Visual Discrimination: I changed this activity sheet from SCHOOLDAYS into a Center activity.  We colored it, laminated it, and cut it apart where appropriate.  The pieces are stored on the back in a snack size Ziploc bag that's adhered with packing tape.  (Scotch tape won't hold up to use.  And if you photocopy the page onto cardstock, it will hold up even better.)  The students take out the pieces, carefully examine them for differences and match them to the correct jack o'lantern.  This activity is very hard for some of my students because they can't zero in enough on the tiny details to do it successfully the first time.  Frank Schaffer's SCHOOLDAYS - Sept/Oct 1990

 

 

Bat Template:  I think I created this bat template to make bats that would hang from the ceiling.  If you look closely at the picture, you can see where the wings are folded to make it appear more life-like.  I folded a sheet of black construction paper and drew off half of the bat on the fold.  So when it was opened, you'd have a full size bat.  I threaded a piece of black yarn through the bottom and knotted it on the bottom side.

 

 

Bat Facts: Use the bat above and display them hanging upside down from a tree branch on your bulletin board.  You may have to make some adjustments in the template to show HOW they hang (feet, etc.).  Then add wiggly eyes to each bat.  Underneath each bat display a slip of paper where the creator of the bat has written or dictated a bat fact.  You can use the caption "Hanging Around With Bats!" or "We're Batty About Bats!" 

 

Bats are nocturnal which means they sleep during the day and hunt for food at night.

They sleep hanging upside down.

Some bats eat fruit and some eat insects.

Some bats use echolocation to find their way in the dark.

Echolocations is when sound waves bounce off objects and back to the bat's ears.

Some bats use their sense of smell to find their food.

Bat's wings fold up like umbrellas.

Bats are the only flying mammals.

Although they fly, bats do not have feathers.

Bats are very clean, but can also carry rabies.

The largest bat has a wingspan up to 6 feet.

Bats help to pollinate and reseed plants, and control insects.

The most common bat in the US is the Little Brown Bat.

Vampire bats bat animals and suck up a small amount of their blood.  They do not bite people.

 

Hanging Bats:  Use the bat template above and create 3 bats per student.  Hang the bats vertically, 3 to a string.

 

Witch:  My kids love making this witch because she's so ugly and because they get to choose which eyes she'll have from the revolving wheel on back.  You could easily draw your own witch (sure you can ... witches are supposed to be ugly :)  ) and then draw different sets of eyes for them to choose from.  They could cut their choice of eyes out and glue them on their witch.  You can tell how old this thing is because it was copied using one of those old purple ditto masters.  (Young teachers won't even know what those are!  Purple ditto machines are like 8 track tape players to the school set! :)  I can remember when I was in Jr. High [no Middle Schools then] seeing the teachers turn those old ditto machines by hand using a crank!  Boy am I glad that things have evolved.  Now we don't even want to walk to the copy machine to make the copies, we want a copy machine in our classrooms! :) )

 

 

 

Hanging Ghost:  This is another purple ditto master project. :)  You can easily draw this one off yourself as well.  Spiral the ghosts "tail" and when you cut it out and hang it, it makes a neat 3D effect.

 

 

 

Pumpkin Book:  This is a cute booklet pattern to use for writing.  The cover opens up down the middle.  The back also looks like the back of a pumpkin.  #393 Make Your Own Holiday Books  Teacher Created Materials, 1987

 

 

 

Ghost Wheel:  The revolving wheel behind this ghost can be programmed with sight words, spelling words, color words, vocabulary words, math facts, etc.   Teacher's Friend - October

 

 

 

On A Dark and Scary Night:  I have a book titled On a Dark and Scary Night by Gail Jorgensen.  It follows the format shown below.   Many years ago, my students did a rewrite of this book.  And they did such a great job that I wanted to share it with you.  :)

 

pg 1. 

Pumpkins sit.

Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!

 

pg 2.

Dogs bark.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

 

pg 3.

Cats cry.

Meow! Meow! Meow!

 

pg 4.

Kids trick-or-treat.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

 

pg 5.

People give candy.

Here! Here! Here!

 

I created a book for each of them with the rewrite and they illustrated each page of their book.

 

 

Rhyming Bats:  Cut bat shapes from black construction paper.  Program each wing of the bat with a word using a white pencil, white out, or one of the new gray Sharpie markers.  Make some of the word pairs rhyme and some that don't.  Create two jack o'lanterns from orange construction paper; one with a happy face and one with a frown.  Laminate all.  Have students sort the bats according to which words rhyme.  All the bats with rhyming words would go on the jack o'lantern with the happy face and those that don't rhyme would be placed on the jack o'lantern with the frown.

 

Matching:  If you have Ellison die-cuts for a witch and a moon (or even a yellow or white circle), you can use these to create all kinds of matching activities such as rhyming words, rhyming pictures, pictures to beginning sounds, capital to lowercase letters, addition/subtraction facts to the answers, etc.

 

Dem Bones Candy: Purchase Dem Bones candy and have each student graph the candy in their bag.  Then they can create their own skeleton by gluing the pieces onto a small piece of black construction paper.  (They may have to pool their pieces so that they can all get the pieces they need.)

 

Trick or Treat!:  Purchase small jack o'lanterns and program each with a number.  Then provide students with a bag of assorted Halloween type wrapped candy.  They place the correct number of pieces of candy into each jack o'lantern.

 

Wreath:  Use Ellison ghost and jack o'lantern die-cuts.  Cut the center out of a Chinet paperplate.  Have students glue the ghosts and jack o'lanterns around the paperplate.  The die-cut shapes will overlap so that none of the plate can be seen.  After the glue is dry, hot glue a loop of yarn on the back for hanging.

 

Black Cat Windsock:  Cut a sheet of black construction paper in half vertically for each windsock.  Have students glue on yellow eyes, a black triangle nose, a red oval mouth, and two black triangle ears sticking up from the top of the windsock.  Glue orange and black crepe paper streamers from the bottom of the windsock.  Staple one end of the paper to the other creating a cyclinder.   Hole punch each side of the top of the windsock and add yarn for a hanger. adapted idea from SCHOOLDAYS Sept/Oct 1997

 

Patterning:  Use Ellison Halloween die-cuts, Halloween pictures, or Halloween stamps to create patterns on sentence strips.  If desired, these can be turned into "hats" for the student, by fitting to their head and stapling.

 

Candy Patterns:  You can also use candy corn, marshmallow creme pumpkins, or other Halloween candy to practice patterning.  The candy corns can be turned different ways to create the patterns, for instance ... AB pattern - candy corn right side up, candy corn upside down.  Or you can pattern different kinds ... AAB - candy corn, candy corn, pumpkin.

 

Witches' Hats:  This is a precious snack that your students can make.  You'll need a Keebler's Fudge striped cookie, a Hersey's Kiss, and orange decorator icing for each student.  Turn the cookie upside-down so that the stripes face down.  Sit the unwrapped Kiss on top of the cookie hole.  Pipe some orange icing around the seam between the cookie and the Kiss creating a hat band.  If you can, make a small orange bow with the icing.

 

Eyeballs:  Ewww ... eyeballs make yummy snacks! :)  Make Rice Krispy Treats and form into 1 to 2 inch round balls.  Roll in powdered sugar.  Implant a blue M&M for the iris and dot with black gel or icing for the pupil.

 

I saw a scary monster.

He made me jump with fright.  (jump in place)

Hey, ho, hey, ho,

Such a scary sight!  (hold hands up to face as if frightened)

I heard a moaning skeleton  (moan)

And ran away in fright.  (run in place)

Hey, ho, hey, ho,

Such a scary night!  (hold hands up to face again)

I spied a spooky ghost

And spun around in fright.  (spin around in place)

Hey, ho, hey, ho,

Such a scary Halloween night!  (hold hands up to face again)

BOO!  (jump up and shout!)

 

Monster Punch:  The night before, fill a rubber glove with water and secure the opening with a rubberband.  Freeze the glove overnight.  Have students create punch from desired ingredients (fruit punch, Sprite, pineapple juice, lime sherbet, etc  Whatever you prefer.).  Then remove the frozen glove by running under water until the glove will slip from the frozen hand.  Be careful so as not to break off fingers.  Carefully stand the frozen hand in a small glass in the center of a bowl.  Carefully fill the bowl with the punch.

 

The story of The Little Orange House

 

 

 

Writing Prompt:  Use this poem as a writing prompt ...

 

There was a spooky house

On Halloween Hill/

Down the hill came a thing

That gave me a thrill!

Down the hill came ...

 

Trick or Treating Costumes:  If appropriate, encourage your students to wear their costumes to school.  Then graph them by People/Animals/Things

 

Scary, Scary Halloween:  If reading this book, be sure to print your students out some of the great bookmarks on Jan Brett's website!  The link is below.  You can also create a class book with the sentence frame: On Halloween night, a ____ gives me a fright!  Have each student write or dictate their answer for the blank and then illustrate their page.

 

Witches Brew: If you've heard of the Polar Bear Color Changing story, the Witches Brew is a Halloween version of a similar type story.  You read the story and add the things in a clear pie plate that's sitting on your overhead projector.  The students watch on the screen or wall.  The colors change and when the bleach is added the brew is supposed to go back to clear.  You'll have to practice with this some at home before trying it with your class to get it down right.  Nothing is worse than to build this up and then it not work ... which is what happened when I tried to do it many years ago.  I also learned that you need to have your "work area" secluded where they can't see what you're doing.  I couldn't get mine to look at the board because they were watching what I was doing.

 

Witches Brew

Listen, my children and you shall hear,

A Halloween legend told far and near.

 

As witches galore - oh, what a sight,

Gather together on Halloween night!

 

Fat ones and skinny ones, old ones and new,

Fly in on broomsticks to make their brew.

 

Each witch brings a special treat,

To make this tasty brew complete.

 

The witches are ready, their magic to cook,

Let's come on in and take a look.

 

Watch carefully now - don't even blink,  (pour water into dish)

This brew is too horrid, too awful to drink.

 

Begin with some green slime from the deepest, dark cave.   (add green food coloring)

If you don't want to drink this, you'd better behave.

 

A drop of blood from a lion's tail,   (add red food coloring)

Insures that this brew's magic will not fail.

 

Add to it some juice from an evil curse,   (add yellow food coloring)

Can you imagine anything worse?

 

Heh, heh, heh, to this tasty dish,

We'll add the eyes of two dead fish.  (add two dried beans)

 

The bile from the liver of a bat killed at midnight,  (add blue food coloring)

Makes this potion a gruesome sight.

 

We'll add some catsup fust for fun,  (add more red food coloring)

Two snake eyes and a snake - see how they run?  (add two beans and a string)

 

A final touch for the most delicate flavor,

Rattlesnake poison, it's something to savor.  (add bleach)

 

The brew's complete, the black cat is purring

All it needs now is some careful stirring.  (stir)

 

A hot fire makes the brew boil and bubble  (add 1 Alka- Seltzer tablet)

If you listen, you'll hear it without any trouble.

 

The witches are pleased, and they cackle with glee.

Their brew is the best, the best it could be.

 

They fill up their vials and make ready for flight,

There they go on their broomsticks this Halloween night.

 

And off in the distance, by the light of the moon,

I hear them calling, "We'll see you so-o-o-o-on!"

~ Author Unknown

 

Bat Cave: Remove the top from a large box, such as an appliance box.  Turn it on its side.  Pad the outside of the box with brown, black, or gray bulletin board paper making it look similar to a cave.  Add crumpled up bulletin board paper around the entrance bottom for boulders.  Hang paper bats from the inside top of the cave.  You can even add a pair of small eyes to the back wall for a creepy effect. :)

 

 

Jazzy Jacks':  Give each student a lunch size brown paper bag.  Have them sponge paint the bags orange (not too heavy on the paint).  Fold down the top of the bag about an inch and clip with a wooden clothespin.  Then let them loose with black and yellow construction paper and scissors to create the faces for the jack o'lanterns.  When they're finished with the faces, unclip the clothespin and paint it green.  After they're dry, have them fill the bags about 3/4 full using shredded paper.  Then fold the top of the bag down again and clip with the clothespin (the stem).  Add curled green ribbon to the clothespin for vines.  Now these are some Jazzy Jacks!

 

Persuasive Papers:  This writing activity would be for the more advanced students.  Provide coloring pages of several different haunted houses.  Allow each student to choose a picture and color it.  Then have them write a persuasive paper trying to sell the house.  Then invite a realtor to the class to explain their job.  Have them choose one of the pictures as well and tell how they'd try to sell the house.

 

Writing:  Use any Halloween coloring sheet and have students color it.  Then have them write a sentence or story about the picture (whatever is appropriate).  Display the pictures and writing together.

 

Jack o'lantern Center:  This is a very fun and easy Center.  Place a real pumpkin at the Center with a pack of washable markers and a wet sponge or baby wipes.  Students take turns visiting the center to create a face on the pumpkin with the washable markers.  When they're finished, they simply remove the face with the sponge or wipes and it's ready for the next person.

 

Spider Facts:

Spiders are not insects, but arachnids.

They have 2 body parts and 8 legs.

Most spiders have 6 - 8 eyes.

A spider does not have bones.

A spider has a tough skin that it sheds as it grows.

Female spiders are usually bigger than male spiders.

Spider blood is pale blue or green. (ick!)

Spiders spin webs from sticky silk, which catches insects.

Spiders poison their prey which turns their insides to mush, then sucks them up! (yuck!)

Most spiders are not friendly ... they try to eat each other.

The black widow and brown recluse are poisonous spiders.

Arachnophobia is a fear of spiders.

 

Batty Math:  Copy cauldron & bats onto black construction paper.  Cut out and program cauldron with math fact and bat with answer.  Laminate.   Students match correct bat to each cauldron.

 

Halloween Story:  Create a story using nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.  Create a master for copying by deleting some of the words from the story and replacing them with a blank and in parentheses underneath what part of speech the word should be .  Give each student a copy of the story and have them supply their own words to complete the story.  You can also provide a Parts of Speech Word Bank if needed.  For ex.

 

One night on a dark and lonely road there sat a fat, black cat. etc.......

 

One night on a ____ and ____ road there sat a fat, black ____.

                      (adj)               (adj)                                                           (noun)

 

 

Black Cat Hats:  Carol, from The Learning Tree, created these Black Cat Hats in one of her workshops.  She had the participants cut out the inside of a white paperplate, paint most of it orange and a small portion of it black.  Then they painted a paper bowl (Chinet is the only brand that I know) black and inserted it into the hole of the plate.  Then they created the black cat using a glyph factor.  Meeeoow ... Too Cute! :)  Thanks for sharing Carol!

 

 

Im"pasta"ble Skeletons!: We made these skeletons using uncooked pasta and beans.  Essentially the students were to create the skeletons using this as a model.

 

 

Cookie Cutter Sequencing:  I purchased these from The Dollar Tree I think, to use in sequencing.  The students can sequence the cutters from largest to smallest, or smallest to largest.  They could even use playdough and cut out the pumpkins and seqence them as well.  If you used them with a playdough that hardens without cracking and falling apart, you could even create your own sequencing manipulatives.  Just cut them out, let them dry, then paint.

 

 

 

Black Cat!
Black cat,
Black cat,
Eyes of green.


Black cat,
Black cat,
Now it¹s Halloween!

~ Author Unknown

 

or

 

Black Cat!
Black cat,
Black cat
Looking for a witch.

All around the night
Is dark as pitch.

You can see because
Your eyes are green.

Black cat,
Black cat
This is Halloween!

~ Author Unknown

 

Spooky Counting:  This activity is created using ghost cutouts (full page) and Halloween stickers.  The picture below is actually of two ghosts (had to overlap them to get them on the scanner).  After the ghosts are created, then they're laminated.  Students count the stickers on one ghost and record their answer of "how many?" on the other ghost using a vis-a-via pen.  Clean with a baby wipe when finished.

 

 

 

Jack o'lantern Math: Students begin with mats that look like the first picture and then add the appropriate pieces on each pumpkin to create the jack o'lanterns.

 

 

Memory Matching: The game below was created using Halloween stickers and 3x5 index cards cut in half.  Laminate.  Students can either match the cards, or turn them face down and play Memory.

 

 

 

Scary Skeletons

(Tune: The Farmer in the Dell)

We're scary skeletons.
We're scary skeletons.
With a clickety clack
on our boney backs.
We're scary skeletons.

At the end of the song, click your mouth three times.

Orange Pumpkin, Orange Pumpkin emergent reader:  This emergent reader was created by Maureen using the Brown Bear, Brown Bear format.  She's dismantling her site and wanted to continue sharing her work, so she asked if I'd like to post the books that she created on The Virtual Vine since they're so frequently requested.  Click to print.

Orange Pumpkin, Orange Pumpkin

Little Miss Muffet Quilt:  This year we've been working on a Nursery Rhymes unit.  It ran a lot longer than I'd planned, so I wanted to incorporate Little Miss Muffet into our Halloween activities.  So we did a Little Miss Muffet quilt.  The spider is 3-D and was made using a pattern from loooong ago.  It has the rhyme printed on the spider's back and once it's cut out, you fold the legs to make them stand up instead of lay flat.  The picture of Miss Muffet I created from a picture that someone gave me with the rhyme on it.  I loved the spider and the rest of the quilt, but I'd liked to have done something different with Miss Muffett.  Maybe next time ... :)

click on image to enlarge

Culminating Activity:  To wind up your Halloween unit, have the students bring in a specified number of pieces of their trick-or-treat candy.  Pool the candy and have them sort them according to brand name, kind such as chocolate/hard/chewy/etc.  Then graph the candy. 

 

Resources:

Fat Little Witch printable book & song from Frog Street Press

 

Teacher's Friend - October

Large skeleton pattern

Pumpkin Puppet

Halloween Finger Puppets

Fang-tastic (bulletin board pattern)

Help the Witch Find Her Broom! (gameboard)

Creative Kettle Bones (writing prompts)

Matching Ghosts (open)

Haunted House (bulletin board pattern)

Pumpkin and Ghosts (patterns)

Spider Pattern

Bat Pattern

Ghost Writing (stationary)

Creative Writing (Halloween acrostic)

Bookmarks

Pencil Toppers