6 Culturally Sensitive Halloween Activities That Teach Language and Content to ELLs

Halloween is one of the most exciting times of the year in American schools — but as ESL teachers, we know that not all of our multilingual learners celebrate it at home. Some may come from cultures with similar traditions like Día de los Muertos, All Saints’ Day, or All Souls’ Day, while others may not engage with spooky themes or costumes at all.

Disclaimer: In this blog, the terms ESL students (English as a Second Language), ELLs (English Language Learners), and ML (Multilingual Learners) are used interchangeably. While “Multilingual Learners” is becoming the more widely accepted term, “ESL students” and “English Language Learners” are still commonly used in various contexts. My aim is to be inclusive and clear to all readers, regardless of the terminology they are familiar with.

So how do we honor cultural differences while still introducing students to a fun American tradition?

My solution: teach Halloween through language, literacy, and content — not fear or superstition. I keep things light, friendly, and academic, making sure students learn something meaningful while enjoying the festivities.

Here are my six favorite low-stress, high-impact Halloween activities for ELLs that target vocabulary, grammar, phonics, writing, and cultural awareness.

1. Start with Seasonal Vocabulary in October Morning Meeting

Every October, we launch our new digital ESL morning calendar slides — and this routine naturally introduces Halloween without overwhelming students. We start by building the patterned calendar together using fun visuals like cauldron tiles and pumpkin tiles.

Students help graph the weather with spider-themed charts, building both math and data collection skills.

 As new seasonal words appear in our slides — pumpkin, costume, moon, candy, windy, spooky — students trace, label, or say them out loud depending on their level.

We also learn one idiom of the month — “Once in a blue moon” — and act it out together. And of course, one of our favorite closing routines is playing Halloween-themed “Would You Rather?” slides, which always bring laughter and speaking practice!

2. Cut, Match, Glue — Easy ESL Worksheets for Newcomers

In my after-school and Saturday ESL groups, Halloween lessons stay simple and low-pressure. My newcomers complete cut-and-paste vocabulary worksheets where they match pictures to words, trace them, or build sentences using paragraph frames. 

Topics include:

• Halloween Costumes
• Counting Eyeballs (Numbers Practice!)
• Halloween Adjectives: Weather Words
• Halloween Nouns & Animals
• Halloween Verbs
• Halloween Food
• How to Carve a Pumpkin (Sequencing)

These activities are perfect for fine motor practice, phonics reinforcement, and vocabulary-building — all while keeping the mood calm and playful.

3. ESL Read-Aloud: A Culturally Relevant Halloween Story

One of the best ways to introduce Halloween is through windows and mirrors — stories that allow students to see themselves while learning about others.

My go-to read-aloud is Shy Mama’s Halloween by Anne Broyles. It follows a Russian immigrant family learning about Halloween for the first time — and students instantly connect to the feeling of trying something new in a different country.

The main characters are Anya, Dasha, Dimitrii, and Irina, who all view Halloween with excitement and curiosity. However, the heart of the story lies with Mama, who is both scared of Halloween and too shy to venture out onto the streets with her children. It's a story of transformation, courage, and the power of shared experiences. When her husband falls ill and can't take the children trick-or-treating, Mama is left with no choice but to join her children in this special celebration.

As the shy mother slowly embraces trick-or-treating, students see how traditions can be learned and shared with joy. It sparks amazing conversations like:

• “Do people dress up in your country?”
• “What holidays do children get candy?”
• “Was your mom shy when she came to America?”

4. Build Grammar & Vocabulary with Halloween Sentence Builders

To reinforce grammar and sentence structure, we use Build-a-Sentence Halloween mats. Students combine color-coded noun, verb, and place cards to create sentences. We use our grammar anchor charts to learn about tenses and singular and plural verb forms.

This hands-on activity reviews/ or introduces present continuous, past tense, and ability verbs (“can”) while keeping students independent and engaged. It’s especially helpful for students who struggle with word order or writing stamina.

5. Use PWIM + See-Think-Wonder to Write Halloween Stories

Once students are comfortable with vocabulary, we begin our Halloween-themed writing unit using PWIM and See-Think-Wonder routines.

We look at real photographs of Halloween scenes and ask: What do you see? What do you think is happening? What do you wonder? Students then: 

• Label objects in the picture (nouns & verbs)
• Sort and match vocabulary cards
• Build a setting (Where? When?) using visuals
• Use sentence frames to create their own mini stories

With differentiated tracing, labeling, and writing options, even reluctant writers build confidence. 

6. End with a Pumpkin Craft Book: My ESL Halloween Favorites

To wrap it all up, we create pumpkin-shaped booklets called “My  Halloween Favorites.” Students choose prompts like:

• My favorite Halloween candy is...
• The best costume is...
• My favorite Halloween candy,
• My favorite Jack-o’-lantern,  and more.

Each page includes word banks, juicy adjective lists and  vivid verbs posters, and drawing spaces so all levels — from newcomers to intermediate writers — can succeed. When finished, students cut, color, and staple their booklets into keepsakes we display on our bulletin board.

Free version here. 

Halloween is festive, language-rich, and accessible for every learner.

Halloween doesn't have to be spooky to be meaningful. When approached through language, culture, and creativity, it becomes more than a holiday — it becomes a shared learning experience.

🎃 Wishing you a fun, culturally inclusive, language-filled Halloween season!

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