into a Halloween environment using YouTube.Yes, YouTube!

How?

  • Head over to YouTube
  • Search for “Halloween window projection.” You’ll find a wide variety of options, from eerie landscapes to fun, animated scenes.
  • Choose the one that fits your classroom vibe best, and set the mood for your students!

I’m still thinking how to do it but I might turn off the lights before my students enter the classroom or I might dim the lights before doing the Halloween activity to enhance the experience.

I have recorded small clips with some examples of what you can find online. It’s a simple way to add a little magic to your Halloween lessons!

 

halloween by cristina.cabal

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Three Activities to Do on a Spooky Gloomy Halloween Day

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You see, Halloween and me, we are not on friendly terms. I don’t really get good vibes off this holiday.  Gory and scary … just scares me. But, that’s ok. I don’t have to like every single holiday. However, I have students and teaching a language is not only about words, it’s also about the culture and traditions of the country you are trying to teach. Halloween is important in Anglo-Saxon countries so this year I have made a point of trying to give it some real attention. I’ll even attend a small Halloween party, where I’ll be wearing a knife-through-head prop and some Halloween skeleton tights. Organising the party? Let’s start small! This year, the party will be hosted by my enthusiastic colleague Marta Dominguez, who has also provided me with some of the activities you’ll see below.

Activity 1.  Video Activity. The Ten Steps (2004)

This activity aims at

  • learning vocabulary: adjectives to describe houses
  • improving their listening skills

This is a great short film (less than 9 minutes and worth every second) that sets the right atmosphere. Draw the curtains and turn off the lights.

I would like to just for one day forget I’m an English teacher and just play the film, but I can’t.  So, we are going to work a bit on vocabulary before the film starts and we are going to focus on some questions to answer in pairs after watching the film.

Before playing the video, show them the picture below or alternatively pause the video. Do the vocabulary exercise with them ( handout)

PDF here

The Ten Steps

 

Activity 2. Writing and Story-Telling

This activity aims at

  • developing creative writing
  • using their stories to develop oral fluency

Remember the lights should be off and the curtains drawn. Lighting a candle might be a good idea for two reasons: it helps create a mysterious atmosphere and prevents students from reading from their essays.

The New York Times has a site where, every day, they publish a picture prompt to inspire students writing. Days prior to the great Halloween Day, I have shown my students this picture and asked them to write a scary story about this house. They should bring their stories on the day of the party.

The idea is to put students in groups of four and tell (not read) their stories. Each group will decide on the best and the whole class will listen to the best stories from each group and then vote on the best one.

It’s also a good idea if you share a story of your own and yes, in case you’re wondering, I’ll still need to correct their stories.

Activity 3.  A bit of fun with Kahoot.

This activity aims at:

  • teaching about traditions
  • developing digital abilities
  • having fun 🙂

I would just not feel fine if, after all the spooky storytelling, my students went home and couldn’t sleep that night, so a Kahoot is in order.

Again, I have not created it. My colleague Marta has just chosen one from the enormous bank of Halloween quizzes Kahoot has and we have adapted it to our needs.

Happy Halloween! Let’s enjoy the holiday break!

Storytelling Contest. Help me Find the Winner

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About two weeks ago, to celebrate Halloween, I decided to set up a contest where my students could try their hands at writing a paranormal story. The task was to write a story beginning with:

I don't believe in paranormal, but one day...

I want to thank my students for making the contest a resounding success as 58 students wrote 58 great stories. Thank you very much for your effort. Your contribution was vital to the success of the contest.Now, it’s time to choose a winner!

I have selected these 4 stories. Please, read them and help me pick a  winner. After reading the four stories, you can vote. Please, vote only once!

Thanks for voting. Now, here’s the winner of the contest, Remedios Gámez. Thank you very much for your story “Hide-and-Seek”

Lesson Plan: I don’t believe in paranormal but….

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Fall has finally hit!This is Halloween’s week and it seems the weather has finally chilled out and stopped being silly. The truth is that I don’t see myself telling scary stories in class while the sun outside is shining bright. It just wouldn’t do! Telling scary stories requires a dark, grey, gloomy day; one cannot be telling scary stories and thinking about going to the beach.

Level: B2

Aim:

  • to introduce and revise vocabulary used to talk about paranormal or unnatural phenomena
  • to give students’ some listening and speaking practice.
  • to develop students’ writing skills

STEP 1. INTRODUCTION

Write Paranormal on the whiteboard. Ask students if they know what it means (if necessary, explain that a paranormal activity is not scientifically explainable), and ask them if they believe in paranormal phenomena.

STEP 2. LISTENING COMPREHENSION. A PARANORMAL STORY.

Ask students if they know what a Ouija board is and ask them whether they, or anybody they know, have ever played with a Ouija board. I have a real experience to share with them but in case you don’t, there are plenty of terrifying stories online you might want to share with your students (just to build the right kind of atmosphere).

  1. Play the first 0:53 seconds of the video and ask students to predict what will happen next. Listen to their predictions and then, play the rest of the story.
  2.  Play the video a second time and ask the following questions:

True or False? Justify your answer

  1. The narrator and his brother had just bought a Ouija board
  2. The narrator’s brother was willing to play with the board
  3. The first time, the narrator’s brother moved the planchette.

Answer the following questions in your own words:

  1. Why did they decide to play a second time?
  2. What is the ideal environment for a Ouija board?
  3. Why did the narrator leave the room?
  4. Why did he run back to the room and what did he see?

 

STEP 3. SPEAKING

Before asking students to discuss the questions you might want to pre-teach or revise some vocabulary.

  • To set the mood: gloomy, desolate, haunted, abandoned, scary, spooky, frightening, creepy and supernatural
  • To say how you feel:  horrified, terrified, petrified, panic-stricken, trembling, paralysed, shuddering
  • To talk about “people”: a ghost  ( a ghostly figure), an apparition, a shadow, an entity, an (evil) spirit, a hallucination, a medium, a UFO.

Ask students to work in groups and answer the following questions.

  • Do you believe in ghosts? If not, how do you explain people’s claims to have seen them?
  • Have you experienced the feeling of déjà vu? How do you explain this strange feeling?
  • Telepathy is communication directly from one mind to another. Is it possible to communicate this way?
  • Sometimes, the police use psychics to help them. What do you think about this?
  • Do you believe in hypnosis? What happens when a person is hypnotized?
  • Can people predict the future? Have you ever had a feeling about the future that turned out to be true?
  • Have you ever visited a fortune teller?
  • What do you think about UFO sightings?
  • Are you a superstitious person? What things are you superstitious about?

Most of the questions are from this site. 

STEP 4. WRITING CONTEST. I DON’T BELIEVE IN PARANORMAL, BUT….

I love telling stories, don’t you?  Well, the heading in this Step 4 needs no explanation. A contest.  A contest which will give me the opportunity to revise narrative tenses and connectors to help students sequence their ideas.

I’m going to use this excellent post from Thought.Co

A good contest, deserves a nice poster. Here it is.