Happy Halloween

Part of our job as Native (although I use this term very loosely seeing as though I am actually Zulu) English Teachers is to also teach the kids 'western' culture. Not that I know much about Halloween, since its not something that a lot of South Africans are into, I still incorporated a little lesson on the topic.  I didn't want to get tongue-tied teaching something I know nothing about, so I decided to go a bit casual on this one.  I did a drawing/listening activity. It's their favourite kind of lesson. Listening is an important skill to have when learning a language = teacher is happy. Drawing is an activity that students enjoy the most = students are happy.

I gave them a piece of paper with a haunted house. Then I called out a list of things they had to draw onto their page. I collected them and chose some of my favourites to get stickers (they collect stickers, from various activities, towards getting candy and ultimately chocolate). Its an easy lesson for me to 'teach' and the students enjoyed some time 'off' doing something creative while learning vocab and improving their listening - its a win-win I tell you.

Draw: Owl in the tree, Cat on the roof, Bat in the sky, Witch on a broomstick above the moon, Skeleton in the right downstairs window, Ghost in the left downstairs window, Vampire in the left upstairs window, Werewolf under the tree, graves beside the house, spider's web above the door and Jack-o-lantern (carved pumpkin) in front of the house. To explain Vampires and Werewolves, I made reference to Twilight as a hint and my students (all girls mind you) went mental with oooohs and aaaahhhhs at the mere mention of this movie.

Final thoughts
I will really miss my students. They really are talented and creative - but then again this is coming from someone who can only draw stick figures :D