Time to Get Spooky! Halloween Lessons for your ESL Class
Season 18, Episode 2 | by Shelby Cole, M.Ed., NBCT
Do you want to introduce your ESL students to American Halloween traditions? Here’s a fun, ready-to-go lesson!
As a Spanish teacher, it was always important to include holidays and cultural traditions into my curriculum. I can think of plenty of reasons why - it lets you take a break from the day-to-day language learning, brings some fun into the classroom, and of course because it is a part of our state and national standards. As a Spanish language learner myself, I thought it was extra important because…ok I’m going to say it…I’m an American, country white girl who loves the Spanish language and culture. When I walk into the classroom, I’m bringing that culture with me, and so I have to purposefully integrate Latin/Spanish culture. My beautiful Latino folks just bring in that culture with them effortlessly. #sojelly
Now that I teach English, incorporating American culture is easy. Since it’s October, it’s time for Halloween 👻
In the weeks leading up to Halloween, I begin with my “Spooky book” reading log. In my county, I’ve been given books that are appropriate for Multilingual Learners. These include Frankenstein, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (all adapted versions). I let the students pick which one “looks cool” and we read every day for a little bit (15ish minutes out of a 90-minute period). Then they complete a “Spooky book Reading Log” where they tell me about what they are reading and draw some pictures to go along with it. For my newcomers/ESL 1, they choose a book and write a sentence about every picture in the book (these books all have great illustrations every 8-10 pages). Here is a link to that document; it’s simple because that’s how I roll these days. Feel free to borrow and change it how you need it!
My actual Halloween lesson is a work in progress; this will be only the second time I’ve done it. So be gentle in your comments! Here is an outline breakdown of the 2 days:
Day 1
A. Introduction / Warmup question: What do you already know about Halloween in America? What do you want to know?
B. Video - “The story behind Halloween”
Students do the guided notes for video 1, and then we go over it together.
I make sure to ask, “was anyone’s question from the warmup already answered?” and see if there’s any luck
C. Trick or Treat Bags
Students choose a cover for their bag that they will trick or treat with the next day. Time to color/decorate/glue to the bag.
You’ll need:
Halloween slides (here are mine)
copies of guided notes
copies of coloring pages
coloring supplies
glue
bags (I used these paper ones, but you could use lunch bags)
Day 2
A. Introduction / Warmup question: Do you like scary movies? Do you have a favorite scary movie?
B. Video - “Trick or Treating at Halloween”
Students work on the activity (Video 2 of guided notes) Then we go over it
C. Trick or Treating!
With the bags we created yesterday, we visit teachers (who have volunteered) and practice “trick or treating.”
-ESL 1 - I’d go in one group/ESL 2 or higher, you can split them into groups with a pass to be in the hallway if you’d like.
D. If there is time, we go back to our questions from the day before and make sure all of them are answered. If no time, we do that the next day first thing.
ESL students trick or treat in our high school
New thing you’ll need:
teacher permission to visit their rooms (I send an email, explain the activity, and make a list like this of the volunteers)
I tried to be as descriptive as possible…if something doesn’t make sense, my apologies and please email me (scole6@wcpss.net). Obviously, I save the best part for last; trick or treating! A generous group of teachers volunteered to have their door open and candy/treats ready. I used this document to keep myself organized and figure out the best way to get around the school each trip. Here is a picture of a past student trick or treating with Mrs. Menafra, a wonderful Spanish teacher at our school:
A few considerations:
I have some students who can’t participate for religious reasons. So they get to do these alternate activities, and still go trick or treating with us without a bag but still getting candy. 🙂
If I have a student who can’t have sweets, I try to let the teachers know about that ahead of time.
The Guided Notes page gets turned in for a classwork grade. The Spooky Book Reading log gets turned in for a double-weighted reading grade; for you that might mean a quiz/mini-project/test/etc.
Make sure you tell them how to act in the hallways and practice how to say “Trick or Treat!” and “Thank you and Happy Halloween!” beforehand.
Thanks for reading and happy celebrating! I’ll see you at Thanksgiving, where we will get all warm and fuzzy together. Regarding holidays and celebrations- what is a neat activity that you do for a holiday? Do you take “mini field trips” at school during a lesson? Have any suggestions on how to make my lesson better? Share in the chat!
