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Notes:

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

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:

  • Setting the atmospherelights - 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 do with 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 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.

Halloween Feel in the boxes2. 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 flap material to cover the hole to 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
  • jello / jelly shaped as a brain
  • Feel in the Boxesspider 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 vocab and play "Flashcard Ghost Chase"
Flashcard Ghost ChaseBefore 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. Return everyone back to the middle of the floor to continue with the flashcards.

Halloween paper plate masks2. 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 - colored pens, glitter, felt, wool, stickers, colored card, tape, glue, etc.

Put the class into 8 groups and each group sits together. Give each group one of the flashcards (e.g. the witch) 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"
Now 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 a bit later (see point 4 below). Finally, get everyone to stand up and shout out instructions (e.g. "Move like a zombie!") and get everyone to move around making the sound. Here are the sounds for each character:

  • Halloween Walkghost (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).
  • One Little, Two Little, 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 and tell them they are going to sing a Halloween song (download song MP3 at the end of this page). Use the following lyrics with the 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.

Sing a Halloween SongLyrics 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!

We also have a video that you can stream in class to sing along with (Internet connection required):

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!".

Song Option 2: "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Witches":
Get everybody to stand up and tell them they are going to sing a Halloween song (download song MP3 at the end of this page). Use the following lyrics with the song:

First play the song and show everyone the finger actions - have them all try and follow along with you as you do the actions. Then play again and get everyone to join in.

Lyrics for "One Little, Two Little, 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.

We also have a video that you can stream in class to sing along with (Internet connection required):

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Witches

Gestures for "One Little, Two Little, 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.

5. Read classroom reader "Happy Halloween!"
This reader follows on from the "Happy Halloween" song as it contains the same characters as in the song. Before class, download and print off the reader "Happy Halloween!". As you go through each page, point to the key vocab 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:

Read classroom reader "Happy Halloween"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 colors, 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: 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, colored 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.

    Melt the Witch Game
  • 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!

    Pass the Vampire Bat
  • 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 (see below) - 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 their bags, sing "Goodbye song", etc).
3. As each S 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.

Print Outs / Worksheets:

Flashcards:

  • ghost

    ghost

  • monster

    monster

  • witch

    witch

  • black cat

    black cat

  • wizard

    wizard

  • mummy

    mummy

  • vampire bat

    vampire bat

  • zombie

    zombie

Songs & Readers:

Additional materials:

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Notes:
  1. To view and print a flashcard or worksheet click on the thumbnail image.
  2. For detailed printing instructions, click here.
  3. print= British English version - click the flag to open and print. Click the thumbnail image to see the US English version.
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