Bring Halloween to the Classroom!

Tuesday, 10/27/2009

Photo ©PhotoXpress.com

Your students are already sleeping in their Halloween costumes, and so excited about the upcoming holiday that the sugar rush seems to have already hit – harness that enthusiasm with some great classroom activities!

Below is a list of fun, standards-based lessons in a variety of different subjects. We’ve broken the list down by the more academic on top, to the more arts and crafts-based below.

Lesson Plans:

• New York Times Halloween Exploration (NYTimes.com) – This is a great research activity for students grades 6-12 that invites them to study the history of Halloween and its traditions, as well as facilitating discussion about Halloween and why we celebrate it the way we do. This is also a great resource for teachers looking to brush up on their Halloween history.
• Write Your Own Spooky Story (Scholastic.com) – This online lesson walks students through the process of writing a mystery story and offers helpful strategies and writing tips. At the end, you can publish your students’ entries on Scholastic.com.
• My Pumpkin Story (EducationWorld.com) – Using a very cool virtual jack-o-lantern, students create their own personal pumpkin, and then write a story about its unique qualities and why they like it.
• Goosebumps Q&A Webcast with R.L. Stine (Scholastic.com) – Taking place on 10/28/09 at 1pm EST, this Q&A with the Goosebumps series’ author R.L. Stine promises to give students insight into the way scary stories are written and may even inspire them to write a few of their own.
• Bat Facts (Scholastic.com) – This activity uses Halloween as a springboard to help students understand and learn more about one of nature’s most misunderstood animals.
• Halloween Themed Songs (CanTeach.ca) – Lyrics for several Halloween-themed songs.
• Predicting Pumpkins (EducationWorld.com) – This is a fun math lesson that uses pumpkin seeds (and guts) to help students learn about making hypotheses and gathering data.

Craft Ideas:

• Painted Pumpkins (Parenting.com) – These pumpkins are cute and easy for even younger students to decorate.
• Ghost Town (FamilyFun.com) – Create a whole ‘Ghost’ town that can sit on a table-top or act as a centerpiece for the classroom.
• Carve a Virtual Pumpkin (Bloompetals.com)  – Kids can virtually “carve” their own pumpkin with this very nifty website.
• Ghost Writer Pen (FamilyFun.com) – Turn a regular ball-point pen into a creepy finger with this easy activity.
• Sock Spiders (Parenting.com) – Make cute spiders to dangle above trick’or’treaters’ heads.
• Yummy Mummies (FamilyFun.com) – These adorable mummies make for the perfect candy holder during the class’ Halloween party.
• Mini Maracas (Parenting.com) – Pumpkin-shaped Maracas will have students dancing in their seats.

Not a teacher? Many of these lessons and crafts can be incorporated into your at-home celebration as well.

Posted by » walden
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Category » Education,Family,