What to do

Note: This is a sample activity from It's Festive, an activity book with classroom ideas for the most important dates of the year. Follow this link for more information.

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Halloween word puzzle
1. Ask students what day October 31 is. Answer: Halloween. Find out if and how Halloween is celebrated in their country, or in other countries. Write key vocabulary as it comes up on the board. Add any new vocabulary from the word puzzle activity.

2. Give out copies of the activity page. (eWB users display the first page.) Read through the introduction text at the top of the page. Students then complete the crossword individually or in pairs.

3. Ask a student to read out the words that run down the centre of the crossword. Do students know what they mean?

Answer: ’Trick or Treat’ is what children say in North America when they ring people’s doorbells on Halloween. People give the children candy, and if they don’t the children play a trick on them.

Extension activity: Write a Halloween story
Students write a Halloween story using as many of the words from the crossword as possible. Then they read the stories to the class. At the end, they decide which was the scariest story.

Horror story
1. Students read the Halloween horror story and put the sections in order. Check answers by asking different students to read out the story in the correct order.

2. Explain that the students are going to write their own horror story in small groups following four steps. Go through the steps, using the sample story to illustrate points.

Step 1: Set the scene
Describe where the story takes place and the events that lead up it. Answer the questions: When did it happen? Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing? What was the weather like? How were you feeling?

Step 2: Start to spook
Introduce some spooky elements to make the reader a little scared and uneasy. Answer the questions: What happened next? How did you feel? What did you do?

Step 3: Get scary
Terrify the reader. Answer the question: What happened next?

Step 4: The end
End your story so that the reader knows that the horror can and will strike again. Answer the questions: Why did it happen? Why will it happen again?

3. Students write their stories. When they’ve finished, they can read their stories to the class or post them in the Newsdesk section of its-myworld. Set the scene by placing candles in the classroom (and dimming the lights!).

Answers

Word puzzle
1. witch; 2. vampire; 3. devil; 4. candy; 5. pumpkin; 6. ghost; 7. pirate; 8. bat; 9. October; 10. cemetery; 11. mask; 12. costume

Horror story
1. j; 2. c; 3. e; 4. i; 5. a; 6. g; 7. f; 8. b; 9. h; 10. d