My students go Trick-or-Treating

For Halloween last semester, I "rolled" my classroom before each class so that my students could experience a bit of the tradition of Halloween pranks. It was entertaining to see the look of confusion and to hear the "whowww's" spread throughout the group as they entered the room. During my presentation - with lights off so they could see the PowerPoint easily - on a brief history of Halloween and how it has been celebrated through the years to current day, I made a point of dramatically RAISING my voice at certain parts, usually while talking about ghost stories or haunted houses, while simultaneously making a sudden jerking motion forward to scare them.

It never failed.

They always screamed and jumped in their seats. After showing them photos of some of my past Halloweens, I divided the room into groups for their very own Trick-or-Trick experience.

Three groups were told to act out the part of Trick-or-Treaters. One of those was given the assignment to refuse candy and instead come up with a worthy cause to raise money for. Another was told to react with dissatisfaction (anger) at every house..if given candy, it wasn't enough, etc. to work on them being able to express unhappiness. The third was told to react with happiness no matter what happened. Then two groups were placed at "houses" and received the Trick-or-Treaters. One house was given candy to pass out while the other was told to give reasons that candy is no good and offer fruit instead.

Some delightful creativity revealed itself as each group spent at least 5 minutes in dialogue with the other group at each house. The toilet paper became costumes, fruit substitutes were created and somehow people singing English songs became a bargaining tool. Below are some photos from the classes.

They made costumes from the toilet paper I used to "roll" the classroom.

This group created an orange to give to the Trick-or-Treaters.

This group must have been forewarned because they brought an orange to class.