Comenius Regio – IES Bajo Cinca, Fraga.

Spain -- Halloween Project, 1st ESO

COMENIUS REGIO

YEAR 2010/11

HALLOWEEN Project

Subject: ENGLISH

LEVEL: 1st ESO . These 12/13year-old students have changed

from the school to the high institute this year, some of them come
from nearby villages and they do not know each other. There are
different levels.

Functional Objective: Make a poster about Halloween.

Learning Objective:
- Being able to recognise basic vocabulary
about the topic.
- Being able to compare cultural differences ,
showing respect to those different from the
student´s ones.
- Being able to make a written text according to
their level.

Resources:
- Song from the soundtrack Bram Stoker´s
Drácula,Vampire Hunters by Wojciech Kilar
- powerpoint about halloween
- printed material with basic vocabulary about
Halloween.
- Printed material: a revolting spell Macbeth
( Act 4 Scene1, lines 14-15)
- Thin cardboard
- Glue , felt- tip pens.

1
 Comenius Regio – IES Bajo Cinca, Fraga. Spain -- Halloween Project, 1st ESO

-
Timing:
In class: Three 50 minute sessions .
Outside the class: The pupils meet together to prepare and to make
a task in a thin cardboard. Each group decide when and how long
they need to meet.

Pedagogical Scaffolding:

Step 1: Getting a general idea about Halloween origin and tradition.

We will start this session asking general and open questions about
Halloween, to check what pupils know about it. Brainstorming on the
blackboard.
We will play the soundtrack and will ask them to think about an
adjective individually. They have to answer to the question: What
does this track make you feel? They have to think about the
adjective in English , but they can do it in Spanish if they cannot.
It is important to emphasise that we think in our class we have to
use the foreign language as much as we can and the mother
language whenever necessary in the benefits of communication.
We will continue this session asking open questions to check what
they know about the origin and traditions; and know what they do to
celebrate the feast. We will focus on those students who have other
different nationalities and in general we will encourage our students
to talk about and ask about All Saints´Day to their families .This way
we are taking into account the student´s experience and previous
knowledge. We do not correct anything.
Later on, we show the powerpoint presentation and the teacher
explains briefly the origin and traditions . The explanation is made in
English (mimicking a lot and emphasising the constructions they
already know) the students are asked to work in pairs , they have
to tell each other what they have understood about the pp. At this
moment they correct each other about the previous knowledge
(most of them think that the origin is American).

Step 2: Careful reading and acquisition of new vocabulary.

They work in pairs. They choose a different partner and we give

them printed materials with new vocabulary and several different
activities. They are not allowed to use the mother tongue now,
though they can use the dictionary or even ask different partners
who might know the answers.

2
 Comenius Regio – IES Bajo Cinca, Fraga. Spain -- Halloween Project, 1st ESO

Exercise 1: puzzle.
Exercise 2: Text.
Exercise 3: Mail.
Exercise 4: A revolting spell.
In this step we support students with grammar structures and
encourage them to look for new materials on their own, using
internet.
The exercises 1,2,3,and 4 attend to the differerent levels we can find
in the group to facilitate all of them to work on the elaboration of the
poster. Most of the pupils already propose their own ideas and new
material (pictures, songs, legends..etc).

Step 3: Analysis and common sharing.

In this second session, we correct the exercises and we share the
previous and new knowledge. They decide and plan their project
with the materials asking for help when necessary. We focus on the
teamwork and the distribution of the tasks.

Step 4:Creativity.

The students show their visual materials . All of them have

materials to work on the project, they can answer basic questions
about the topics. Those who have lower level are able to answer
close questions, and the ones with a higher level have made their
own written text .

Step 5 & 6: Autocorrection and sharing.

In the third session, they show their final project, they are asked to
make a brief reflection about what they have learnt and their
personal work within the teamwork. The groups give their opinions
about other projects and they are also asked to evaluate
themselves.
The learning process has been coordinated by the teacher but they
realised that they have been able to acquire autonomy to work.
We pay special attention to the teamwork because some of them do
not enjoy working in team, they are used to working individually.

3
 Comenius Regio – IES Bajo Cinca, Fraga. Spain -- Halloween Project, 1st ESO

CONCLUSIONS:

• We have motivated students through shared experiences

• They have used previous knowledge and shared with others
• Team work: They have helped each other, corrected each
other and used the experience to correct oneself.
• Evaluation criteria: it has been shared with the pupils to make
them participate
• This approach allows each level to work according to their own
capacity and limitations.
• The use of audio visual materials and team work reaches
every type of pupil (auditive type, visual type and kinesthesic
type) helping all of them engage with the project.
• This methodology has allowed the students families
involvement in their curricular activities.
• This methodology has also allowed us a cross-departmental
exchange, especially with the Library.
• This methodology has finally help the teachers involved in the
projects to get different feedback.