My learning objectives were to teach students about American Holidays, specifically Halloween the origins of the holiday. Halloween can be big culture shock for new immigrants. They see people decorating their houses with pumpkins and scary things. They may see someone dressed up in a scary costume and think that this is an evil holiday. My goal in teaching the origins of Halloween was to teach students where these scary traditions stem from and how they have carried on and morphed through many centuries.
To be sure my learning objectives have been met, I may ask students to write a summary of the origins or make a timeline of Halloween based on the video. I would also encourage discussion after the Ted-Ed lesson to allow students to share their thoughts and ask questions and compare it to a holiday or custom in their country of origin. I would walk around and assess as students talk in pairs.
ESL.I.5-8.5.1.2: Students will demonstrate a broad range of U.S. cultural and political referents through institutions, functions, and processes at the local and national levels and compare/contrast these with parallels in the students native community.
ESL.I.5-8.5.1.5: Students compare and contrast oral traditions, myths, folktales, and literature from the United States and international regions and cultures, including the students' own and identify similarities and differences and universal cultural themes.
