HALLOWEEN STORIES

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HALLOWEEN: LET´S CREATE SOME COLLECTIVE STORIES

Are you bored of working with the same activities in the classroom every Halloween?. One of the ideas that works for me is to create collective stories. I give students some prompts so they can choose one of them and start making up different stories. What they like the most is working in groups, so the story is written between all of them.

Some of the prompts you can use are:

1. You have had a strange feeling for a few days now. Today you’ve been feeling very energetic and tired at the same time. Your arm has been itching. It’s killing you now. You look at your forearm and see it for the first time. Something is moving under your skin.
2. You open your eyes to complete darkness. The last thing you remember is the dog running out into the road, the brightness of the day light, and your car headed off the road. Then you realize that you are hanging upside down. 
3. Your driving on a country road. It is late at night. You are far from home. You realize, as you check your mirrors, there is a man you do not know, hiding on the floor of your back seat.
4. It’s 3 am. Your room is dark, but you can see that there is someone, standing at the foot of your bed. He or she is wearing a clown costume, and it has a knife.
5. At 3 am you wake up out of a very sound sleep. You hear the ice cream truck outside of your house. And you realize, the sound that woke you up, was the sound of your 4 year old daughter.
6. You are running late. After quickly getting ready, you rush out of the house and to your car door. A sound gets your attention, there is a fully grown male lion, just a few feet from you. Your car door is still locked.
7. The worst cramps you have ever had set in on your biceps. It came on so suddenly. You drop to your knees, looking through your bedroom window, you see the full moon. You hear a little voice behind you, “Mommy?” 
8. You are frozen with fear. You open your eyes, the tent is dark. But you can feel the heavy weight of a large tarantula covering one eye. Through the other eye you can see the shadows, from the moonlight, of other spiders covering the tent.
9. The man leans into you. There is a dark red almost black color to the whites of his eyes. He is so close his nose is almost touching your nose. You can feel his breath when he says, “We all have it in here. We are all infected."

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TODAY'S FRIDAY: TIME FOR A SONG!!!

A) What do you think the song is about? 

BEGINNERS:

Look at the following images, then name things you can see in the pictures.

INTERMEDIATE:

Look at the following images, then describe them:

       

    

B) Working with words: 

BEGINNERS:

Guess the letters that are missing in the following words from the song:

• b_ea_h                                         
• _ta_in_                                          
• _li_b                                                                 
• _ive _p         
• _li_e  

INTERMEDIATE:

Now, try to MATCH the following words in the song with their meanings:

• breath                                         *        renounce
• stamina                                      *        having life
• climb                                          *       exhalation                     
• give up                                       *       strength
• alive                                            *        ascend

C) Writing: 

BEGINNERS:

Write 5 simple sentences using the words above.

INTERMEDIATE:

Write a short story using the words above.

D) Speaking: 

BEGINNERS:

Name three feelings/emotions you can see in the picture.

INTERMEDIATE:

Describe how the girl in the picture feels.

NOW IT'S TIME TO LISTEN TO THE SONG

D) You must shout STOP!! any time you hear any of the words above:

breath  // climb //  stamina // give up //  alive

E) Grammar: 

Let's work with verbs. Write down any verb you hear and classify them into regular or irregular verb.

                    REGULAR                                   IRREGULAR

Then, write the past simple and past participle of the verbs you've written down.

Finally, classify the -ed sounds of the regular verbs:

            /Id/                 /t/                       /d/

LET'S SING THE SONG ALL TOGETHER NOW!!!!!

GUY FAWKES: A BRITISH TRADITION

The British celebrate Bonfire Night every year on 5 November in the memory of a famous event in British history, the Gunpowder plot.

Let's learn more about this tradition with different activities.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY AND WORK WITH SOME COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS.

After reading the story and answer the questions you can do the following activities:

1. Look at the ‘Remember, Remember’ poem. The whole class could recite this together.

Remember, Remember

Remember, remember the fifth of November, The gunpowder treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, ‘twas his intent

To blow up King and parliament. Three score barrels were laid below To prove old England's overthrow.

By God's mercy he was catched,

With a dark lantern and lighted match. Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring Holler boys, holler boys, God save the King.

2. Now, carry out a storyboarding task in small groups. Put the parts of the story into the correct sequence. 

     Plotting

Robert Catesby gathers a group of seven men to help him in a plot to blow up the King James I and Parliament at the Royal State Opening of Parliament on 5 November. He has to persuade them to join him. He reminds them that the King is not letting Catholics practise their religion. The gang are very angry and think the King deserves to die.

Digging the Tunnel

In May 1604 Guy Fawkes and Thomas Percy find a house very near to Parliament and rent it. Fawkes called himself John Johnson and pretends he is Percy's servant. They then began to dig a tunnel underground from their rented house to Parliament to smuggle in the gunpowder. They dig, and they dig and they dig...

Planting the gunpowder

In March 1605 the gang have a stroke of luck. A cellar underneath the House of Lords comes up for rent. They can abandon their digging and rent the cellar. They put 36 barrels of gunpowder in the cellar ready for the Royal State Opening of Parliament. They cover the barrels with fire wood to disguise them in case anyone looked inside.

Lord Monteagle’s letter

Lord Monteagle, a very important man and friend of King James, is given a letter at dinner on October 26th 1605. A tall, mysterious stranger had handed it to his servant in the street earlier in the evening. He takes his mystery letter to show to friends in the government, but they are slow to act. King James I is away hunting and many ministers are suspicious that it is a fake.

Guy Fawkes in the cellar

The gang find out about the letter but they are determined 
to carry out their plot. On the afternoon of 5 November 1605, Guy Fawkes takes up his position in the cellar with his matches and waits for the ceremony to start. Soldiers come to check the cellar. On first look they find nothing and just question Guy Fawkes. They return to check again and find the gunpowder. Guy Fawkes is

arrested and taken to see the King.

King, Tower and Torture

King James I is furious. He demands that Guy Fawkes reveal the names of anyone else involved with the plot. Guy Fawkes is determined not to give them up, even when the King threatens him with imprisonment in the Tower of London. He is sent to the Tower where is he tortured on a rack.

He eventually gives them the names of the other plotters.

Hung, Drawn and Quartered!

The gang are caught and publically hung, drawn and quartered. Their heads are placed on sticks for everyone to see what punishment awaits anyone who might plot to kill the King.

3. In small groups, try to write an acrostic poem using the words 'Gunpowder Plot' and selecting key points from the story. 

 

Acrostic poem

G is for the guards searching the cellar for the gunpowder. 

U ................................................................................................................................ 

N ................................................................................................................................ 

P ................................................................................................................................. 

O ............................................................................................................................... 

W ................................................................................................................................ 

D .................................................................................................................................

E ................................................................................................................................. 

R .................................................................................................................................

P ................................................................................................................................ 

L ................................................................................................................................ 

O ................................................................................................................................ 

T  .....................................................................................................................

Key words from the story: tunnel, dig, cellar, letter, Lord Monteagle, Robert Catesby, Parliament, hung, drawn, quartered, Tower of London, torture, rack, Catholic, Protestant, religion, arrest, barrels, matches, Royal State Opening of Parliament ceremony.

4. Finally, you can discuss different points about the story. Here you have some prompts:

a) Robert Catesby and the plotters were all Catholic. The Protestant King and Parliament would not let them practice their religion. What do you think about this?

b) Do you think Robert Catesby and the plotters were right to challenge the

King and Parliament? Explain your answer.

c) What do you think about the way they decided to take action?

d) Do you think it was right that the plotters were put to death? Explain your answer.

5. You can fill in the following report file with the information you have learnt. 

Born: _____________________________________________________

Died:

_____________________________________________________

Full name:

_____________________________________________________

Nationality:

_____________________________________________________

Children:

_____________________________________________________

Parents:

_____________________________________________________

Occupation:

_____________________________________________________

What was he famous for?:

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

If you want to do more activities about this British tradition, pelase CLICK HERE and HERE.