Lesson Plan

Teacher: Gabriela CovaciuSchool: Scoala Gimnaziala Lizeta Paul GrecianuDate: October 31st 2014Grade: 5thLesson: Lets celebrate Halloween!Type of lesson: Introduction of new knowledge and vocabulary

Aims:

To learn about the history of Halloween

To learn and extend vocabulary related to Halloween

To practise the new vocabulary

Materials: handouts, board, chalk, CDs, laptop, worksheets.Stages of the lesson:

Activity 1 - warm-up (5min)

T writes the following words on the board and the Ss guess what the lesson is about:

pumpkin, ghost, witch, October, holiday, costume

Ss take the true/false quiz.

T goes over the answers together with the Ss.

Activity 2 reading (15 min)

Ss are given a text about Halloween.

After reading, T uses the comprehension questions to assess students' understanding.1. When did Halloween originate? 2. When is it celebrated? 3. What are the two things children love doing on Halloween?4. How do children know which houses to go to trick or treat?5. Does everyone choose a scary costume? 6. Besides children, who else enjoys celebrating Halloween?

Activity 3 vocabulary (5 min)

T writes some words on the board and the Ss must find their synonyms in the reading text. They write them on the board to check their answers.

festivity, to walk (without a destination), to empty, frightening, threatening, clothes, dark

Activity 4 vocabulary in writing (10 min)

Ss are given a poem Little Monsters and a set of words that they have to fill in the poem. If Ss dont know the meaning of a word, they may see the corresponding definition written next to the words.

Ss read the poem out loud to check their answers

Activity 5 homework (5 min)

Ss must choose one of the three story starters below and write a short Halloween story containing as much new vocabulary as possible.1. It was a dark and stormy night when....

2. You won't believe this story, but it is true...

3. My friends and I like to go trick-or-treating because...

If there is time left, Ss will do a cloze exercise.Activity 1Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Halloween?

Indicate whether the following statements are true or false by writing the word in the blank preceding each statement.

1) _________ When children ring a doorbell, they say "Trick or Treat." 2) _________ Orange and Black are considered Halloween colors. 3) _________ On Halloween, most people carve a pineapple to put on their front doorstep. 4) _________ Halloween is celebrated on November 1st. 5) _________ Halloween costumes must be homemade. 6) _________ Most people give out vegetables on Halloween. 7) _________ Most schools are closed on Halloween. 8) _________ A Jack O'Lantern is made from a pumpkin. 9) _________ The word Halloween comes from All Hallow's Eve.10) _________ Halloween is a religious holiday.

Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Halloween?

Indicate whether the following statements are true or false by writing the word in the blank preceding each statement.

1) _________ When children ring a doorbell, they say "Trick or Treat." 2) _________ Orange and Black are considered Halloween colors. 3) _________ On Halloween, most people carve a pineapple to put on their front doorstep. 4) _________ Halloween is celebrated on November 1st. 5) _________ Halloween costumes must be homemade. 6) _________ Most people give out vegetables on Halloween. 7) _________ Most schools are closed on Halloween. 8) _________ A Jack O'Lantern is made from a pumpkin. 9) _________ The word Halloween comes from All Hallow's Eve.10) _________ Halloween is a religious holiday.

Activity 2

Halloween

Halloween began over 2000 years ago in Ireland, France, and England as a celebration for the Celts to mark the beginning of winter. It was on October 31st that the Lord of the Dead would allow the dead to return to earth from the netherworld. The humans dressed in skins of animals to protect themselves from these other worldly creatures. Two thousand years later, Halloween is a favorite holiday among American children. This should come as no surprise since it is a holiday that combines two things that children love: dressing up and eating candy!

On Halloween, you will hear "Trick-or-treat" everywhere. Children dress in costume and head down the streets as soon as it gets dark. Small-brained goblins and sharp-witted ghosts wonder around the streets and demand candy from the neighbors. Not everyone chooses a scary costume; you might see a silver-eyed princess, Superman, a movie star or a hippie. In groups, these creatures of the night make their way searching for miniature chocolate bars and other sweets. How do they know which houses to go to?

Another ritual of Halloween is to buy a pumpkin, hollow it out, and carve a scary face on the front. With a candle in the center, these pumpkins are transformed into Jack O'Lanterns that are placed on front porches or in windows. Children know to look for these lights because they know that they will find a willing host to give them candy. Some families decorate their houses for Halloween. They play scary music, hang spider webs, and suspend bony-white skeletons from their windows. But with their dancing flame, the Jack O'Lanterns prove to be the most frightening and menacing of all.

Pumpkin carving is truly an art. Some people will create entire families of pumpkins to greet the gypsies, witches, and vampires who come on Halloween night. The tradition began with the English and Scottish immigrants who came to America and brought their tradition of carving out beets, potatoes and turnips use as lanterns. While some people today prefer to paint pumpkins, perhaps as a safety precaution with younger children, carved pumpkins yield many other benefits. For example, the fruit of the pumpkin can be used to make Pumpkin Pie, and the seeds can be dried and toasted as a snack.

Halloween is a holiday that is enjoyed by people of all ages. Many adults go to costume parties and balls and rent elaborate outfits. While the history is not often discussed, people are generally aware that this pagan holiday signals the beginning of the long, cold winter. But it is easy for children to forget the upcoming months of cold and gloomy weather when they return home with a bag full of every possible "treat."

Activity 4

Little MonstersChoose your ______________________ and carve it right, For tonight is the night of fright. A most dangerous eve is ______________________ , Disguise yourself from dangers unseen. Beware! The witches and ______________________ prepare their brews, Deadly mixtures and magic stews. Those without ______________________ should run and hide, Or, better yet, stay inside, For the darkest night is the night of fools, Souls unprepared for bone-eating ______________________, Ghosts and ______________________ who seek to annoy Or, perhaps, even destroy. Listen! Hear the sounds of laughter and little feet, As they threaten you with "______________________." Give them candy, they will go away. Lock your doors and pray That the ______________________ candle stays lit, And the devilish children quit. Halloween Vocabulary

HalloweenN. a holiday celebrated on October 31 in which people dress in scary costumes

to carveV. to cut with a large knife

pumpkinN. a large, orange vegetable associated with Halloween

Jack-o-lantern N. Americans traditionally cut out scary faces in pumpkins and put a candle inside. These pumpkins with faces are called "Jack-o-lanterns." Jack-o-lanterns are made to scare away evil spirits on Halloween.

costumeN. scary clothing or disguises worn on Halloween

"trick or treat" On Halloween, children go from house to house and say "trick or treat." This phrase means give me candy or I will play a trick on you. Families usually give the children candy. If the children don't get candy, they sometimes play mean tricks like breaking the house's Jack-o-lantern or putting soap on its windows.

a costume partyN. a party where everyone dresses in scary costumes

bobbing for applesThis is a traditional Halloween game. You put apples in a barrel of water and people try to take the floating apples out of the water using only their mouths.

a skeletonN. a body of nothing but bones

a ghostN. the spirit of a dead person which appears again

a ghoulN. an evil spirit which takes bodies from graves and eats them

a goblinN. an unkind spirit which plays tricks on people

a witchN. a woman with magic powers (usually evil)

a warlockN. a man with magic powers (usually evil)

A Cloze Exercise for Halloween

American | bad | costume | don't | eyes | give | holidays | house | I | is | knock | learned | like | making | October | or | out | pumpkins | so | the | too | very

Top of Form

Halloween is one of the most famous __________in the U.S., and it is on ___________31. People carve ____________ and make funny faces on them. These are called "Jack-O-Lanterns." On October 31, children wear a special __________such as a witch, ghost, ____________clown. They go to many houses and they ____________on the door saying, "Trick or Treat!" It means that if people _____________give them a treat, they will play some kind of trick on the household. So, usually people _____________candy to them. I carved my first Halloween pumpkin at my Friendship Family's ______________. First, I cut open the top of _______________pumpkin and pulled the seeds ___________. It was not good for me because it was sticky and smelled __________. I had never carved a pumpkin, ____________it was interesting for me. Next, __________carved the _____________and the mouth. I wanted to make a face __________a pirate. When I finished ____________the face, I put a candle inside. It was ___________beautiful, so I was happy. I had a good experience because I _____________one new idea about ____________culture by taking part in it. I think Halloween _______________an interesting American holiday whichinvolves all family members and neighbours __________!