It’s that time of year again! We’re back with our 2024 Halloween special! Lots of spooky stories to send shivers down your spine!
We now offer free full transcripts with every episode, you can find it by following this link.
This time on the pod Katy & Tim talk to teacher, materials developer, teacher trainer and master storyteller Jamie Keddie about how to use images and stories in the English classroom.
Check out Lessonstream, Jamie’s online community below:
lessonstream.com/
Also, check out Jamie’s video class based on the streaker photo here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hH6rCbd9RI
Image credit: cartoon-clipart.disneyimage.com
Follow me on twitter @RobbioDobbio
This is a Halloween themed lesson for young learners. There are two spooky short stories for students to act out in small groups. Download the stories here:
Depending on the time and the student’s level there are two procedures for this lesson.
Students should work in groups of 3-4, designate 1-2 strong students to act as narrators. Help ss with vocabulary and pronunciation problems.
Give ss 10 minutes to practice and then have them perform their stories to the rest of the class.
The Stories
The Werewolf
Once upon a time there was a farmer. One day he went walking in the forest. He was very tired so he decided to go to sleep under a tree. When he woke up it was dark and he was very cold. He looked in the sky and he saw a full moon. Suddenly, he heard a wolf howl very close.
There was a huge wolf behind him! He was very scared and he screamed. The wolf attacked him and bit him on the arm. He felt very strange, he ran to the river and looked in the water, his face was transforming into a wolf’s! Hair covered all his body and his teeth grew very long. He tried to shout but a long howl came out of his mouth.
Now if you go into that forest on the night of a full moon, maybe you will meet him…..
The hunter and the witches
Once upon a time there was a brave hunter. One day he was chasing a rabbit in the mountains with his dogs. They ran to the top of the mountain where they found 2 witches making a magic potion. The rabbit ran past the witches and the dog chased it. The dog crashed into the magic potion and it fell onto the floor. The witches were extremely angry and shouted at the hunter as he ran away after the rabbit.
The witches were very angry so they made a plan. One of the witches transformed herself into a rabbit. The other witch made a very powerful potion and put it in a little bottle. The rabbit witch ran to the hunter’s house, knocked on the door and ran away. The hunter and the dogs ran out of the house and chased the rabbit witch up the mountain. But at the top the other witch was waiting. When the hunter arrived she threw the potion at him and his dogs and they all turned to stone!!!
If you go to the top of the mountain you can still see the stone hunter and his dogs.
Follow up
Do you know any traditional scary stories from your country?
Halloween Quizlet set:
Here’s a good quizlet set to practice Halloween vocabulary.
This is a lesson plan from a new series for young learners. I originally taught these classes spread over 2-3 half hour classes, they could obviously be combined into one hour and a half class.
Part 1 – Fantasy vocabulary
Print out this set of flashcards from MES:
Click to access fantasy1_flash.pdf
MES flashcards are a fantastic resource, I’ve been steadily working my way through all of the different categories with my primary classes.
Stick the flashcards to the board in 3 columns with enough space to write the names in next to each one. Then encourage students to name the ones they know. However,they also have to say where the flashcard is on the board: “on the left/right, in the middle, at the top/bottom, above, below, between, the 1st/2nd/3rd one down.”
Once you have gone through all the names and drilled the pronunciation you could play a number of games with the vocab:
Bingo – Students draw a 3×3 grid on a piece of paper and fill each box with a piece of vocabulary. You then read out sentences about each character, for example: “I breath fire and fly over the castle.” (Dragon) “I do magic and mix magic potions” (wizard) they cross off the characters they have as you describe them until they get a line or bingo (when they have crossed off all 9 squares).
Mimic – Print out the set of fantasy game cards from MES as well. Split the class into groups of 3-4, encourage the groups to think of an English name for their team. Then they take it in turns to send one member up to the board, this member then has 1 minute to mimic as many of the different characters using the game cards. Their team receives one point for each correctly guessed character. The team with the most points wins.
Part 2 – Running dictation
By now students should have picked up most of the vocabulary. Put them in pairs, one student sits at one end of the room with a pen and paper. Stick the dragon story handout to the opposite wall of the classroom. The other student in the pair has to run across the class room, memorise a sentence from the story and then tell it to their partner who writes it on the paper. Ensure that students copy the sentences in order and that they speak in English the whole time, especially when spelling out words to their partner. Set a time limit of 10 minutes for this activity. Students switch roles after sentence 5.
Once they have finished have them sit back in front of the board and dictate the sentences back to you. The students then correct their versions of the story, the winning team is the one with the fewest mistakes. You should also clear up any vocabulary issues, paying particular attention to the past verbs used in the story, they will be needed in part 3.
Part 3 – Write a fantasy story
Students can either stay in their pairs or you can put them in bigger groups. Encourage them to work together to invent a new fantasy story, they can use any of the vocabulary covered in part one. They will also need some extra vocabulary:
Once upon a time there was……
lived/rescued/saved/cast a spell/fought/killed/captured/went/gave/kissed
They all lived happily ever after.
They will also want to use more vocabulary so ensure they ask for it properly: “How do you say ________ in English?” If your knowledge of your student’s L1 isn’t too hot make sure you have a good dictionary. Guide and help them as they write their story, set a time limit of 10-15 minutes. Then give them 5-10 minutes to practice telling their story and acting it out for part 4.
Part 4 – Story telling and acting
Each group should either nominate a narrator or share narration amongst them (the latter is the best option). Encourage whoever is narrating to do it SLOWLY and LOUDLY, so that the others can actually hear the story. Then each group puts on their little play. My kids loved doing this, some where in stitches, make sure they take a bow at the end and give each other a round of applause. You could award prizes for various things: best actor/actress, most imaginative story, best narrator, best vocabulary, best grammar. Ensure every group gets at least one prize.
Wrap-up
Kids have to name one of the characters from the flashcards before they are allowed to leave the classroom.
Dragon story: