With Halloween coming around the corner, now is the time to use simple creative ideas to motivate students and keep them focused on their learning. Keep it simple, keep it academic and keep their attention!
Teach nouns and adjectives using a Pumpkin Cinquain Poem
Line 1: a noun
Line 2: two adjectives
Line 3: three -ing words
Line 4: a phrase
Line 5: another word for the noun
We decided to make Cinquain poems on our pumpkins. We talked about the poems, then I did a quick minilesson on adjectives, -ing words and what a phrase means. We traced the pumpkin on a piece of paper and wrote out the poem. The problem I had was having the students write on the foam shapes with regular markers - big mistake! Use permanent markers! It was a bit of a messy day but, nonetheless, the students enjoyed writing their poems and drawing the face on the other side. My solution next time? Old faithful: construction paper.
Teach the long vowel o using Ghoulish Ghost and the Looooooonng O!
Teach the long a using the Sneaky Snake and the Long A
Another spin on the same idea is to make a snake with a train of long a words. I made a point to have them choose more words than the a_e pattern: they had to do at least one of each of the long a spellings. Then, after cutting it out, they told their partners their long a words in their most sssssnake-like voice! You can see the snake we used in the PDF below.
Use Scholastic News and other articles on pumpkins for Reading Comprehension
Happy Halloween Everyone!
If you have more ideas, please share!
Thanks!
Eric
With Halloween coming around the corner, now is the time to use simple creative ideas to motivate students and keep them focused on their learning. Keep it simple, keep it academic and keep their attention!
Teach nouns and adjectives using a Pumpkin Cinquain Poem
Line 1: a noun
Line 2: two adjectives
Line 3: three -ing words
Line 4: a phrase
Line 5: another word for the noun
We decided to make Cinquain poems on our pumpkins. We talked about the poems, then I did a quick minilesson on adjectives, -ing words and what a phrase means. We traced the pumpkin on a piece of paper and wrote out the poem. The problem I had was having the students write on the foam shapes with regular markers - big mistake! Use permanent markers! It was a bit of a messy day but, nonetheless, the students enjoyed writing their poems and drawing the face on the other side. My solution next time? Old faithful: construction paper.
Teach the long vowel o using Ghoulish Ghost and the Looooooonng O!
Teach the long a using the Sneaky Snake and the Long A
Another spin on the same idea is to make a snake with a train of long a words. I made a point to have them choose more words than the a_e pattern: they had to do at least one of each of the long a spellings. Then, after cutting it out, they told their partners their long a words in their most sssssnake-like voice! You can see the snake we used in the PDF below.
Use Scholastic News and other articles on pumpkins for Reading Comprehension
Happy Halloween Everyone!
If you have more ideas, please share!
Thanks!
Eric
Teacher advisor Eric Antuna recommends engaging students in a research project at the end of the year after state testing.
This has been such an exciting year with so many twists and turns, flips, and fumbles. It has been a great year for me and it saying good bye is very, very bittersweet. Here are some highlights from the year that I really enjoyed:
To all mothers and moms-to-be, have a fantastic day! There is no harder job in the world!
In the few weeks before the school year ends, you may find that making a video not only provides students with worthwhile review, but also provides great material to preteach or reteach with next year's students!
Trick or treat around the curriculum with Halloween-inspired lesson plans and projects for math, science, reading, and writing.
