U.S. Holidays

Let's Celebrate Halloween!

As an auxiliar I am a language and culture assistant. Part of my role is to teach students about my culutre. This year I've taught students about major U.S. holidays. In October I taught students about Halloween. In addition to showing photos, explaining traditions and sharing some of my favorite Halloween themed films, I also created an activity to build listening skills.

First I taught the vocabulary that students would need for the activity. While teaching holiday themed vocabulary is fun, it often isn't the most useful. This is why I decided to teach students house related vocabulary in addition to Halloween vocabulary. I tied the two together by creating a listening activity that described a haunted house.

After some practice, I began to describe a haunted house orally. Students had to listen carefully and attempt to both draw and color the house. This practiced the newly learned vocabulary and reinforced color and shape vocabulary. After everyone finished the activity, the two students with the most acurate drawings were given prizes. At the end of the class students were shown a photo of the actual house that I was describing so they could check their comprehension.