Sharing your Culture (a lesson on Halloween)

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It's Halloween week!  As Americans, we all know it's a BIG day-- for a kid and as well as, an adult.  Korea doesn't celebrate Halloween, but some Korean students know about it and I hear, sometimes even get to celebrate it at hagwons.

But as it's Halloween season, this is the opportunity to share your culture. Depending on your classroom or school, not all Korean teachers want this part to take up much classroom time. For instance, I have only one co-teacher who wants us to do something for our class.

A Brief Lesson in Halloween:
For classes where you're not given class time for a Halloween activity.



This video clip from A Nightmare Before Christmas is perfect for introducing a fun Halloween spirit and is great for younger students. As a warmer, I can sneak it in before class starts. The duration of this video is 14.10 min but I only show approx. 3 minutes of it (from timecode 1:43 to 4:38).

 At the beginning of class, I make a short elevator pitch about Halloween-- kids dressing up in costumes and going door-to-doortrick or treating. I make them practice "Trick or Treat"; and at the end of class, I make them repeat the phrase, "Trick or Treat". Then I tell them if they want the candy I've gotten for them, they have to say it to me.

It's a magical feeling to hear your Korean students (especially the young ones) say this to you excitedly. You'd almost feel like you were back home passing out candy to the kids on the block!

A Presentation on Halloween:
For a class where I'm given time to present an overview of Halloween and what it's about.

I found this ppt on Waygook.org  (*my favorite lesson plan shopping spot). I modified it slightly but the person who did this, created a perfect plan for teaching. It gives examples of costumes, how to carve a pumpkin, the act of trick or treating and more. It's very simple but *brilliant*. You can download my version here or go to Waygook.org for the original one and more.