5 ideas for teaching about Halloween using apps and mobile devices

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© Copyright 2011, LearnAhead 5 ideas for teaching about Halloween using apps and mobile devices Kim Ashmore, Director and Co-Founder, LearnAhead Ltd

Transcript of 5 ideas for teaching about Halloween using apps and mobile devices

Page 1: 5 ideas for teaching about Halloween using apps and mobile devices

© Copyright 2011, LearnAhead

5 ideas for teaching about Halloween using apps and mobile devices

Kim Ashmore, Director and Co-Founder, LearnAhead Ltd

Page 2: 5 ideas for teaching about Halloween using apps and mobile devices

© Copyright 2011, LearnAhead2

Here are some ideas for teaching words for Halloween – or about the topic of Halloween – using apps and mobile devices. The ideas are aimed at the EFL/ESL young learner classroom but can be adapted to other contexts.

1. Learn Halloween words2. Draw a monster3. Play a game4. Learn some weird facts5. Stories for Halloween

5 ideas for teaching about Halloween using apps and mobile devices

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First Words Halloween is aimed at young children, and would be great for the EFL/ESL classroom. In this simple app, children see a picture (of a witch for example), and drag letters to make the word. When children touch a letter (or the picture) they hear the name of the letters, or the word. The illustrations are appealing, and the app would be useful for children who are learning to read in English.

App: First Words HalloweenPlatform: iOSCost: £1.49/$1.99

1. Learn Halloween words

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Word Carrot is a useful app for learning key words in British and American English. The app is suitable for all ages, and in it, users see a word, hear a word, and then try to spell the word by touching the letters before time runs out. Level 1 (with the first 90 words) is free. Players can buy more words in Levels 2 and 3. Level 3 contains ten words for the topic of Halloween. Using an IWB, this is a fun game to play with a group of learners.Print a Halloween matching gamePrint a Halloween puzzlePrint a Halloween poem

App: Word Carrot UK / Word Carrot USPlatform: iOSCost: In-app purchase Level 3 (£0.69p/$0.99)

1. Learn Halloween words

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iLuv Drawing Monsters helps children draw, colour and decorate 20 different monsters. The app would be great for cross-curricular work, helping children to develop confidence in art, and also to develop language around colours and descriptions (and parts of the body). Children can print the monster they create, so you could make a monster book for example; or children could describe their monsters to each other.

App: iLuv Drawing Monsters HDPlatform: iOSCost: £0.69/$0.99

2. Draw a monster

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Here are two fun games that older learners might enjoy – either in the classroom as group games using the IWB for example – or at home.

The first is Halloween Chicktionary Lite. This is a challenging word game that would be appropriate for older learners (the free version has adverts). Seven trick-or-treating hens give you letters which players use to make as many words as possible.

App: Halloween Chicktionary LitePlatform: iOSCost: Free

3. Play a game

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I SPY Spooky Mansion would be a great game for older kids. With this app, players enter a spooky mansion, and have to find 7 keys hidden around the place. Players visit different parts of the mansion (the study, the graveyard etc), and solve riddles and puzzles, looking for hidden objects. Children would need to understand the English text in the game, but the game could also provide plenty of practice in talking about directions and locations, and also suggestions (‘Let’s have a look over here…’).

You can see a video of the game here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQdwNEi1kg0

App: I SPY Spooky MansionPlatform: iOS / WindowsCost: £0.69 / $0.99

3. Play a game

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4. Learn some weird facts

Did you know that slugs have 3.000 teeth and four noses? Weird But True is an app with more than 300 facts about the world – all of them weird but true. The app is from the National Geographic, so all of the facts are appropriate and interesting for children, and the facts are illustrated well, helping learners to understand the language. There’s also a ‘weird-o-meter’ where children can vote on the weirdness of each fact – could be a fun feature for the classroom!

This app would provide some great material for quizzes (children could make predictions about the facts before they see them, for example, guessing how many teeth slugs have!); or could be used as a springboard for children to research their own weird but true facts. There is a lot of useful stuff on the National Geographic Kids website – worth having a look: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/

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4. Learn some weird facts

App: Weird But True Platform: iOSCost: £1.49 / $1.99

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5. Stories for Halloween

There are many, many storybook apps on the market, especially for younger children. Here is a great monster story for Halloween, and not too scary! The ebook is highly interactive, and meanings are made clear by the illustrations and the interactions.

Go Away, Big Green Monster (by Ed Emberley) uses simple language, and helps children to deal with fears. First, the monster is built up on screen, then the children can remove him bit by bit (it’s also great for teaching parts of the body and adjectives). Children can listen to the author or a ‘friend’ reading the story, they can read it at their own pace, or they can sing along. Have a look at this video of the app to get a better idea:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVIDTfwGuwI

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5. Stories for Halloween

Go Away, Big Green Monster is also a popular paper book, and there are lots of ideas for using the story and the topic in the classroom on the internet, many of which could be adapted for learners of English. For example:

A very simple song called ‘Go Away, Big Green Monster’ with flashcards to download and print:http://supersimplelearning.com/songs/original-series/one/go-away/

A page full of ideas for using the story in class:http://pinterest.com/evelynsaenz/go-away-big-green-monster-activities/

App: Go Away, Big Green Monster!Platform: iOSCost: £1.99 / $2.99

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5. Stories for Halloween

Older learners might enjoy telling or writing spooky stories for Halloween, and the Spooky Story Dice app could be a great way to get kids’ creative juices flowing. Roll the dice, and get lots of different ideas for a scary story. Children can use the ideas to tell stories at a spooky storytelling event; to record themselves telling the stories; or to write or illustrate their stories for a class spooky story book.

Your children could also make some spooky story dice. Have a look at these images to print on the Land of Me website: http://www.thelandofme.com/blog/2010/10/23/make-me-spooky-story-dice.html

App: Spooky Story DicePlatform: iOSCost: £1.49 / $1.99

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5. Stories for Halloween

Another stimulus for creative writing or storytelling could be provided with a scary sounds app. There are a number of apps that provide these for free, but watch out for adverts, and also check sounds beforehand – some of them can be quite scary. You may prefer to be in control of these apps, or use them with older children. Ask your learners to close their eyes, then play some sounds. Learners can write or talk about what they imagined as they heard the noises, and then create a story, perhaps in pairs or groups.

App: Scary SoundsPlatform: iOSCost: Free

App: Horror SoundsPlatform: AndroidCost: Free

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There are a lot of apps on the market related to Halloween and I have chosen just a few. Take a look at Shelley Terrell’s great blog post from 2011 which talks about 18 educational apps for Halloween:http://shellyterrell.com/2011/10/17/18-educational-apps-for-halloween/

Have you got any more ideas to share? Then share them at :http://wordcarrot.com/5-ideas-for-teaching-about-the-topic-of-halloween-using-apps-and-mobile-devices/

Thank you!

Kim Ashmore, LearnAhead Ltd.

5 ideas for teaching about Halloween using apps and mobile devices