Halloween E01 - The Listing

Objective & content

Neil, Mika and Sanjay stand at the gate of an old house the town says is haunted, and Neil plans to hold a Halloween party there. Learners hear Neil pitch the party with promises ("There are going to be lights along the stairs"), Mika describe the rooms, and the three friends set up the hall while strange things happen. The grammar focus is future plans with going to and will, with there is / there are and imperatives and let's in the set-up. The main skill is listening comprehension, followed by the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

The episode is the first of three Halloween episodes and is off-arc, so it suits a 4e or 3e class at A2+ with no prior episode. Use it to move learners from a story they understand to their own sentences about plans and places. Keep the mood light: the house is odd, not frightening. Informal words such as "downer", "gross" and "kinda" should not be tested.

Suggested procedure

1. (4 min) Write "haunted house" on the board; pairs share what they know, then answer whether they would go to a party there.
2. (6 min) Pre-teach six words (haunted, spooky, fog, flyer, refund, budget) with simple definitions.
3. (5 min) First listen without interruption: learners give the main topic.
4. (10 min) Second listen with pauses at set points: why the house is empty, what happens next, the lights, how Neil feels at the end.
5. (5 min) Comprehension check with five questions, oral or written.
6. (4 min) Vocabulary matching game, then one sentence per learner.
7. (6 min) Grammar focus: compare going to and will, there is / there are, and imperatives, then write sentences about the classroom.
8. (5 min) Pair work: plan a Halloween party, give jobs, then swap roles.

Materials & prerequisites

• The student sheet and the teacher sheet (printables).
• The lesson plan for this episode.
• Device with the Academy app or the audio file, and a whiteboard or projector.
• Prerequisites: present simple, basic house and room vocabulary, and the idea of a simple future plan.

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 4, through the axes School and society and Encountering others. The episode suits a 4e or a 3e class.