Halloween E03 - Lights Out

Objective & content

Neil and Sanjay are locked in a bedroom when Dylan Whitlock, the owner's great-nephew, jumps out of the closet in a werewolf mask. He explains the house app behind every strange event, and Mika then arrives at the party in full zombie-bride make-up. The grammar focus is the past continuous with when, as in "You were hanging the lights when I turned them on", and the present perfect for reactions such as "the best party I've ever been to". Learners also meet vocabulary such as closet, lock, camera and speaker. The main skill is listening comprehension, followed by the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

This is the last of three Halloween episodes. It is off-arc and opens with a short recap, so a class that skipped episode 2 can follow it. Teach the contrast between the past continuous (the action in progress) and the past simple (the moment that interrupts it); miming it with two learners helps. The ending leaves the skeleton unexplained on purpose, so let learners argue about it without giving an answer. Keep words such as air conditioning and retirement home receptive and untested.

Suggested procedure

1. (4 min) Write "haunted house" on the board; pairs say what makes a house feel haunted, then ask whether a phone could do it.
2. (6 min) Pre-teach six words (closet, lock, camera, speaker, make-up, skeleton) with simple definitions.
3. (5 min) First listen without interruption: who jumps out of the closet, and is he a real werewolf?
4. (10 min) Second listen with four pauses: who Dylan is, why he scared the boys, the truth about his great-aunt, why the ending is strange.
5. (5 min) Comprehension check with five questions.
6. (4 min) Vocabulary practice: matching game or the student sheet.
7. (6 min) Grammar focus: underline was / were + verb-ing in three lines from the script, then notice have + past participle with ever in the reactions.
8. (5 min) Pair work: a detective asks "What were you doing when the lights went out?" and Dylan answers, then they swap.

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: past simple, including common irregular verbs, and the -ing form.

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 4, through the axis School and society.