Halloween-themed B2 speaking

Happy October! As an ESL teacher, you know what that means: Halloween-themed ESL lesson plans! I’m not a fan of doing the standard History of Halloween lessons. Instead, I like to combine the best of both worlds with a Halloween B2 Speaking Lesson that mixes exam preparation and Halloween fun.

Last year, I was teaching a B2 Cambridge exam preparation class with a group of second-year students. They were all great…just a bit stressed about the upcoming speaking exam. So, I decided to turn the exam into something more fun: a Halloween-themed B2 Speaking Exam practice lesson. It ended up being one of my best classes! My students were excited to talk, laughed a lot, and even tried to steal each other’s questions because they had so much to say.

This lesson includes everything you need for a complete no-prep Halloween speaking class: PowerPoint presentation with all the questions and pictures (perfect for online classes or teachers who prefer not to print), examiner’s speaking guidewith printable materials, which include the discussion topic and candidate pictures. All you need to do is download the files and start teaching! If you’re teaching teenagers, you might not have time to finish the entire lesson, and that’s okay! Since it’s a Halloween-themed ESL activity, I focus more on fun and fluency than on strict timing.

This B2-level Halloween speaking class follows the structure of the Cambridge Speaking Exam, with a fun twist. As you can see the class requires absolutely no preparation time. If you want to make the lesson more educational, ask students to take notes on each other’s performance, focusing on common mistakes and good language use. You can also time each part and finish the class with group feedback.

Part 1 – Warm-up:

Start by asking students to spell some Halloween vocabulary words (a fun surprise for them, hopefully?). Then, ask general questions about their likes and dislikes related to Halloween.

Part 2 – Individual Long Turn:

I designed this lesson for a group of four students, with four sets of Halloween-themed pictures. Each set comes with a main topic and a follow-up question for the other candidate. Don’t forget to give them one minute to talk!

Part 3 – Discussion Task:

Students work in pairs to discuss what makes a successful Halloween costume. They imagine preparing for a party and decide which qualities would make their costume stand out. It ends with an extra question: Which costume would win the award for best costume?

Part 4 – Opinion Discussion:

This is always my favorite part! Ask students about Halloween celebrations, traditions, and potential dangers. My students were so enthusiastic that we ran out of time for corrections, but that’s fine! It was a memorable, high-energy class that everyone enjoyed.

Click below to download all the materials for free and try this Halloween B2 Speaking Exam Lesson with your students. It’s a fun, low-prep way to combine Cambridge exam practice with seasonal speaking activities your students will love!

Halloween-themed B2 speaking