HOW IT ALL STARTED

Where did my passion and love for THANKSGIVING start from?

Well... it goes back in time. 

It was 2006 and I traveled to BOSTON for the first time and I fell in love. 

I had never been to New England and little did I know about that area. 

I was visiting friends and I lived in the area for a month. I took the chance to visit some of the places that I had studied in the books and that's where and how the magic happened. 

I visited Salem, Cape Cod and Plymouth with the Plimoth plantation.

PLIMOUTH PLANTATION

I visited the Plantation which has been recreated and I talked to the actors which were perfectly retelling the story, even by using an Old British accent.

I loved every single moment of that experience and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the area. I went to take a look the the famous Plymouth rock which is.... just a rock!

I bought books, realia and I was so fascinated by this story that I have been telling my students about Thanksgiving since the day I got back. 

These are some of the books I usually use in class: 

The best piece I have the Mayflower compact replica. My students love holding it and trying to read it. 

These are just a few things I usually use to talk about Thanksgiving and after having heard and read and watched something about this historical celebration, we are usually going to enjoy a few treats!

       White chocolate and cranberry cookies

              Cranberry juice

           Turkey club sandwich

Thank you, 

Miss Alex

I AM THANKFUL... and not only at THANKSGIVING

Remember, remember.....the 5th of November?

Well.... if you are British you should remember the 5th of November

Remember, remember 

what happens in November....

It's going to be THANKSGIVING soon!

It's time to look around us and really be thankful. 

We should be thankful as teachers because we are doing a job that we LOVE and we should realize how lucky we are to have the chance to spend so much time ( hours, days, months, years) with those tiny human beings and see them grow and change. We witness their growth and we play our part in the process. 

We should be thankful for what we HAVE: a family, a house, friends. Sometimes we take those things for granted but let's take the chance to stop, look around and say THANK YOU. 

We teach our children through our words but we mostly teach them by giving them the example, by really living and experiencing the things we would like them to learn and live. 

So... before teaching our children about the History of Thanksgiving with the Mayflower and the Pilgrims, let's really try to understand the deep meaning of this celebration. 

Thank you, 

Miss Alex

MY HALLOWEEN DINNER!

What do teachers do on HALLOWEEN NIGHT? 

We HAVE FUN, of course!!!

We also decorate our house and.... 

prepare a special HALLOWEEN DINNER!

What matters is to spend some quality time with SOME GOOD FRIENDS!
Celebrate Halloween, celebrate anything you want, but do it right and with good friends!
Thank you, 
Miss Alex

HALLOWEEN SCARY FREEBIES!

If you are an English teacher HALLOWEEN is the first school EVENT that might... scare you. 

But... nothing can scare an English teacher. We come prepared and we always have a back up plan. 

We need to...

1)find a way to teach the Halloween origins

2)find engaging worksheets and activities

3)learn catchy songs and dance routines

4) find easy Halloween recipes for children

5) find the best ( funny and cheap) costume ideas for Halloween. 

Easy, isn't it?

But... we are not alone in this.

HERE WE ARE..

HALLOWEEN ORIGINS
Halloween history

Halloween origins

WORKSHEETS AND ACTIVITIES

Halloween coloring

Halloween Bingo

Halloween finger puppets

Halloween matching word cards



HALLOWEEN SONGS ( my favourite ones)

Halloween rules

Halloween rap

Monster Shuffle

For easy classroom recipes please read my previous Halloween post.

HALLOWEEN  COSTUME IDEAS (taken from the net)

In the Usa many teachers dress up for Halloween. In other countries it is not a tradition to dress up at school. I personally think that we do not need much to dress up and to have some fun with the kids. Maybe a mask, a wig, a hat or a cape. 

Thank you, 
Miss Alex

HALLOOOOOO....... WEEN!!

Whether you like it or not, Halloween is coming... and soon!

We could spend hours and hours criticizing this holiday and saying that it is not an Italian tradition and that we should not celebrate it. We could say that nobody ( in Italy) really knows the origins of this holiday, why, where and when it all started but... does it really matter? Do we ( as Italians) know everything about the Italian festivities that we celebrate each year? Do we really know why each year we are off school on certain days which were historically very important for our own history? Maybe as adults we do ( or we should) but I have tried several times asking teenagers why they have been celebrating these holidays over and over and... trust me.. many of them have no idea ( and I know this might be frustrating for us as teachers but it is the harsh truth).

So... does it really matter?

What we know is that children, teenagers and adults enjoy celebrating Halloween and... shouldn't we try to engage students by working on things that they like and find attractive? So why not take the occasion to try something fun with them and at the same time teach them something which they will ( hopefully) remember?

So here are some ideas. 

First, create a Halloween themed classroom. It always works and creates the atmosphere.

It is also important to provide candies and sweets for the TRICK OR TREATing activities!

Here are some fun activities that are really easy to do in class.

1) You need a microwave and some white chocolate. 

Melt the chocolate and put the marshmallow ( on a stick) in the melted cream.

2) Put the marshmallows upside down and let the chocolate cool off and become solid again. 

3) Melt some dark chocolate and decorate the ghosts with a stick.

You could also do with the same thing using apples and cover them with nuts or cereals or m&ms

I have also tried different recipes using candies.

All you need is some Oreo cookies, some candies ( strings) and M&Ms

You could use some plastic gloves from supermarkets ( the ones they give you to buy fruit and vegetables) and fill them with popcorns. Very easy and a lot of fun!

How about some VOCABULARY GAMES? 

I have also tried many Halloween songs. My favourite is Halloween rule

Halloween rules

Finally, I have also asked my students to dress up and they LOVED IT. 

And.... of course... if your students dress up... you have to be willing to do the same! Happy scary Halloween!

Thank you, 

Miss Alex