HALLOWEEN

Friday, October 17, 2014

October brings so many opportunities for FUN! I LOVE busting out the Halloween stuff for the kids, and the best part? 95% of the time, they are STILL learning! (5% MAY be due to eating candy… ;)) The first thing I like to do with my 5th Graders? Completing a CLOSE READ on Halloween. To be honest, they are just excited that they are doing something Halloweenish AND this is MOSTLY a history lesson that integrates literacy strategies. How can you go wrong??

I always say to my students, I know MOST of you LOVE Halloween, but do you know the HISTORY behind this special Holiday?

Their interest is usually piqued at this point! I like to ask the students; Did you know that Halloween derived from an ancient festival, was a time to honor the dead, and was a time for warding off evil spirits? Next, we DELVE into this little passage seen below. It is short and sweet, GREAT for Close Reading! If you would like to try out close reading with your students, click on the picture below to be taken to this passage!

Halloween Close Read, All About Halloween, Halloween Informational Passage

Below is a freebie for you to use around Halloween time. This is a little ALL ABOUT ME activity that I love to display on my door during the month of October!

The next project I like to do with my students are GRAFFITI style pumpkins. Pick up this <FREEBIE> in my TPT store complete with a LIST of questions that students can answer about themselves. I think this makes a GREAT keepsake for the students! (Click on the PHOTO below to be taken to this project!)

Finally, if you are in need of materials for HALLOWEEN OPINION WRITING, you have come to the right place! With this product that can be found HERE, students will write 3-5 paragraph essays (depending on your grade level) related to a Halloween topics. Topics range from what is your FAVORITE part about Halloween to more rigorous/difficult topics such as should Trick or Treating be allowed.

Do you need a fun way to introduce Opinion Writing to your students? I like to have students cut and paste different Halloween pictures from magazines (or they can even draw them) and then write their individual opinions about what is going on in that picture.