Halloween lesson plan

Stand-alone lesson ESL kids lesson plan

Lesson plans for ESL kids teachers

Halloween

In this lesson students are introduced to some common Halloween characters, make a Halloween mask, read a fun Halloween story, sing a Halloween song and play lots of fun games.

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Time: 40 mins – 1 hour
Objectives: Talking about Halloween and popular Halloween characters.
Structures: “Happy Halloween!”, “Look there’s a/an …”, “Look out of the window”, “What will we see?”, “Go outside in the street”, “Who will we meet?”
Target vocabulary: Halloween, ghost, monster, witch, black cat, wizard, mummy, bat, zombie

Lesson materials

Flashcards:

ghost, monster, witch, black cat, wizard, mummy, bat, zombie.

Printables:

Halloween match-up worksheet
Halloween find worksheet
Halloween picture match-up worksheet
Halloween picture quiz 1 worksheet
Halloween picture quiz 2 worksheet
Spider web maze worksheet
Halloween word search worksheet
Reader worksheet
Happy Halloween song poster or Three little witches song poster

Songs:

Happy Halloween or Three little witches (depending on age of your students)

Readers:

Happy Halloween!

Supplies:

[hide_on_uk]colored[/hide_on_uk][hide_on_us]coloured[/hide_on_us] crayons / pencils
Halloween decorations
paper plates with elastic straps (for masks)
cardboard boxes and creepy objects for the “Feel in the box” activity
device to play the song on

Notes:

This lesson has two different songs to choose from, one being for younger students and the other for older.

There are also a couple of crafts and activities that require some pre-class preparation (see these sections below: Setting the atmosphere, Enter the room and play “Feel in the boxes” and Do “Halloween paper plate mask craft”).

Lesson procedure:

Warm up and maintenance:

This lesson will start quite differently than your usual lessons as we want to get the atmosphere of Halloween started right from the beginning of class.

Note:

Not too scary! Some of the activities in this lesson can be made quite scary for older students but make sure this is toned right down for younger students.

1. Setting the atmosphere
Before class, think about how you can make the room and lesson come to life. This all depends on your resources, but some ideas can be:

lights – turn off some lights and close curtains to make the room darker. Place some jack-o-lanterns around the room.
get some glow-in-the-dark stars and shapes and stick them around the walls
rearrange the furniture
have some eerie music playing in the background
hang decorations around the classroom, such as bats and ghost crafts (if you have other classes you can build up the decorations as you do crafts each lesson)
dress up as a Halloween character (if possible, one of the characters you are teaching in this lesson).
in a previous lesson ask your students (or their parents) to come to this lesson in Halloween fancy dress. This is great fun and you can have a fancy dress party during the lesson with prizes for best, scariest, funniest, etc.

2. Enter the room and play “Feel in the boxes”
Before class, prepare some cardboard boxes. These are going to hide things that the students have to feel and guess what they are. Of course, being Halloween, the objects inside the boxes are going to be creepy!

Prepare the boxes by cutting a hole in one side, just large enough to put your arm through. You can even put on a material flap to cover the hole and stop prying eyes. Inside the boxes place some Halloween type objects which you can pick up in discount stores, party stores and supermarkets, such as:

plastic bats, spiders, etc.
goo or slime
[hide_on_uk]jello[/hide_on_uk][hide_on_us]jelly[/hide_on_us] shaped as a brain
spider webs
cooked, cold spaghetti noodles (worms)
peeled grapes (eye balls)
fake fur (monster hair)
over cooked rice (maggots)
tofu (can be anything gross)
dried pasta (teeth or bones)
toes (mini hot dogs)

Idea:

Hand in the box! If you can get someone to help you, put another hole in the back of the box and have someone hide behind the box (covered under a blanket) and put their hand through the hole. When the students put their hands they will get a big surprise when their hand is grabbed!

Have everyone wait outside the classroom until it is time to go in. Stand at the door and as each student enters say, “Happy Halloween!” and have them reply, “Happy Halloween”.

Then allow the students to walk around the classroom feeling inside the boxes and trying to guess what each object is. This is bound to cause a lot a screams and laughter but everyone will thoroughly enjoy it and it will be well worth the effort of setting it up.

Finally, have everyone sit down and ask what they think is in each box (e.g. “I think it’s worms!”) and then take out each item to show everyone what it really is.

Before continuing, get everyone to help you clear everything to the sides of the classroom so there is a large space in the middle and get everyone to sit down on the floor.

New learning and practice:

1. Teach new vocabulary and play “Flashcard ghost chase”
Before class, print out the flashcards for the Halloween characters you are going to teach (monster, witch, black cat, wizard, mummy, bat, zombie) and then on 2 or 3 backs of these cards print the ghost picture.

Explain you are going to play “Ghost chase”. Show one flashcard and teach / elicit the word. Then quickly turn over the card – if the back is blank everyone is safe (“phew!”). If the back of the card has the ghost image, shout, “Ghost!” and get everyone to quickly get up and run to keep out of your way. You have to run after everyone and tag them (they have to sit down). You can even have one of the students act as the ghost.

Finally, return everyone back to the middle of the floor to continue with the flashcards.

2. Do “Halloween paper plate mask craft”
Before class prepare enough paper plates for each student. They are going to make masks and wear them so you will also need elastic to keep the masks on. Also prepare things for making the masks – [hide_on_uk]colored[/hide_on_uk][hide_on_us]coloured[/hide_on_us] pens, glitter, felt, wool, stickers, [hide_on_uk]colored[/hide_on_uk][hide_on_us]coloured[/hide_on_us] card, tape, glue, etc.

Put the class into groups and each group sits together. Give each group a different Halloween character flashcard (e.g. witch, zombie, etc.) and have them make a mask for that character. Finally, have everyone wear their masks – you can even have a competition with prizes!

3. Play “Halloween walk”
Everyone is going to play a game wearing their masks. First get the “ghosts” to stand up and show you how ghosts move around (saying “Whooooooo!”). Next get the monsters to stumble around going “Rhaaaaa!”, and so on. You are introducing the sounds from the song you are going to sing next (see point 4 below).

Finally, get everyone to stand up and shout out instructions (e.g. “Move like a zombie!”) to get everyone to move around making the sound. Here are the sounds for each character:

ghost (Whooooooooo!)
monster (Rhhaaaaaa!)
witch (Cackle cackle!)
black cat (Meoooowwww!)
wizard (Ho ho hoooo!)
mummy (Grrrrrrrrrr!)
bat (Eeekk! Eeekk!)
zombie (Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!)

4. Sing a Halloween song
We have two songs which you can choose from – just download and play in class:

Happy Halloween: this song contains many of the characters from Halloween (ghost, zombie, etc.) and is good for older children (6 years and older).
Three little witches: this is a nice and simple song about witches for the little children to enjoy.

Song Option 1: “Happy Halloween”:
Get everybody to stand up. Explain that they are going to sing a Halloween song. First play the song and show everyone the gestures and actions – have them all try and follow along with you as you do the actions. Then play again and get everyone to join in.

It may help to place the flashcards on the board in the correct order of the song, or pin up the song poster.

Lyrics for “Happy Halloween”

Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween!

Happy, Happy Halloween!
Happy, Happy Halloween!
Happy, Happy Halloween!
Happy, Happy Halloween!

Chorus:
Look out of the window tonight,
What will we see on Halloween night?
Go outside in the street tonight,
Who will we meet on Halloween night?

Verse 1:
Look there’s a ghost (Whooooooooo!)
Look there’s a monster (Rhhaaaaaa!)
Look there’s a witch (Cackle cackle!)
Look there’s a black cat (Meoooowwww!)

But don’t worry – they’re just kids! Wearing costumes!

Happy, Happy, Happy Halloween!
Happy, Happy, Happy Halloween!

Chorus

Verse 2:
Look there’s a wizard (Ho ho hoooo!)
Look there’s a mummy (Grrrrrrrrrr!)
Look there’s a bat (Eeekk! Eeekk!)
Look there’s a zombie (Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!)

But don’t worry – they’re just kids! Wearing costumes!

Happy, Happy Halloween!
Happy, Happy Halloween!
Happy, Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!

Gestures for “Happy Halloween”

“Happy, Happy Halloween!” – sing and dance along to this (dancing like zombies or monsters – like in Michael Jackson’s Thriller).
“Look out of the window tonight” – everyone puts their hand above their eyes to ‘peer’ out of the window with a frightened expression.
“What will we see on Halloween night?” – look around with a frightened expression.
“Go outside in the street tonight” – walking on the spot.
“Who will we meet on Halloween night?” – look around with a frightened expression.
“Look there’s a ghost (Whooooooooo!)” – all do a ghost gesture and say “Whoooooooo!”.
“Look there’s a monster (Rhhaaaaaa!)” – all walk like a scary monster and say “Rhhaaaaaa!”.
“Look there’s a witch (Cackle cackle!)” – everyone wiggles their fingers in front of their face like a witch whilst cackling.
“Look there’s a black cat (Mioooowwww!)” – all act like a cat whilst meowing.
“Look there’s a wizard (Ho ho hoooo!)” – all wave imaginary wands in the air and say “Ho ho hoooo!”.
“Look there’s a mummy (Grrrrrrrrrr!)” – walk around with arms stretched out in front and say :Grrrrrrr!”.
“Look there’s a bat (Eeekk! Eeekk!)”- all flap around and say “Eeekkk! Eeekkk!”.
“Look there’s a zombie (Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!)”- do the zombie dance/walk (as in Thriller) and say “Rrrrrrr!”.

[hide_on_uk]Short sample (members get full-length song):
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[hide_on_us]Short sample (members get full-length song):
<br /> [/hide_on_us]

Song Option 2: “Three little witches”:
Get everybody to stand up. Explain that they are going to sing a Halloween song. First play the song and show everyone the finger actions (see Gestures below) – have them all try to follow along with you as you do the actions. Then play again and get everyone to join in.

Lyrics for “Three little witches”

Verse 1:
1 little, 2 little, 3 little witches
4 little, 5 little, 6 little witches
7 little, 8 little, 9 little witches
10 little witches in a row.

Verse 2:
10 little, 9 little, 8 little witches
7 little, 6 little, 5 little witches
4 little, 3 little, 2 little witches
1 little witch on her own.

Gestures for “Three little witches”

This is very simple – have everyone stand up and hold their hands out with their fists clenched.
As the song counts up to 10 (verse 1) everyone holds up a finger for each witch – by the end of the verse all 10 fingers will be raised.
As the song counts down (verse 2) everyone closes their fingers until just one finger is left up.

[hide_on_uk]Short sample (members get full-length song):
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[hide_on_us]Short sample (members get full-length song):
<br /> [/hide_on_us]

5. Read classroom reader “Happy Halloween!”
Before class, download and print off the reader “Happy Halloween!”. As you go through each page, point to the key vocabulary in each picture and elicit the Halloween characters and the sounds that each one makes. Encourage your students to get up and act out each of the characters that come up in the story, for example:

Teacher: (pointing at the ghost on page 2) What’s this?
Students: Ghost!
Teacher: Yes, that’s right … (reading) … “Suddenly, a ghost appeared!”. And what sound does a ghost make?
Students: Whooooooo!
Teacher: Oh yes, very scary! Emi, can you show us your ghost? … (Emi gets up and starts doing her ghost impression)… Brilliant! Now, everyone show me your ghost! … (everyone get up and does their ghost impressions)
etc.

Continue through the story, asking what all the characters are. Get the students really involved in the story by asking lots of questions (e.g. about the [hide_on_uk]colors[/hide_on_uk][hide_on_us]colours[/hide_on_us], clothes and other objects in the pictures) and even ask yes/no questions about what each character is, for example:

Teacher: (pointing at the monster on page 3) Is this a mummy?
Students: No! It’s a monster!
Teacher: Oh Yes, that’s right! And does it go “Meoowwww!”?
Students: No! “Rhaaaa!”
etc.

After reading the story, give out a reader worksheet to each student and have everyone identify the Halloween characters that were in the story. Then go through the answers as a class.

Alternatively, watch our video version of the reader (Internet connection required).

6. End with some fun Halloween activities
End the class with some fun Halloween games and actives – choose from the list below:

I Went Into a haunted house: Students sit in a circle. Student A says, “I went into the haunted house and saw a witch”. Student B continues, “I went into the haunted house and saw a witch and a black cat”. Continue around the circle.
Melt the witch game: Materials: A moveable chalkboard, [hide_on_uk]colored[/hide_on_uk][hide_on_us]coloured[/hide_on_us] chalk, sponges, bucket of water. Directions: Draw a witch’s head, or whole body on the chalkboard. Fill the bucket with water and sponges. Have children stand close enough to the board to be able to hit it accurately with a wet sponge. Place water bucket and sponges near this spot. Tell the children to take turns throwing wet sponges at the witch to try and “melt” her away. As the witch becomes wet and water drips down the board, it will appear as if she is melting. Be sure the children are squeezing out to the sponges before throwing.

Pass the pumpkin: Students sit in a circle. Provide a plastic pumpkin for children to pass while the teacher plays some music. Children pass the pumpkin to the tempo of the music. Alternate between fast and slow. When the music stops the child who has the pumpkin stands and takes a bow. Continue.
Pass the vampire bat: Supplies: one straw for each child / bat shapes cut out of tissue paper. How to play: Divide the class into 2 teams and line up each team. Students pass the tissue bats down the line, teammate to teammate, by inhaling and exhaling on the straw to hang onto or release the ornament. No hands! The first team to successfully pass the bats up and down the line wins!

Pin the tail on the black cat: This is a take on ‘pin the tail on the donkey’. Put a picture of a tailless-less black cat on the wall, blindfold the students, spin them around and see if they can pin the tail in the right place. The nearest wins a prize/points.
Play-doh fun: make jack-o-lanterns, witches, other characters, etc.

Wrap up:

1. Assign homework
We have a number of worksheets – select the worksheet which you think best suits the age / level of your class.

2. Do your usual end of class routine
Tidy up, put away things in bags, sing “The goodbye song“, etc.

3. Quick check
As each student goes to the door to leave the classroom show them a flashcard and elicit the word (e.g. zombie) and ask the student to do the sound and action.

If they get the word right, they can leave. If wrong, they have to go to the back of the line and try again.