It’s almost here! Our students’ favorite holiday! Halloween!
Ok, not everyone loves Halloween, but it’s a perfect opportunity to have a little fun in the classroom. There are plenty of various activities online and for those who don’t like crafts and are not particularly artsy (as myself) I’ve put together this cute Halloween vocabulary activity based on even cuter video by TedEd, which is by the way one of my favorite sources for educational videos.
Despite the animated video, the topic and vocabulary are perhaps not suitable for younger students (younger than 12). Watch the video beforehand to make sure it’s appropriate for your class.
Halloween activity based on video from TedEd.
WARM UP
1. What is your favorite holiday/festival?
2. Do you celebrate Halloween?
3. What traditions do you celebrate in your country on Halloween?
4. Do you like scary stories?
5. What costume would you like to wear for Halloween?
VOCABULARY
1. Match the halves of the expressions
1) spindly a) grounds
2) rusted b) gardens
3) crumbling c) tops
4) solitary d) trees
5) blooming e) catacombs
6) burial f) grounds
7) head g) gate
8) crowds h) stone
9) mountain i) yard
10) subterranean j) water
11) church k) mourner
12) ground l) of people
VIDEO
1. Watch the video and check your answers.
2. Complete the sentences with the expressions from Ex. 1
1. The ________________________are very extensive and hold numerous galleries and graves of different types.
2. Adding a ___________________ to a gravesite or memorial is one of the most common ways to commemorate a loved one once they are gone
3. The old ____________________ is bent and battered, but it holds a lot of memories for our family.
4. Large parts of the northern _______________________ were destroyed in order to make space for the basements of the new building
5. There are fears that _____________________ might become contaminated
6. The fate of endemic birds of eastern Brazilian _________________ in the face of climate change.
7. __________________________ watched the fireworks.
8. Americans had always buried their dead, but did so in churchyards, town commons, or municipal __________________
9. Seven years before our story begins Scrooge is seen, as a _________________, at the funeral of his business partner Jacob Marley.
10. Making sure that no one was looking, I touched the ___________________. Sand grains accumulated in my hand.
11. The island’s west side slopes into terraces and cultivated __________________.
12. Some tall, _____________________need to be cut at the top in order to produce new twig or branch growth.
DISCUSSION
What information from the video surprised you the most?
Would you be scared if you were in a graveyard at night? Why?
How did people bury their dead in the past?
How do you think people will bury their dead in the future? Why?
Download:
Halloween Worksheet: Video ESL Vocabulary and Speaking Activity SW
Halloween Worksheet: Video ESL Vocabulary and Speaking Activity TN
Bonus for your entertainment, a comic by Oatmeal.
Other resources:
Halloween ESL Video Lesson: Simone Giertz Made a Soup Robot
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