It’s time again for Halloween! Halloween can be a lot of fun in the young English learners classroom (ESL, EFL). I enjoy teaching Halloween as it offers a chance to break out of the normal (fruit, jobs, colors) to something more fantastical (monsters, witches, pirates).
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Halloween Lesson Plan (20-30 minute preschool English class)
This is an idea of what you can do in your classes for a fun and simple Halloween lesson.
1. Warm Up– Simple action warm up: clap your hands, wash your hands, brush your teeth, jump, etc.
2. Greetings– Hello! My name is Matt. What’s your name? (students answer)
3. Numbers– Practice counting numbers 1-10 or higher depending on level. This month we have been singing the Dinosaur Chomp to Ten song to practice numbers. It is not Halloween, but not everything in the lesson has to be, I think.
After the song, I use some Halloween numbers flashcards to count to 10 with Halloween objects. For example, 1 vampire, 2 ghosts, 3 pumpkins
4. Book Time-This week we are reading My Favorite Pumpkin. The book teaches body parts, numbers, and some actions. You can download the book for Free Here. There is a song that goes with the book that we will sing next week.
5. Halloween Song Time – I have about four new Halloween songs this year. This week we are singing the Halloween Shake Song. Before singing the song, I teach the vocabulary and lyrics.
6. Halloween Vocabulary Practice-I use the MES English Halloween flashcards. You can download those by going to this page. For the first week I teach the vocabulary word, or you can practice “It’s a bat.”
7. Game Time-Depending on your situation (online classes, in person classes with no contact) you can play a simple touch game, or quiz game with the Halloween vocabulary flashcards. To read some more classroom game ideas click here.
8. Goodbye Song- I always finish the class with the Goodbye Song. These days I often sing the song without backing music, and usually do the short version like you see here:
I hope you find some of these ideas useful for your classes. You can go all out and wear a Halloween costume or hat, or just keep it simple with the vocabulary and songs. Be creative, and have fun. If you are enjoying the class, the students will too! I’ll leave some more Halloween resources below. Happy Teaching!
Halloween Teaching Resources from Dream English:
Dream English Halloween Page (Free song downloads and more)
Dream English Halloween Songs YouTube Playlist
Dream English Halloween Songs on Spotify
