As the leaves turn red and evenings get darker, it’s time to sprinkle some Halloween magic into your online ESL classroom! We’ve brewed up a cauldron of bewitching lesson ideas that celebrate the season of tricks and treats while linking seamlessly into your language curriculum.
Check out these top 10 Halloween-themed lesson ideas to enchant your students and cast a learning-boosting spell on your virtual classroom!
1: Design a Jack-o’-lantern
Children love carving pumpkins for Halloween! Design a scary Jack-o’-lantern to scare away evil spirits, while simultaneously practicing shapes, words for parts of the face and describing feelings. For our ESL learners, this is also a great way to learn more about Halloween culture and traditions.
2: Halloween costume party
Love dressing up? Organise a fun costume party for your students! This is a great way to practice describing clothes, parts of the body and the present continuous tense (I am wearing…). Play fun games such as “guess who” or “charades”, act out a fun Halloween role-play or enjoy spooky review activities.
3: Hide and spook
Teaching your students directions or prepositions of place? Enjoy a fun game of hide-and-seek, Halloween style! Simple hide magical items around your classroom (either on your virtual whiteboard, Koala Go playground or physical teaching space), practicing giving and following directions to find them.
4: Halloween idioms
Intermediate level students will love learning scary idioms for Halloween! Check out this brand new lesson from Abridge Academy, with its fun escape-room format and spooky Halloween adventure story.
5: Ghostly guessing
Who’s hiding behind the Halloween costume? What’s in the mystery treats box? Review new words for objects and people with a “guess who / what” game! With intermediate level students, this is also an excellent opportunity to introduce using “who” and “that” as defining relative pronouns.
6: Halloween debate
Have you been enjoying Abridge Academy’s new debating curriculum? Give your next lesson a spooky twist by discussing controversial Halloween-themed topics:
– Should Halloween be cancelled?
– Should children wear costumes in school?
– Should children be allowed to do trick-or-treating alone?
7: Interview a ghost
A great way to practice the past tense and asking / answering questions! Pick a selection of famous historical characters, and enjoy a lesson interviewing their ghosts. This would work particularly well as a group class, with each student being asked to research their own character beforehand so they are best prepared for the role-play.
8: Explore a haunted house
Set up a haunted house escape room lesson activity with a pre-made Koala Go playground activity! Fill your house with spooky Halloween themed items such as pumpkins, witches’ cauldrons and creepy graves to add to the vibe.
9: Write a spooky story
Halloween is an excellent opportunity to introduce creative writing to your students! Start with a scary prompt (e.g. a ghost in your bedroom / lost in the graveyard / someone stole your treats) and guide your students to write their own short story.
10: Test and treat
A great activity that can be adapted to literally any topic! Review your students’ recent learning with a fun “test and treat” class. This could be with a fun escape room, interactive quiz or Halloween-themed games. Don’t forget some fun Halloween-themed rewards to celebrate their achievements!
Did you enjoy these spooky lesson ideas? Have a howling good time this Halloween with the Abridge Academy curriculum – helping you save time and earn more with pre-made, professional and interactive teaching materials for your online ESL classes! Join us today 👻