Halloween ELA activities spark kids’ attention. This October, increase learning with reading passages, writing prompts, and punctuation activities. Your third, fourth, and fifth grade students will love them!
Ms. Sneed Plans Some Halloween ELA
Our favorite fourth grade teacher broke out in a smile. “Let’s have some fun in our ELA block” she said to her student teacher. “Time to plan our Halloween activities.”
She sat down at her desk and opened her October files. Mr. Grow pulled up a chair and pulled out his plan book.
Halloween ELA – Reading Passages
“Nothing like a scary story to grab their attention,” Ms. Sneed said.
The Headless Horseman
First, she pulled out The Headless Horseman. “I like to lead with four similar folktales,” she said. “See? Kids read four short, one-page stories. Then They find similarities and differences with Venn diagrams.”
“Cool,” Mr. Grow responded. “I like the way they address our literature standards too. Through these activities, kids compare folktales from around the world.”
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
“As a follow-up, I ask them to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This adaptation works well for kids in fourth or fifth grade. It’s a great way to introduce parody.”
Mr. Grow pointed to the file. “I see it has a companion website as well.”
“Right.” Ms. Sneed clicked to open it. “As you can see, kids can explore links to video snippets, commercials, and art related to the legend. And,” she smiled, “another standard is managed. Kids study various illustrations and videos to determine how media affects the text’s meaning.”
Halloween ELA – Writing Prompts
After Mr. Grow penciled the reading activities into his plan book, Ms. Sneed moved on to writing.
Informative – How to Carve a Pumpkin
“At the beginning of October, we do a short informative Halloween writing activity. As students explain how to carve a pumpkin, they will also work on writing skills. First, they draw a face on a printed or virtual pumpkin. Second, they list the steps for carving. Third, they explore beginnings and endings. A specially-created thesaurus provides suggestions for word choice.”
“These organizers go a long way toward improving student writing,” Mr. Grow said. “This type of short, focused piece is perfect early in the school year.” He penciled the activity in for the first week of October.
Narrative – The Best-Dressed Witch
“In the middle of the month, our classes will write descriptive narratives.” Ms. Sneed’s eyes twinkles as she thought about the great stories they would produce. “As you can see,” she said, “each student describes the best-dressed witch as the plot unfolds.”
“More work on the writing process and improving narrative writing,” Mr. Grow said. “Looks like it will take about two weeks.” He penciled in the second Halloween writing prompt.
Persuasive – Wear a Costume
“Finally,” Ms. Sneed said, “kids will try to convince us to wear costumes with this persuasive paragraph. For our advanced kiddos, we can use the five-paragraph version.”
Mr. Grow’s eyes scanned the file. “Perfect!” he exclaimed. “We’ll hit three different genres of writing in one month. These Halloween writing prompts will give our kids some great practice – and support.”
Halloween ELA – Punctuation Activities
“What about language skills?” Mr. Grow asked.
“Funny you should ask,” his mentor responded. She clicked around on her computer and opened a file named “Halloween Possessive Nouns.”
Possessive Nouns
“In three simple lessons, our classes will use Halloween-themed worksheets to master possessive nouns.”
“What?”
“Well, okay, it will take a little longer with added practice and the quiz. But seriously, with this method, kids really get it. First, you introduce singular possessive nouns. Just add an apostrophe to every word. Easy peasy. Second, you teach plural possessives. You know. Add ‘ to anything that ends in s, but add ‘s to everything else. Finally, kids move on to mixed practice.”
“I see that they practice two ways. Initially, they just add ‘ or ‘s. Then they have to replace an entire phrase, such as ‘teeth of the vampire.'”
“Right. And look at this. For extra practice, kids use this little coloring book. Fun!”
Writing Dialogue
Finally, Ms. Sneed pulled up one more file. “These Halloween dialogue activities are some of my favorites. When presented with a riddle, kids write the reply as a direct quote.”
Mr. Grow grinned as he wrote the last activity into his plan book. “Look at that!” he exclaimed. “Our October ELA lesson plans are done. The kids will have a ball with these.”
Enjoy Teaching
When teachers use fun Halloween ELA activities like these, they naturally enjoy teaching. Why not replace some of your worn-out, boring lessons with these sensational seasonal ideas!