Creepy sound effects for your Halloween lessons

This week I was preparing my lessons and I found two apps with Halloween sound effects. It is very simple to use. You just have to click on the sound you want. There is a list of various creepy sounds. My students had a lot of fun. I used for story telling and my students were in charge of the creepy sounds. I highly recommend them. You can see the names the ones I chose below.

The soccer show is about to start! Cool activities for World Cup!

What if you have your students trying this cool warm-up so that they get more acquainted with the show time that is on the verge of starting!!!

WARM-UP: Soccer traffic jam!

Each player stands in a space in the playing area with a ball each. They

         must steer their ball/ balloon safely around the playing area  without

losing control. To make it more challenging the teacher can put some obstacles such as plastic cones or ropes.

Players have to follow instructions called out by coach, starting with:

Green - players dribble around area.

Red - players stop and put foot on the ball.

Amber - players touch ball between insteps of both feet without moving.

Turn - steer ball/balloon to move in a different direction.

 Whilst in green, teacher can also introduce the dribbling mode:

 1st gear - slow jog

 2nd gear - steady run

 3rd gear - quicker run

 4th gear - quick run

         

It's World Cup Time!

Veja abaixo algumas gírias, comumente usadas em futebol, em inglês:

CABEÇA DE BAGRE; PERNA DE PAU: journeyman; journeyman player; huffer; puffer

PISAR NA BOLA: the ball got stuck under his feet; he tripped over the ball

PARADINHA: feinting

PEIXINHO: diving header

CAVADINHA: Panenka penalty; chipped penalty

ROLINHO, CANETA: to nutmeg; to do a nutmeg

DRIBLE DO ELÀSTICO, ELÀSTICO: flip-flap; flick-flack

MEIA LUA: penalty arc

BARREIRA: wall

FRANGO: howler; blunder; blooper (AmE)

PELADA: pickup game (AmE); kick-around (BrE)

CAMA DE GATO: leaning in

BOLA DIVIDIDA: fifty-fifty ball; loose ball

CHUTAR DE BICO: to toe-poke

CONTRAPÉ, PEGAR NO CONTRAPÉ: wrongfoot, to wrongfoot

CARRINHO: sliding tackle

GANDULA: ball boy; ball girl

ARTILHEIRO: top scorer

Source: www.inglêscomfutebol.com.br

Let's go green! Getting started to celebrate Earth Day!

Earth Day is a day early each year on which events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day)

Check this list of selected activities and lessonplans to go green with your students:

http://community.thinkfinity.org/message/13260?tstart=0<b></b>

OR have your students finding out how knowledgeable they are about Earth Day and the environment with these quizzes:

http://holidays.quiz.kaboose.com/60-kids-what-s-your-earth-iq

http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/Games/Quizzes/Holidays/EarthDay.html

http://articles.cnn.com/2007-04-10/politics/earth.day.quiz_1_washer-and-dryer-earth-day-water?_s=PM:EDUCATION

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/classroom/quiz/earthday.shtml

http://timelines.com/quizzes/earth_day

Easter time warm-up activity!

Split your class into two groups and challenge them to find as quick as possible 26 Easter words!

basketbunnybonnetchurchcarrotschocolatecandydaffodilsdecorateeggsfamilyfindgrasshihehophuntjellybeansjoylamblilymarshmallownestpastelpaintingpeepssunday

Source: Creative Easter Wordlist http://k6educators.about.com/od/aprilholidaylessons/qt/Easter-Word-List.htm?nl=1

My collection of Happy New Year messages.

Are you looking for ideas to write a Happy New Year message for your friends and loved ones? Have a look at these New Year greeting messages I have selected. It’s time to welcome New Year 2012 and cheer the old one!


May the New Year bring you happiness, peace, and prosperity. Wishing you a joyous new year!

Season’s greetings and best wishes for a new year that fills your heart with joy. Happy New Year!

Wishing that you are blessed with all that you desire in the year ahead. Happy New Year!

May you have new hopes, aspirations, and resolutions for the coming year. Happy New Year!

As the New Year blossoms, I hope it brightens your days with everything you have wished for.


May the good things in life be yours in the coming year and always. Best wishes for a happy new year!

Wishing you good health, happiness, and success in the coming year and always. Happy New Year!

May you celebrate and enjoy the simple pleasures of life in the coming year. Happy New Year!

Season’s greetings and best wishes for a new year filled with warmth, peace, and cherished memories! 

May the gift of love, happiness, peace, and warmth be yours as you make a new start. Happy New Year!

Wishing you hope, comfort, peace, and happiness on this New Year and always!

May the new year that follows be the best you have ever had. Have a blissful new year!

New Year's Time! From A to Z

With only some days to go until New Year's Eve, are you aeady to celebrate the New Year's party! Get yourself started with this A to Z checklist!

A
Auld Lang Syne
B
baby
ball
balloons
C
calendar
celebrate
celebration
champagne
clock
confetti
countdown
D
dancing
December
E
eve
F
Father Time
festivities
firecrackers
fireworks
first
G
games
H
happy
hat
holiday
horns
hourglass
I
invite
invitation
in with the new
J
January
K
kiss
L
last
M
memories
midnight
music
N
new
New Year
New Year's Eve
noisemaker
O
old
out with the old
P
parade
party
R
resolution
S
sparklers
streamer
stroke of midnight
T
time
Times Square
toast
tradition
tuxedo
twelve o'clock
V
vow
Y
year

Source: www.enchantedlearning.com

How much do you know about Christmas? Try the Ho-ho-ho game!

Taking a quiz is a nice way to learn new words and it is also a rich opportunity to enhance students' cultural literacy. Check this list of suggested quiz activities and get the most of Christmas time for your lessons!

The ho-ho-ho game: this is a nice activity for teens. Have students arranged in groups of 3 or 4. Ask them to choose from the list below the quiz they want to take. While students take the quiz, take notes of the number of correct answers they get. When all groups have taken the chosen quizzes you tell them they have an extra challenge. In groups they are supposed to say a HO for each right answer they got. (i.e if a group got 5 right answers, they are supposed to say in chorus ho-ho-ho-ho-ho). Students will have a lot of fun!

http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/christmas/quiz/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4030000/newsid_4033400/4033443.stm
http://emailsanta.com/Christmas_Trivia-Kids.asp
http://www.carols.org.uk/0103.htm
http://triviapark.com/quizzes/xmasquiz.html

For kids I suggest this quiz http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/christmasQuiz.htm. Very sweet!

High Energy Christmas Activities!

Here are a few ideas that can be used in the classroom to give your lessons that 'seasonal flavour'. Most of the activities are linked to the end of them as well. The activities described here would be great for the last lesson because they trigger students's emotions towards Christmas time in a way they will miss your lessons and classmates the minute they leave the room!

For kids:

Blindfold Christmas Bell: 
This game can also be called  “Blind Santa.” Have the children sit in a circle with one child in the middle. The child in the middle needs to be blindfolded and as a bell gets passed from student to student the blindfolded child in the middle needs to catch the bell. Depending on the age group, spinning the child around a bit first to disorient them is fun.

Musical Christmas hugs:
This game is very similar to musical chairs, except everybody wins. Play some Chritmas music and have the children dance around. When the music stops, the children find one friend to hug (explain the hugs must be gentle, nice hugs). You can make different rules, such as; when the music stops the children must find someone new to hug each time and give a Christmas card.

For Teens:

Christmas Chair Switch:
For this game you will need to make a series of necklaces, each with an image as a pendant, preferably about words related to Christmas vocabulary. You may adapt the level of difficulty according to students' level. For a list of Christmas words go to: http://iteslj.org/lists/christmas.html. Only 3,4 or 5 images are needed, since there should be many students wearing the same image. Whatever images you choose, you need to have a flashcard of them, along with one depicting all the images you use on one card. On chairs, seat the students in a circle. Play some music and encourage the students to sing along. When the music stops, show one of the flashcards. All the children wearing that image must change seats, if someone ends up in the same seat they are out. You can show two cards at a time, and all those students have to switch seats, but the funniest is when you show the flashcard with all the images on it, because then they all have to scatter around switching seats, laughing, frantically. Everytime a student is out of the game he should say a Christmas message to the teacher and classmates.

Christmas Project to promote students' global competence awareness

It is Christmas time, so more than ever, education should prepare students for glocal civility and peace. So what in the world are we educators waiting for?

Good educators know that the real world is even more interconnected and interdependent. We all share in facing global poverty, global economic recessions and trade imbalences. On the other hand we all share opportunities for global collaborations and international cooperation. These challenges and opportunities define the contours of our lives, even in their most local dimensions. So the moment is now and here, let's give our students the opportunity to become more globally competent and prepare them for life in the real world in their communities and societies. To do so, I present below a very simple project to enhance students global competence which I call The Cooperative Christmas Tree and I will describe in the lines that follow some ideas on how to implement that in your institution.

Procedures:

1) Visit a local public day care center, orphanage or rest home and tell the person in charge of the administration that you intend to develop a Christmas collaborative project there. As soon as you get the supervisor's autorization, the next step is to explain your project to the institution residents and ask them to write a letter asking for something they would like to be given on Christmas' Eve. You will get surprised by the things they usually ask, the elderly they will go for items for personal cleanliness, like shampoo, hairbrush, tooth brush and the kids choose school material items and toys. A few number of the participants may ask costly items but they are exceptions.

2) The next step now is to assemble a Christmas tree in your school or a local institution and hang on it the letters. The idea is invite people to adopt one of those people and buy what is requested. It is also nice to ask them to write a Christmas card.

3) Before Christmas evening you should invite some of the people who took part in the project and go to the institution you chose to give the gifts. This moment is magic, seeing in those people's eyes how thankful they are is priceless. We feel like we can make our slight share to help the world! It's a magnificent experience. So, I invite you now to try this out in your school or local institution and share this moment!

For more information on global competence visit the post : http://anaisacunha.blogspot.com/2011/11/global-competence-educating-for-21st.html
If you have any questions on how to implement this project, don't hesitate in contacting me.

More ideas for a Thanksgiving Day lesson!

Check these ideas for a Thanksgiving Day lesson plan:

Tip one:

7 Thanksgiving Crafts and Games Your Students Will Be Thankful for. Available at busyteacher.org

Tip two:

TURKEY DAY is only a week away! Have you ever wondered WHY WE EAT TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING? Find out the answer at Wonderopolis. Wonder of the Day® #53 explains: http://bit.ly/hn4sGf

These sites always bring awesome ideas. Add them to your favorites, facebook contacts or follow them on Twitter!

Tailoring your class to celebrate Thanksgiving day!

Learning language is important, but so is learning about the culture from which it comes. It might be interesting, even, to plan a class based around various holidays common in English speaking countries and discuss their origins. Classes focusing on the history, or on different types of celebrations, are often a great way of expanding the students’ knowledge of another culture. Therefore, let's not miss this opportunity and get the most of the upcoming celebration: THANKSGIVING DAY!

 A quiz can be a great way to get your class to compete, hence getting and keeping their attention. The more heated the quiz becomes, and the more involved the students are, the more frequently they will slip into English. Of course, beforehand it might be a good idea to give them a brief overview of what Thanksgiving is. Below you will find a list of quiz activities and a text about the history and origin of Thanksgiving day:

http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/thanksgiving/quiz/index.html

http://homeschooling.about.com/library/quiz/blquizholthanks.htm

http://www.theholidayspot.com/thanksgiving/quiz.htm

http://home.aristotle.net/Thanksgiving/trivia.asp

http://thanksgiving.spike-jamie.com/quiz.html

A brief overview of the history and origin of Thanksgiving day

Almost every culture in the world has held celebrations of thanks for a plentiful harvest. The American Thanksgiving holiday began as a feast of thanksgiving in the early days of the American colonies almost four hundred years ago.

In 1620, a boat filled with more than one hundred people sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World. This religious group had begun to question the beliefs of the Church of England and they wanted to separate from it. The Pilgrims settled in what is now the state of Massachusetts. Their first winter in the New World was difficult. They had arrived too late to grow many crops, and without fresh food, half the colony died from disease. The following spring the Iroquois Indians taught them how to grow corn (maize), a new food for the colonists. They showed them other crops to grow in the unfamiliar soil and how to hunt and fish.

In the autumn of 1621, bountiful crops of corn, barley, beans and pumpkins were harvested. The colonists had much to be thankful for, so a feast was planned. They invited the local Indian chief and 90 Indians. The Indians brought deer to roast with the turkeys and other wild game offered by the colonists. The colonists had learned how to cook cranberries and different kinds of corn and squash dishes from the Indians. To this first Thanksgiving, the Indians had even brought popcorn.

In following years, many of the original colonists celebrated the autumn harvest with a feast of thanks. After the United States became an independent country, Congress recommended one yearly day ofthanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate. George Washington suggested the date November 26 as Thanksgiving Day. Then in 1863, at the end of a long and bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln asked all Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving.

source: http://www.homeschooling.com/

Witch Time! 2 Fun Halloween Games!

Your Halloween celebration can include much more than  costumes and trick-or-treating. These simple Halloween games will help you  teach  a fun Halloween lesson!

 

1) Pin the Wart on the Witch

Materials:
· Large picture of a witch, preferably with a wart already on it
· Blindfold
· A paper wart for each player with his or her name on it
· Tape
How to play:
1. If the picture of the witch does not already have a wart on it, draw one.
2. Hang the witch on a wall where there is lots of space around it.
3. When it is a player's turn, blindfold the child and give her the wart with a piece of tape stuck on it.
4. Spin the player around (not too fast!) and tell her to stick the wart on the witch's nose.
The player whose wart is closest to the real one is the winner!

2) Walk on the Witches Hat
Materials: 
·  Big  picture of a witch's hat
·  CD player
How to play:
1. If you have a large picture of a witch's hat, tape it right on the floor before you play the game.
2. The players hold hands and shut their eyes.
3. The teacher is at the front to see that no one peeks. (Whoever peeks is out of the game.)
4. The teacher will control when the music stops and starts. When the music starts, the players begin walking in a circle (as in musical chairs) around the hat.
5. When the music stops, the person who is standing below the hat (as if he/ she were wearing the hat) is out of the game. The last player to circle the hat wins!

Halloween greatest hits!

Are you looking for some creepy soundtracks for your Halloween activities?

Set the mood with some classics! Check my top 5 Halloween Hit Parade!

1) Toccata in D Minor 

Bach’s “Toccata in D minor” is the quintessential Halloween theme, evoking images of Dracula, the Phantom of the Opera and other villains throughout time. Composed for the organ, this remains one of the best ways to greet trick-or-treaters at your doorstep.

2) Jaws - Main Titles and First Victim

Who doesn’t know what it sounds like to see a shark swimming towards you? From the movie Jaws, John Williams created what is perhaps the most famous of all movie themes. Listen to this and think twice before you step into the water…

3) Psycho - A Narrative for Orchestra

Step into the shower with music from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Mastering the art of tension, Bernard Herrmann composed a narrative that will keep you on the edge of your seat. After hearing this, you’ll never take a shower the same way again!

4) The Ride of The Valkyries

Set this track as your alarm and wake up on a flying magical horse, with singing women praising your very existence. Written by Richard Wagner, “The Ride of the Valkyries” was prominently featured in the famous film Apocalypse Now. This is the ultimate theme to take command of the night for any Halloween-er, young or old.

5) A Night on Bald Mountain

Spending A Night on Bald Mountain is surely no easy feat. Inhabited by pagan-worshipping witches, this track places on the peak and takes you through the perils of living with danger. You’ll be rescued by dawn and a new day, but only if you can survive that long…

To listen to the songs go to: http://creepyfunhalloween.com/

10 Halloween Movies for kids! Just a bit scary!!!

Nothing makes Halloween more fun than watching movies that are just a bit scary. Check out these kid-friendly movies.

1) Monsters, Inc.
2) Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie .
3) Igor
4) It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
5) Hocus Pocus
6) Corpse Bride
7) Casper meets Wendy
8) The Haunted Mansion
9) Halloweentown
10) Harry Potter Series

Video Activity: Setting up the mood for Halloween

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU6iP0WLsU8

Objectives: set up the mood for halloween, review and present holloween vocabulary and work with listening skills.

Age: 12 or above.

Levels: elementary to intermediate.

Groupings: pairwork or groupwork.

Procedures:

1)   Teacher tells students they are supposed to write down as many words as they can remember related to Halloween. Students have 3 minutes to do this.

2)   Teacher writes on the board all the words students have brainstormed.

3)   Teacher tells students they are going to watch a video and they have to perform 2 tasks while watching: TASK 1 – count how many times the word HALLOWEEN is repeated. TASK 2 – say which words they have brainstormed are actually shown on the video and write down other words they see or listen.

Answers:

         Task 1 : the word halloween is repeated 31 times.

         Task 2: some of the words that are shown on the video are: jack 

         o’lantern, scarecrow, cemetery, ghost, haunted house,   monsters,  

         coffin, vampire, black cat, witch, werewolf, skeleton, bat, mummy…



Halloween spooktacular activities!

Halloween Riddles in a caldron!

The teacher puts all the answers for the answers in a caldron then plays a song and reads aloud a riddle. One student is invited to pick an answer in the caldron. If he gets a right match, everyone else in the group has to give him a treat = sweet and if he doesn't get he can choose between giving all students a treat or go for the TRICK!!! Then another student is invited and so on... As a follow-up activity students may vote for the funniest riddle and go around the school to tell other students and teachers.

Suggestions for riddles:

What do ghosts wear when their eyesight gets blurred?

Answer: Spooktacles

Why do skeletons always have a bad cold?

Answer: Because they are chilled to the bones!

What do female ghosts use to do their makeup?

Answer: Vanishing Cream!

Which fruit is a vampire's favorite?

Answer: Neck-tarine!

When does meeting a black cat brings the most bad luck?

Answer: If you are a mouse!

What is a skeleton's favorite musical instrument?

Answer: A Trombone!

Why do spooks speak in Latin?

Answer: Because, it is a dead language!

What looks and acts exactly like a black cat but is much smaller?

Answer: A Black Kitten!

What is the name of the witch who lives in the desert?

Answer: Sand-witch!

Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe

Add a ghoulish touch to a classic game with these ideas for Halloween tic-tac-toe games. It's always a thrill to cut out scary Halloween shapes to use as the playing pieces. Check out the illustration below.

Source: http://crafts.kaboose.com/halloween-tic-tac-toe.html

Spider Web




 Ask the kids to stand in a circle and give a ball of yarn to a player. He should take a piece of the yarn and throw it to someone else in the circle. This cycle continues until a spider web is created. This is amongst the popular fun Halloween games for kids. Variation: to make the activity more challenging the teacher can play a song while they are throwing the yarn to make the spider web and every time the song stops they have to say a word related to Halloween or make a witch scary laughter!!