Personally, I LOVE Halloween and any Halloween activities! The crisp air, changing leaves, and beautiful pumpkins inspire my creative side and I always find new teaching ideas bubbling up this time of year!
Halloween Activities to Support Literacy Skills
Halloween can be a bit controversial. As a kid, I was super into ghost stories, mysteries and anything spooky. As a teacher, I’m more conservative in my approach to Halloween activities in my classroom.
I understand not every teacher, parent, or district loves the idea of Halloween-themed classroom activities. The ideas below can easily be tailored to your students and their needs.
Grammar
I don’t know about you, but as soon as I start reviewing parts of speech or punctuation with students, their eyes glaze over in boredom. Honestly, grammar is one of my least favorite subjects to teach because it’s, well, kind of boring.
One of the easiest ways I’ve found to engage my students with grammar is to allow them some creative outlet with their work. Sometimes, we color code our parts of speech. Other times, they create quizzes to stump their peers.
TIP: For your Halloween activities choice board, I suggest including at least one or two grammar activities to keep skills fresh and applicable.
- Write your own MadLib– students create a short story and then omit nouns, verbs and adjectives. Then, they have a friend provide words for each missing part of speech with out knowing the short story is about. Students fill in the story with the new words.
- Parts of Speech Monster- provide students with various monster body shapes (body, arms, legs, etc.) and the parts of speech you want them to focus on for each part. As students draw their monster, they fill in each part with all the words that can think of for that part of speech.
- Halloween-themed Matching Game– students can create their matching game using note cards or sites like Quizlet.com. Students could match basic parts of speech to examples (noun to bat) or advanced parts of speech to examples (correlative conjunctions to not only, but also).
- Spin-a-sentence– students can use a predesigned sentence spinner game or create their own. Then, using a paperclip and a pencil to create a spinner, students work to create a set number of sentences. Another take on this game would be to create a spin board with parts of speech to add into one sentence.
Writing
I’ve always loved to write, especially by hand. I keep a pen and notebook with me just in case an idea pops into my head! Unfortunately, most of my students don’t share the same passion for pen to paper… or writing in general.
Photo by Engin Akyurt from Pexels
One way to make writing more achievable is by using simple prompts students can have fun with. Allowing students space and freedom to express their ideas and perspectives will encourage them to explore more writing in the future.
TIP: your Halloween choice board, I would include at least one piece of creative writing. You could also incorporate one of your grammar activities with a finished piece of creative writing.
- Monster perspective poems– encourage students to explore a different point of view about a Halloween monster of their choosing. Students can use the feelings and perspective of the “monster” to write about deeper themes and explore different types of poetry.
- Halloween how-to– allow students to “teach” their classmates something that interests them like how to tell the perfect scary story or how to bake spooky Halloween cupcakes.
- Mystery story– students start with a couple of main characters, a setting and something or someone that has gone missing. From there, they can build their mystery using their imagination and inferencing skills.
- Spooky short story– similarly to the mystery story, have students start with a main character and a spooky setting in mind. Then, encourage them to use figurative language and various writing techniques to create the ultimate spooky story.
For extra creative flair, try Story Coins Spooky Set! With this hands-on tool, students can create a variety of stories over and over again. They are perfect for group work, family time, and independent practice.
Research
Some days I look around my classroom and think, “these kids are so lucky! They have the WORLD at their fingertips. No digging through multiple books to find information for them”. But then I remember, they also have a world of incorrect, inaccurate, or fake information at their fingertips.
Teaching students how to conduct good research is essential. Students today need to practice research strategies and critical thinking skills.
TIP: research should be done with supervision. You may want to include research choices as an enrichment option or a small group activity.
- History of traditions– students can research various Halloween traditions, customs and histories while writing a short informational essay.
- Creepy creatures– through research, students can learn about the habitat, life cycle, or anatomy of their favorite creepy creature. Then, they can present the information through an essay or presentation.
- Halloween around the world– explore cultural differences and alternative Halloween celebration research. This would make a great presentation or fun poster to display.
- Haunted historical places– often the most haunted places have interesting histories. Students can choose their favorite haunted place or one they really want to visit. Then, they can research the history of that place and create a brochure to share what they learned.
STEM
Ok, I know what you’re thinking. This is a list for literacy skills, so why is STEM included? Well, because literacy skills are the foundation of any subject, including STEM (science, technology, engineering, math). Plus, STEM encourages creative thinking, collaboration and fun!
One of my favorite STEM projects ever was a Haunted House Challenge I did with a 3rd grade class of struggling readers. I provided each group of 5 students a cardboard box, pipe cleaners, tissue and something extra (different for each group). They had to use only those materials to create the coolest haunted house ever.
Once the group had finished their house, each student wrote an informational how-to essay about their house. I watched a group of struggling students who hated writing produce paragraphs of strong, interesting sentences.
TIP: you are adding STEM to your Halloween activities choice board, I suggest providing specific materials or quick reference videos so students know what the expectations are and how to complete the project.
- Haunted house with cardboard box– similarly to the activity described easily. Provide students with a small box of supplies and a mission. Make it more challenging by telling them they can only use tape to connect things or they cannot cut holes in the box.
- Bone bridge with cotton swaps– this activity is popular but so fun. Students use cotton swaps and pipe cleaners to build the most structurally sound bridge they can.
- Flying bat with paper– students can use their paper plane folding skills and creativity to create a paper bat. Make it a competition to see whose bat will fly the farthest or stay airborne the longest.
- Tissue ghost maze- students can use cotton balls, tissues and pipe cleaners to create little ghosts. Then, they can create a maze out of materials in their classroom. Using a paper fan to create wind, see who can get their ghost through the maze the fastest.
Want even more Halloween STEM ideas? Check out the math focused Halloween STEM Related Activity from North Dakota Teaching or these super cool Pumpkin STEM Activities & Technology Lessons from Naomi Meredith.
Reading
What is a literacy-based list without reading? I love reading mysteries and spooky stories around Halloween. One of my favorite spooky authors is Mary Downing Hahn. Her historical ghost stories are my favorites and she is sure to put a chill down your spine, too. I highly recommend Wait Till Helen Comes and Time for Andrew.
TIP: you need “filler spaces” on your Halloween activities choice board, reading suggestions are always a great fit.
- Enjoy your favorite scary story– you could provide students with a list of your favorites or have them start a class list of favorites to share.
- Try a new mystery author– have students create a class list of their favorite mystery authors
- Ask a friend for a spooky book recommendation– students love to give their opinion on books. Have them write a recommendation for a friend. Once the friend has read the book, have them write a response to the recommendation.
- Listen to a ghost story audio book– listening to a book is just as important as reading the words. Audio books encourage students to practice listening skills and can get reluctant readers excited about story time.
Looking for a ready-to-go option for your Halloween activities? Check out my 13 Choices of Halloween Choice Boards! There is a fully digital version through Google Slides and a printable PDF version.
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