Halloween ideas for your classroom

Charlotte Guest
Two children sit at a table drawing, surrounded by colorful pencils and Halloween decorations including pumpkin lanterns.
Reading time: 6 minutes

If you’re looking for fun Halloween classroom ideas that also improve language outcomes, you’re in the right place. These activities focus on aspects such as awareness, academic vocabulary, structured talk and writing craft, transforming them into joyful, age-appropriate tasks for ESL. They’re simple to launch, easy to differentiate and designed for visible learning. 

Early years (PreK–2): Halloween language learning foundations

Trick-or-treat sound hunt (phonemic awareness): Hide picture cards (for example, bat, spiders' web, moon) and letter cards around the room. Students collect an image, say the initial sound and match it to the correct letter.

Targets: phoneme isolation, letter–sound correspondence, rhyme. Differentiation: visual supports, gestures, mouth-shape cues; fewer cards for emerging learners. Quick assessment: two “Say it, tap it” words before transition.

Spooky syllable sort: Use baskets labeled "1", "2", and "3" syllables. Students clap and sort words like ghost, spider and skeleton. Add a chant to reinforce rhythm and fluency.

Targets: syllabication, phonological awareness, vocabulary. Differentiation: use props (for example, a toy spider) to anchor meaning; peer modeling for clap-counting. Assessment: Circle the number of syllables under three pictures.

Costume describer: Show appropriate and non-scary costume photos. Students build sentences using frames: “I see a…,” “It has…,” “It is…,” adding adjectives (striped, shiny) and prepositions (next to, under).

Targets: complete sentences, noun–adjective combinations and prepositions. Differentiation: color-coded word cards; challenge with because to add reasons. Assessment: 10-second audio where each student describes one image.

Storytime and sequencing: Read a fall-themed tale and retell with beginning–middle–end cards and temporal words (first, next, last).

Targets: narrative structure, sequencing vocabulary, oral language. Differentiation: character puppets, partner retells for reluctant speakers. Assessment: Arrange three event pictures and narrate one sentence per card.

Halloween language ideas for every classroom
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Upper elementary (Grades 3–5): Vocabulary, fluency and writing

Haunted–house descriptive writing: Display a playful haunted-house image. Teach sensory adjectives, vivid verbs and prepositional phrases. Students draft a paragraph that shows, not tells. Provide a word bank (cobwebbed, creaking, lantern-lit) and a simple checklist.

Targets: descriptive vocabulary, sentence expansion. Differentiation: sentence frames; challenge with simile or personification. Assessment: quick two-point rubric for imagery and organization.

How-to writing – Paper lanterns: Students write procedural text using transitions (first, next, finally), imperative verbs (cut, fold, tape), and precise nouns (crease, tab).

Targets: sequence words, commands, domain-specific vocabulary. Differentiation: visual model and exemplar; audio directions for multilingual learners. Assessment: partner follows the directions – if the product matches, clarity is strong.

Figurative language frights: Explore idioms and figurative language (chills down my spine, as quiet as a mouse). Students identify the type, explain the meaning, and craft an original sentence.

Targets: idioms, simile, metaphor, connotation. Differentiation: meaning cards for common idioms; contrast literal vs. figurative usage for advanced learners. Assessment: quick multiple-choice exit ticket using new phrases.

Reader’s theater: Light Halloween scripts build fluency and prosody. Focus on expression, pacing and dialogue tags. Preteach tier-two words (murmur, tiptoe, peer).

Targets: oral fluency, expressive reading, dialogue conventions. Differentiation: roles by comfort level; choral and echo reading supports. Assessment: brief fluency rubric plus self-reflection.

Middle school (Grades 6–8): Discourse, tone and sentence craft

Mystery micro-podcast: Teams script and record a 60–90 second audio clip describing a mysterious setting. Coach tone, pacing and sensory detail; allow ambient sound.

Targets: audience awareness, complex sentences, oral delivery. Differentiation: sentence starters, model scripts, defined roles (writer, editor, narrator). Assessment: speaking rubric focused on clarity, vocabulary and cohesion.

Debate lite - inclusive celebrations: Students prepare short arguments for prompts like “What makes a Halloween celebration inclusive?” Teach modal verbs (should, must, could), hedging (perhaps, it seems) and respectful turn-taking.

Targets: persuasive language, discourse markers, pragmatics. Differentiation: claim–reason–evidence frames; cue cards allowed. Assessment: tally of target structures used during discussion.

Compare and contrast traditions: Read short texts about fall celebrations across cultures. Use Venn diagrams and cohesive devices (however, similarly, whereas) to write a compare-and-contrast paragraph.

Targets: academic vocabulary, text structure, cohesive ties. Differentiation: leveled texts, bilingual glossaries. Assessment: color-code cohesive devices in final drafts.

Grammar for growth – Haunted relatives: Teach relative clauses to add precision. Expand kernel sentences (“I saw a cat. It sat on a porch.”) to “I saw a cat that sat on a porch with glowing pumpkins.”

Targets: sentence combining, relative pronouns, and modifier placement. Differentiation: clause starters; nonrestrictive clause extension. Assessment: before/after sentence expansion samples.

High school (Grades 9–12): Analysis, rhetoric and register

Gothic close reading and micro-analysis: Select an excerpt that builds mood without gore. Students annotate diction, imagery and syntax, then write a thesis-driven paragraph connecting choices to effect.

Targets: analytical vocabulary, textual evidence, argumentation. Differentiation: terminology bank (juxtaposition, cadence), modeled paragraph. Assessment: concise rubric for claim, evidence, analysis.

Urban legend rhetoric: Deconstruct a short urban legend. Identify appeals (ethos, pathos, logos), tone shifts and framing. Students write their own legend for a specific audience, choosing the right tone and persuasive techniques.

Targets: rhetorical strategies, audience adaptation, narrative cohesion. Differentiation: mentor texts at varied complexity; collaborative drafting optional. Assessment: peer review with a rhetorical checklist.

Translation and idiom lab: Gather idioms for fear or surprise across languages, discuss pragmatic use, and translate short lines. Students reflect on cultural nuance.

Targets: idiomatic expressions, pragmatics, cross-linguistic awareness. Differentiation: bilingual pairs; monolingual supports for students without shared L1. Assessment: mini-glossary with in-context examples.

Mood and modality – advice and warnings: Teach modality and conditionals through safety posters and short PSAs (It’s essential that…, If you were to…, One should…). Students present brief announcements in the target language.

Targets: modality, register, functional language. Differentiation: sentence frames and model PSAs; extension to counterfactuals. Assessment: oral presentation using a speaking rubric.

Things to consider for inclusion and safety

  • Keep themes friendly and opt-in; provide fall alternatives for students who don’t celebrate Halloween.
  • Frontload vocabulary with visuals, gestures, and props; review words across modalities.
  • Offer sentence frames, word banks and anchor charts for discourse markers and target structures.
  • Use mixed-proficiency groups with defined roles to increase access and ownership.
  • Be allergy and sensory aware; avoid food props and loud jump-scares; create a calm corner.

Assessment and differentiation that save time

  • Audio exit tickets: one sentence using a target word or structure; store recordings for pronunciation, fluency, and grammar progress.
  • Single-point rubrics for speaking and writing to keep feedback focused and fast.
  • Choice boards with tiered tasks so learners demonstrate understanding at varied levels of linguistic complexity.
  • Lean on leveled readings, scaffolded practice and digital assessments that auto-group students by need, so small-group time is laser-focused and impactful.

Read our blog posts 'Ideas for your class during Halloween' and 'Teaching young learners: all just fun and games?'.

Get activity inspiration from our English Readers

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I assess Halloween language learning quickly?

Try audio exit tickets, single-point rubrics, and photo portfolios of writing or sequencing cards. Keep checks concise and focused on one or two key language objectives.

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