In this fun class activity, Halloween costume vocabulary is mixed up and students try to piece it back together by asking, “What am I?”

Learner Level: Any
Language focus: Halloween vocabulary
Skills: Speaking, listening, presenting
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens
Grouping: Whole class
Preparation: Cut up 4 strips of paper for each student.

Teacher Instructions

1. Tell each student to think of a Halloween costume. Write these words on the board. (1 per student. No duplicates!)

2. Give each student four slips of paper.

3. Tell each student to write down parts of their costume. One word or phrase goes on each piece of paper. Each student's costume should have four parts. (2 minutes)

Example:

Witch costume

• pointy black hat
• black dress
• broomstick
• green make-up

4. Tell students to hand you back all of their slips of paper. Quickly help any students who don't have four words.

5. Mix up the slips of paper and hand out four pieces to each student. Students take turns calling out the words in their costume. Play “What am I?” Could these items make a costume? Probably not! The costume items are all mixed up.

6. Next, write a student's name beside each costume on the board. Make sure not to assign a student the same costume as they wrote about in Step 4. 

Have students walk around the room trying to put their assigned costume back together by exchanging papers with classmates. Students should never have more than four slips of paper in their hands.

Example:

Student A is looking for “Cat” items; Student B is looking for “Doctor” items

Student A: Do you need a pointy black hat?
Student B: No, I need a white jacket.
Student A: Oh I have one (gives B paper). Do you have a black tail?
Student B: No sorry. I think Jackie has whiskers. Go ask her. She's looking for a broomstick too. (gives A a slip of paper he doesn't need)

7. Students continue exchanging papers until they have a full costume. Students who finish first can help others “get dressed”. In the meantime, erase the board so that the assigned costume names are gone.

8. When all students have a complete (or almost complete) costume, stop the game. Have each student call out their new words. Play “What am I?” a second time. Are all of the costumes back together?

Tip: For lower level classes, do Step 3 as a group. Help each student write four words for their costume.