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Boo! 👻 Halloween is here! Can you think of a better way to have some fun, get your students enthused about English culture and help them to build their language skills? Read on to find practical teaching ideas, which require little preparation time and can be adapted to almost all levels for children, teenagers and adults.
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The Post-it Speaking Game
It’s time to bring the fun and excitement of the celebration into your classroom! Think of a list of creepy Halloween creatures (such as spiders, bats, black cats, ghosts and mummies) and write down the name of each Halloween creature on post-it notes. As students arrive, stick a note on each learner's forehead. In this way, all other students can see what is written on it. And then... the fun begins! By asking Yes/No questions, everyone must work out who they are. For example, some questions could be: Am I an animal? Am I alive? That's it; go on - let your English learners have a guess!
🎃 tip: This is a really simple game that even young learners can play. However, be prepared to give hints if necessary; some students may be really stuck!
Another fun idea that can help your students to practise their English pronunciation is a Halloween tongue twisters activity. Write some fun Halloween tongue twisters on post-it notes and ask your students to read them aloud as fast as they can. You can also challenge your English learners to create their own fun tongue twisters!
🎃 tip: In a large classroom, it’s easy for quieter and more introverted students to fade into the background while the more outgoing learners answer questions and participate. Games and fun activities can really help you to get everyone talking!
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Vocabulary & Writing Practice
Get ready to start your own Halloween adventure with your students! Begin with a super simple activity for young learners and teenagers (it needs no preparation in advance, and it’s a great way to make your students sharpen their vocabulary skills): Write the word HALLOWEEN on the board and ask them to write down as many English words as they can using only the letters they see! Give them 5 minutes, start the timer and let them rack their brains to remember the vocabulary you've taught them!
🎃 tip: The student with the most words could win a Halloween prize!
Then give your students some writing prompts (e.g. 'It was a cold Halloween night, when I heard a strange sound.' or 'When we entered the haunted house down the street, Halloween decorations where everywhere!') and ask them to continue the story using some of the following words:
trick-or-treating | sweet treats | pumpkin | jack-o'-lantern | monsters | ghosts | skeletons | haunted house | spider webs | black cats | witches | scary | spooky | creepy | ghoulish | terrifying
Explain that the ideal story should create a spine-tingling sensation!
🎃 tip: This activity is a great opportunity to help your students to learn or to revise how to use narrative tenses to talk about the past.
For higher levels, you can ask your English learners to work on a project or an essay about Halloween origins and different traditions around the world. For example, do they know that in Ireland's capital city, Dublin, an impressive Halloween parade is held every year? Has anyone ever told them that Halloween originates from Samhain, a Celtic festival that marked the end of harvest time and the beginning of cold weather and dark days? Have they ever wondered why black and orange are the traditional Halloween colours?
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Halloween & the 4 Cs
You know the four ‘students' super skills’, aka the four Cs, right? Communication. Collaboration. Creativity. Critical thinking. Well, Halloween can help you to teach English and the 4 Cs at the same time!
Let your students work in pairs or small groups to think about an interesting Halloween Tutorial (for young students) or Halloween Debate Topic (for older students) to work on. Motivate them to think critically and focus on communication, teamwork and innovative ideas.
🎃 tip: If your students need a little bit of inspiration, here are some good ideas:
Halloween How-To Ideas:
Create the Perfect Costume | Carve a Pumpkin Like a Pro
Halloween Debate Ideas:
How old is too old to do the trick-or-treat thing? | Is trick-or-treating a safe ritual you would participate in?
But the best way to help them to get inspired is a WebQuest. Motivate your students to use the Internet as an effective research and study tool, cooperate with others and think critically. At the end, they should reflect on their work. You could ask some questions in order to help them, e.g. 'How effective was your contribution to the group work?' or 'Do you believe that you thought critically, using information creatively instead of just gathering it?'.
Your students could also work in pairs or groups to prepare a presentation for the spookiest book or their favourite Halloween story. And their presentations could be a great starting point for other activities and creative tasks. For example, young students could create their own spine-tingling bookmarks or book covers. Older English learners could work on book and film reviews.
Happy Halloween! 🧟
