Halloween Lesson Plans
Halloween Lessons, Lesson Plans and Activities For Teachers, Classrooms and Students
I’ve been teaching my students about the origins and traditions of Halloween for more years than I care to count. What started as a ten or fifteen minute discussion of the Celtic Samhain developed into a weeklong study of national and international cultural traditions. Each year, after the lessons were over, my students would say “But where do Vampires come from?” or “Why do we have zombies in Halloween?” And each year, I would dutifully add an explanation.
Because of cultural and religions sensitivities, Halloween no longer is celebrated in many American schools - including mine. But these lessons are not meant to be a celebration of anything. Instead, they are meant to teach the students history, geography and culture. Through these lessons, students learn the WHY of Halloween.
In the years that I have been teaching these classes, more than a few parents have questioned the lessons. But when I invited them to review the materials and discuss the lessons, even the most religiously sensitive agreed that their students had gained from learning the origins of the event.
Of course, not everything here is appropriate for all age levels. The latest revisions of the lessons are aimed at my 11th grade students. Teachers will have to decide for themselves how to approach the material. Information on the recent serial killer craze is probably not appropriate for middle school or younger students.
Among the materials you will find on this site are essays on the origins and traditions of Halloween, Powerpoint files, crossword puzzles and activities.
For me, the lesson typically extends over several days. The opening activity (bell work, anticipatory set) for each day is a set of Halloween oriented vocabulary words. Using a classroom set of dictionaries, the students define a list of age appropriate words. The word list found in the vocabulary crossword in the downloads section is a good place to start.
The rest of the period is spent showing the overheads and lecture/discussion. I always emphasize to the students that what we are learning about are cultural traditions. Whether we like it or not, the traditional symbols of Halloween have become a part of our culture, and the lessons are simply an attempt to explain their origins.