Halloween in the EFL Classroom

Wait a second… what was that?

The nights are drawing in and here at The TEFL Org Castle, we’re starting to feel things go bump in the night. In the woods nearby, we’re pretty sure we hear cauldrons bubbling. We can’t move around for bats flapping their wings and then, of course, there’s the groans of ghosts that haunt our corridors. Honestly, it’s really distracting - we’re just trying to get our work done. 

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Hallowe’en is always a great opportunity for fun lessons and experiences in the TEFL classroom, whether you’ve got excitable young students, teenagers who are pretending they’re far too cool for this kind of thing, or adult learners who, let’s face it, need little excuse to dress up.

There are plenty of ways to incorporate Hallowe’en into TEFL lessons, from presentations about the history of the holiday, films and TV, spooky poetry readings and so much more. It’s also the only time of year it’s acceptable to write “spooky” in a blog post. Not that we’ll be taking advantage of whatsoever…

So, here are some SPOOKY and fun ideas for lessons, as well as some great resources, all about Hallowe’en.

Study how Hallowe’en is celebrated around the world

There’s a common misconception floating around like a ghoul that Hallowe’en is a very American tradition. This is not the case. What we now understand internationally as Hallowe’en is really a mix of different celebrations and festivals from cultures all around the world. 

Take Samhain , for example, in Ireland. It’s pronounced Sow-wen (as in ‘sow’, like a pig). This celebration has roots in paganism and goes back a long way. Or, there’s the ever-colourful Día de los Muertos in Mexico and across Latin America, which celebrates - you guessed it - the dead. In Spain, they call it Dia de las Brujas; in Portuguese, it’s Dia das Bruxas (both translate to ‘Day of the Witches’ and have distinct, witchy traditions attached).

You get the idea. Depending on where you teach English, you can celebrate Hallowe’en in the local style. You can also teach your students about different traditions worldwide by giving presentations or having class discussions—in English!

A fun lesson for your students might be to research different Hallowe’en traditions across the world and make a perfect Hallowe’en party plan with elements from different cultures! There are loads of great resources for this, including History , Trafalgar and NPR .

Learn English with spooky films and TV

Nobody is immune to the charms of a fun, scary film, book, TV programme, or poem. We’ve done the research, and it’s empirical. 

English lessons that incorporate different forms of media are always a great way to keep your classes engaged. This is especially true when it comes to major holidays, and Hallowe’en is no exception. Whether it’s an English lesson on YouTube which uses Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ , or using a section of ‘Macbeth’ to teach some dramatic English prose, it’s all good fun.

As a teacher, you can use your favourite (age-appropriate!) films, books and TV to teach important English lessons. This is a great opportunity to teach about tone, humour, irony and using language for dramatic effect. The Simpsons’ retelling of ‘The Raven’ is a classic example!

A good rule is: as long as it doesn’t traumatise your students, go for it! Maybe your students don’t need to watch The Exorcist with you, but a bit of ‘The Addams Family’? ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’? Something even more recent?! You can’t say fairer than that.

Lesson plans

There are, of course, loads of great lesson plans and resources already available online for ESL teachers. Here are some we’d recommend:

Dark, Dark Wood - British Council
Hallowe’en games and lessons - ESL Kids Stuff
Busy Teacher
ESL Brains - What are you going to be for Hallowe’en?

Encourage your students to dress up!

The beauty of Hallowe’en is that even armed with some toilet roll and a couple of safety clips, you can at least dress up as a Mummy. Of course, if you want to dress up in Hollywood-quality cosmetics and costumes, then it’s your money.

Yes, dressing up is good fun. Embrace it. If you teach in a classroom, it’s an especially joyous/terrifying time. Encourage your students to dress as their favourite horror characters or simply as scary ideas - the more creative, the better! In English, they can tell you all about the character they’ve chosen, or even invented, for the holiday. If you like, you can make it a fundraising activity. Our charity partner, Theirworld , would want to hear all about it!

If you want to make it an academic activity and you teach students in their teens or adulthood, you can grade mini-presentations. Students can talk about the inspiration behind their costume, why they chose it, and the source of the costume—the film, the book, the TV show, the poem, whatever it is. Grade your students on their ability to present in English, the confidence of their delivery, and how creative they’ve been.

Whether you make it an academic, graded exercise or not, it’s all about having fun. Your students should be marking Hallowe’en on their calendars every year because you’ve given them fun lessons!

You might like…

Funnily enough, we’ve covered some spooky themes on our podcast, ‘I Taught English Abroad’ . There’s the story of Sophie Oliver , who, before becoming a TEFL teacher, worked as a “Scare Actor”. It’s a must-listen - a very funny pre-teaching anecdote.

There’s also Jamie Gajewski who, if you can believe it, was employed to teach in a haunted castle* in France. It may have been a summer camp, but it sounds pretty Hallowe’en adjacent if you ask us.

*For clarification’s sake, this is not the same haunted castle we work from. There are just so many on the market these days. People keep leaving them vacant, and we don’t know why!

Hallowe’en and TEFL: a perfect combination

It may seem like just a bit of a laugh, Hallowe’en - an excuse to wind down, dress up and have some silly, creative fun with students.

To an extent, it can be, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, Hallowe’en is also a holiday steeped in really important traditions with meaning and history. To many, it’s of immense cultural importance. Part of the learning experience for you and your students this year can be finding out what the holiday represents across the globe and presenting - in English - what you’ve all learned.

It’s also a way to let your students learn about a world of exciting media, from classic episodes of The Simpsons to modern Netflix hits. Everything from Edgar Allan Poe to ‘The Monster Mash’ applies here, so use it!

Anyway, that’s the Hallowe’en blog post sorted for another year. It’s back to the old crypt for me. Eventually, I’ll resurface, cobwebs and all, with even more ideas and more TEFL lessons at the spookiest time of year.

Until then, good luck getting out of our castle. It sounds as though the portcullis is coming down, and that’s nightfall when all the weird creatures come out. I’m sure you’ll be fine, though…

With self-paced study, top accreditation and experienced TEFL teachers to help you, there’s nothing to be scared of when you take a course with The TEFL Org !