For Halloween, I
knew I wanted to do something special for the kids. I always think about how to
decorate the classroom and what my students can do to help make the classroom
more seasonal. After working with my third graders to write Cinquain poems, I thought
it would be a good way to encourage my students to be more descriptive writers,
review parts of speech, and have fun writing about Fall/Halloween.
I took my Facebook
Introductions bulletin board down and purchased a candy corn border, after my
students expressed a passion for sugar. Then I taught my students how to write
Cinquain poems (the students said they learned these are diamond poems, but I'd
rather teach them the appropriate title). We practiced using the writing
process steps.
Prewriting/Brainstorming
We did some chalk
board brainstorming of words associated with October. The students came up to the board and wrote a
word or idea. The words ranged from Halloween blood and gore to the smell of
Fall and leaves changing color. My
students are obsessed with gummy bears and zombies, so there were many words
involving the Gummy Bear Zombie Apocalypse.
Students were then
given a Cinquain
template and we discussed what nouns, adjectives, and -ing words are. Then
we reviewed synonyms and came up with some phrase examples. The students then
went work.
Drafting/Editing/Conferencing
Students wrote their
first draft on their template. Then they were to self-edit using a dictionary
and/or thesaurus to help with finding more creative words. Once they were
comfortable with their poem, they gave it to a peer to review and edit. Before
they could get a publishing template, they had to have it approved by the
teacher.
Publishing
Due to the shortness
of the poems, quickly reading their poems was easy enough. Then they were given
the chance to choose from several
different templates. They were instructed to write their poem in pencil
first, then go over it with marker. After they finished their poem, they could
color in the template and make sure they put their name on the front.
These made for a
great bulletin board display. It also looked great with the Halloween
decorations the students put up in the
classroom, such as shrouds over the drapes, pumpkin lights, and a Happy
Halloween banner.
For Halloween, I
made the students candy bags. I found a baggie topper template and I edited it
to include a special message from me on the back. I included goldfish crackers,
stickers, a spider ring, tootsie roll pops, and smarties. The kids LOVED them,
but forgot the cardinal rule of treats: DO NOT open them if your next class
does not approve of snacks. It made for a sad situation with the other teachers
when the students did not follow the rules. So just be careful and talk to the
other teachers about stuff like that before you do it. Let them know your
explicit guidelines for the students just so that they know what is going on.