October has arrived and it's weird month because there's a lot of excitement (Fall Break & Halloween), but the novelty of a new year has worn off so it can sometimes feel a bit slumpy. Spark engagement and have some fun at the same time with the ideas below:
1) Writing:
- Display a pic of a haunted house on a large screen and give students 5 minutes to type out a story about it. They will leave their Chromebook open on their desk and rotate to their neighbor's seat, pick a new font color, read what the previous student wrote, and then add to the story while spooky music plays in the background. Students will have time to return to their seats, preview their story drafts, and write an ending. Optional: provide time for students who wish to read their stories aloud to do so.
- Set rules: No violence, weapons, blood, guts, gore, etc may vary by age.
- "Monster Match"- students draw a monster and write a descriptive paragraph about it. Randomly hand out the paragraphs to the students and they have to find the drawing that matches the paragraph they are given (while Monster Mash music plays). This could be a 2 day activity if you need time to hang the monsters around the room or monsters could be placed on students desk for viewing.
- Show students several pictures of different types of buildings (ie a house, an office building, a school, a store, a restaurant) and have them write a spooky or sci-fi backstory for it! Have them choose one building and write a couple of paragraphs. They can be given an opportunity to share their writing with the class. This can be done over several days/weeks (using the last few minutes of class each day) and can be independent work or done in groups.
2) Get multi-cultural: Dia de los Muertos Around the World
3) Halloween Candy History- Students research and add pushpins on a map where candy was first invented. Expand into a jigsaw group presentation-style activity with a rubric and guidelines for research. Foodtimeline.org is a cool site to bookmark for general food history.
More historical October events to explore @ sharemylesson.com
4) Elementary themed weeks. For example: Bats! Read fiction and non-fiction texts on the topic, conduct research, complete writing and challenges, etc. A sure fire way to not only drive engagement but also ensure rigor while having some fun. Other ideas for themed weeks this month include Fire Safety, Farm & Farm Animals, Pumpkins, Apples, Spiders, Monsters & Fall.
5) Incorporate ART: Elementary Ideas
6) Science & STEM Ideas for fall.
Check out more seasonal science activities @ science-sparks.com
7) Math: 25 Halloween-themed Problems of the Day & other themed activites. The activity website is a little messy but it's really difficult to find truly FREE math stuff!