A Spanish Halloween Lesson Your Students Won’t Forget: Encerrada en la escuela
Published onOct 03, 2024 • • ViewLesson Plansblog posts
Looking for a Spanish Halloween lesson that’s actually worth spending class time on?
Encerrada en la escuela has always been one of our best stories for October. A student falls asleep in the library, wakes up alone in a locked school, and quickly discovers that she isn’t quite as alone as she thought.
It’s creepy without being terrifying, funny without turning Halloween into a throwaway day, and it gives students a whole lot of Spanish to work with.
And now there’s a full 5-day lesson plan built around it.
Why Encerrada en la escuela works so well for Halloween
First, the playfully spooky vibe makes it an easy fit for October.
Second, Encerrada gives us a chance to show that even a lyrically advanced song can be made accessible to students at very different proficiency levels.
And honestly, it’s just one of our best stories. Teachers have told us for years that they love it but aren’t always sure what to do with it. These plans are our answer.
What is Encerrada en la escuela about?
A student named Lara falls asleep in the library and wakes up to find herself locked inside the school in the middle of the night.
As she explores, she discovers that the school has more secrets than she ever imagined.
There are plenty of twists and turns, and I don’t want to spoil them here. That’s a big part of what makes the story work.
Why spend five days on one Spanish music video?
Won’t students get bored?
They won’t.
The lesson plan isn’t about watching the video over and over. In fact, students only watch it twice.
The rest of the week is built around the story: getting comprehensible input, recycling language, moving around the room, talking about what’s happening, and building the language students need to discuss narratives in Spanish.
There’s a lot of movement built in
A good chunk of the week gets students physically moving while they work with the language. The point is to keep the story alive in the room, not turn it into five days of worksheets.
Yes, you can teach Encerrada in Spanish 1
Who are these plans intended for? All of your students. Seriously, all of them.
Every resource in the lesson plan is written at four different proficiency levels, so you can use the same story with beginner Spanish 1 students through Spanish 4 and beyond.
To put it another way, we have covered all of your preps for an entire week.
What’s included in the 5-day lesson plan?
Oh goodness, where to start...
Four different activities each day.
The same story, scaffolded for different learners.
Covering multiple communication modes.
Students aren’t glued to their seats.
More input connected to the story.
And yes, we saved that for day 5.
Wait, did you say there was an escape room?
Yes!
Students solve puzzles, navigate distractions, gather code pieces, and eventually unlock the password they need to escape.
Along the way they’ll run into plenty of Wooly Easter eggs, all while reinforcing the language they’ve been working with all week.
Want to use Encerrada en la escuela this Halloween?
The full 5-day Encerrada lesson plan is included in your subscription. Log in, open the story, and head to the resources for the lesson plan.
Open Encerrada →Wooly is built around memorable Spanish stories, music, and scaffolded classroom materials. Encerrada en la escuela is just one of them.
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