analyzing english activities

The activities I collected from internet is available in http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=572 and is related to the video bellow. The online exercise contain 3 actitivities about the topic "The History of Halloween". First I present the activities and the video, then I comment about the approach that it suppose to belong, the roles of teacher and students during the process of making the activity (if it 'll used in class) and the the kind of each exercise.

ACTIVITY I

Watch the video and tick the correct answers to the following questions:

1. How long have Halloween traditions been around:

( ) for 180 years ( ) for centuries ( ) for 100 years

2. Where did the Celts live?

( ) In Africa ( ) In Asia ( ) In Europe

3. What did the Celts celebrate on Oct 31th?

( ) The end of the harvest season ( ) Christmas ( ) Halloween

4. What did Celt do on Samhain?

( ) They lit bonfires to scare the ded away ( ) They wore very thin clothes ( ) they gathered in their houses and had a big meal.

5. What was the original name of All Saint's Day?

( ) Halloween ( ) Holly Night ( ) Hallowmas

6. When was Halloween imported to America?

( ) In the 1840s ( ) In the 1930s ( ) In the 1940s

7. Which of the following was not a Halloween custom in those days?

( ) Bobbing apples ( ) Trick-or-treating ( ) Playing tricks

8. When did Halloween become dangerous?

( ) In the 1920s ( ) In the 1930s ( ) In the 1940s

9. How long has "Trick-or-treat" been a holliday greeting?

( ) For about 90 years ( ) For about 80 years ( ) For about 70 years

ACTIVITY II

Halloween is associated with lots of scary animals, characters. read the definitions and fill in the crossword.

1. a small animal like a mouse with that flies at night

2. a bird with a flat face, large eyes and strong curved nails, which hunts small mammals at night

3. a small dark four-legged furry animal with a tail and claws, usually kept as a pet or for catching nice

4. a light made from a hollow pumpkin with holes cut into the sides like the eyes and mouth of a person's face, inside of which there is a candle

5. the frame of bones supporting a human or animal body

6. an evil spirit

7. a dead body, usually of a person

8. a reptile with a long sylindrical body and no legs

9. a small insect-like creature with eight legs which catches other insects in a web

ACTIVITY III

What spooky Halloween figure do the following definitions refer to?

1. A (zombie/ghost/vampire/banshee) is the spirit of a ded person, sometimes represented as a pale, almost transparent image

2. A (vampire/werewolf/ghost/ghoul) is a dead person who comes back to life and sucks blood from other people at night

3. A (zombie/ghoul/banshee/werewolf) is someone who changes into a wolf at the time of the full moon

4. A (zombie/witch/wizard/banshee) is a woman who has magical powers

5. A ( ghoul/zombie/banshee/witch) is an evil spirit that eats dead bodies

6. A (witch/werewolf/banshee/zombie) is a female spirit in traditional Irish stories whose crying sound tells you someone in your family is going to die

7. A (vampire/zombie/ghoul/werewolf) is a reanimated human corpse

COMMENTARIES:

1. The activities are based in the content and in the topic discussed in the video: The History of Halloween. The purpose of this approach is to add vocabulary and force students make inferences about the characters and symbols of Halloween based in the main points presented in the video and matching figures by means its definitions.

2. The roles of teacher and students (in case of using it in class).

TEACHER'S ROLE:

* introduce the topic and promote discussion (pre-reading, watching and listening);

* guide students during the task's realization (what kind os information is relevant to answer each actitity)

* explain the importance of this "issue" for students life. Contextualize it with Brazilian's hollidays and how Halloween is celebrated here.

STUDENTS' ROLE:

* activate their previous knowledge;

* give opinions for discussion;

* by teacher's instruction, read questions before watching the video;

* make relations among Halloween holliday in foreign cultures and important celebration from Brazil (national and regional hollidays).