Webquest: Halloween

by Luke Vyner

Level: Intermediate Key:

Target age: Teenagers / Young adults 1. the Celtic festival of Samhain
2. Ireland, the United Kingdom and
Time needed: Up to 90 minutes
(northern) France
Key skills: Reading, speaking
3. because the day marked the end of summer
Materials: one copy of the worksheet per student and the beginning of winter, a time of year
that was often associated with human death.
Halloween is a holiday that is celebrated on the They believed that on 31 October the ghosts
night of 31 October in many countries but most of the dead would return to the earth.
famously in the US. Children wear costumes and 4. their crops
go to people’s homes saying ‘Trick or treat!’ 5. They built huge sacred bonfires where the
to ask for sweets. If the children aren’t given a people gathered to burn crops and animals
treat, they traditionally play a trick, although they as sacrifices to the Celtic deities (deities is
often no longer do this. People sometimes dress another word for Gods).
up as ghosts, witches, goblins and other scary 6. animal heads and skins
characters for Halloween. Other traditions include 7. their hearth
‘apple-bobbing’ and carving out pumpkins (jack- 8. the Roman Empire
o’-lanterns). It is also common practice to watch 9. Feralia (a day when Romans would
scary movies and tell frightening ghost stories on commemorate the passing of the dead) and
Halloween night. Pomona (Pomona was the Roman Goddess
of fruit and her symbol was an apple, which
In this creepy webquest, students will learn about
probably explains the tradition of apple-bobbing)
the origins of Halloween, discover some of the
Webquest TEACHER’S NOTES

10. All Souls’ Day (celebrated on 2 November)

most popular traditions practised today, learn how
11. It was celebrated with bonfires, parades
many countries now recognize and celebrate
and costumes.
Halloween in their own unique ways and, finally,
12. ‘All-hallows’ or ‘All-hallowmas’
read and write some frightening stories!
13. ‘All-hallows’ Eve’, which finally
Warning: Some of the stories on this website
became ‘Halloween’
are very gory so please read them all first to
consider whether they are suitable to use with Activity 2: Popular Halloween traditions
your students.
Ask your students to read the about three popular
Warmer Halloween traditions and answer the questions
on each weblink with a partner or in small groups.
Have a class discussion about Halloween. Do any
Alternatively, you can ask each pair or small
of your students know about its history?
group to research only one section and, then,
present their findings to another group.
Activity 1: Halloween’s history
Check through the answers as a group and ask
Hand out the worksheets. Ask the students to go your students to discuss the questions that follow
to the first weblink and answer the comprehension the reading comprehension. Finally, have group
questions with a partner or in small groups. feedback on the discussion.
Check through the answers as a group and ask
Jack-o’-lantern
your students to discuss the questions that follow
the reading comprehension. Finally, have group Before beginning, pre-teach stingy (unwilling to
feedback on the discussion before moving on give or spend; ungenerous).
to Activity 2.
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 Webquest: Halloween
by Luke Vyner

Key: Activity 3: Halloween around the world

1. one about a man nicknamed ‘Stingy Jack’.
Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink Give one of the following countries or group of
with him but didn’t want to pay for his drink so countries to each student or pair:
he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a Ireland
coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Scotland
2. He kept it in his pocket next to a silver cross England
to prevent the devil turning back into his Germany
original form. Switzerland
3. that the devil wouldn’t bother him for one Russia
year and, if he died, the devil would not Romania
claim his soul Bosnia and Herzegovina
4. He tricked him into climbing into a tree to pick Canada and the US
a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Singapore
Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s China and Hong Kong
bark so that the Devil could not come down Japan
until he promised Jack not to bother him for Philippines
ten more years. Point out the questions on their worksheet for them
5. Jack died. to consider as they research their country
6. God would not allow him into heaven and the or countries.
Devil kept his word and didn’t claim his soul. Ask students to write notes. Once completed,
He was sent off into the night. create a class mingling exercise and ask students
7. Jack of the Lantern and later Jack O’Lantern to share their findings with each other. What was
Webquest TEACHER’S NOTES

8. their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving the most surprising piece of information?
scary faces into turnips or potatoes to scare away
Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits Activity 4: Terrifying tales
9. pumpkins
Ask the students to read the story ‘Hairy Toe’ from
Apple-bobbing the American folklore weblink. Next, ask them to
Key: answer the questions relating to it.

1. You fill a tub or a large basin with water and Key:

pub apples in it. 1. some roots (Roots, in this context, are vegetables
that grow in the ground, like carrots and radishes.)
2. They are less dense than water so they float.
2. a hairy toe
3. their teeth 3. There was good meat on the toe, which would
4. their arms make a tasty dinner.
4. a soup
Trick-or-treating
5. “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!”
Key: 6. It was getting closer (the woods – the clearing
1. treats such as candy (sweets in British English) – the garden path).
2. ’Trick or treat!’ 7. the garden path
3. They perform mischief on the homeowners or 8. She barred the door.
their property. 9. in bed under the covers
4. the late 1920s 10. She sat bolt upright in terror and shouted,
5. put up Halloween decorations outside their door “I ATE your hairy toe!”
6. at least the sixteenth century 11. She disappeared.
7. wear costumes at Halloween 12. a giant footprint pressed deep in the soil
8. a ‘calaverita’ – a small skull made of sugar beside her house
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or chocolate
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13. it was missing the left big toe

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 Webquest: Halloween
by Luke Vyner

Check through the answers as a group. Did the

story terrify them?
Now, ask the students to choose another story
from the American folklore website that interests
them and make notes on the main events.
Monitor closely to help with vocabulary questions.
Once the students have completed notes on their
chosen story, place them in small groups to retell
their stories.

Extension
Ask students to terrify their classmates by writing
their own scary story with a classmate. Tell them
that they can write a version of a real experience,
a spooky legend well known in their country or a
completely original story. Monitor closely and help
them with their story ideas. Encourage them to use
interesting and evocative language to make their
stories more exciting.
When they have completed them, ask a few pairs
to read their stories to the class. Then, vote for the
best and scariest stories!
Webquest TEACHER’S NOTES

Additional activities
• Visit onestopenglish for other Halloween-
themed lessons: www.onestopenglish.com/
skills/integrated-skills/themed-resources/
halloween-resources/.
• Ask students to create a Halloween party
invitation as a poster.
• Buy some pumpkins and get students to make
their own jack-o’-lanterns in groups. They
could visit this site and follow the instructions:
www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/features/halloween/
pumpkin.shtml.
• Listen to scary Halloween stories: www.
youtube.com/watch?v=w9TsHehltcQ.
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