Brewing Up Great Ideas!

EEEK! This time of year always gets me so excited. Not only because my favorite holidays are right around the corner, but also because we are finally in the swing of things at school. Routines down? Check. Learning happening? Check. Having fun? Check. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be “brewing up great ideas” with the help of these spooky (and super educational, might I add!) activities. The first thing we’ll be brewing up are some OUTSTANDING writers! I found this cauldron at Party City for a couple bucks and had some green packaging peanuts leftover from a package. I tossed in these cute writing prompts I made (you can grab them HERE!) and a ladle to help inspire them during writing time. I know my students will love “serving up” a writing prompt at Work on Writing. I can’t WAIT to introduce this fun little activity to them this week. image image

We’ll also be writing “spooky” stories using these journal prompts and completing these “Spooky Draw and Writes.”

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Another fun activity we’ll be completing are these “Boo! Guess Who!” sheets. They will have to read the text and circle the words that help them figure out the mystery animal, object, or character. Then, they’ll draw a picture to

solve the mystery!

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I differentiated these a bit to help meet the many needs in my class. The pictures are provided here to help students make a choice based on the text clues.

image After reading some October-themed books, we’ll be using some of the reading strategy organizers in this packet to help us. Two of my favorite books to read to my kids during the month of October are Bone Soup (a spin on Stone Soup) and Where’s My Mummy?

image image For this activity, students write their own recipe for Bone Soup.
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image For this activity, students make text-to-self connections and write about when they want their “mummys.” image

We’ll also be reading non-fiction texts all about bats and spiders! We’ll be using these K-W-L charts and Can-Have-Are charts to help us organize our writing.

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Then, we’ll write “Facts That’ll Make You Crawl” about spiders and “Wing Flappin’ Facts” about bats after completing these cute crafts!

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We’ll also be doing a little “How To” activity using ordinal words by writing How to Spook a Monster.  Afterwards, we’ll complete this cute monster craft.  Last year’s group FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS ACTIVITY.

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I am finally introducing my students to Word Work this week (FINALLY!). I KNOW they’ll be hooked after seeing these activities there. One simple activity I prepped for them were these “All Tangled Up” words. Students will look at the words in the web and then write them in ABC order on their recording sheet.      image image We’ll also be doing some Wicked Word Building using the words “October” and “Halloween.”         image

Lastly, we’ll be sorting real words (treat) versus nonsense words (trick) and recording them. This activity will be great for my students who are still struggling with CVC words. image

In math, we’ll be reviewing the different kinds of word problems we’ve learned by going on a “ghost hunt.” For this activity, I will give each student a flashlight and set them free on a hunt around the classroom to solve word problems. We’ll also be doing a little analyzing of data through surveys. So fun! image

Oh yes, and we’ll be playing a little Spooky Bingo!   image     image

    We’ll end our October-themed activities by doing a little analyzing of data with this fun scarecrow glyph! I know my kids will eat this up!

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All of these activities are aligned with the Common Core! If you already own this packet, be sure to go re-download it to grab all of the new clip art changes! You can find ALL of these activities, including the crafts in my Boo to You packet. Just click HERE or on the preview below. They are 20% off until midnight!

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Want JUST the crafts? Click HERE or on the preview below.

spookycrafts

 

14 Comments

  1. Mrs Cupcake
    October 13, 2013

    This unit looks fantastic!!
    ❤Teri
    A Cupcake for the Teacher

  2. Miss Kindergarten
    October 13, 2013

    Lyndsey!!!! You are seriously amazing!!! I LOVE the ghost hunt!! What a cute idea!!!

  3. Sydney Cohn
    October 13, 2013

    That ghost hunt is awesome! Now to see if I can find some cheap-o flashlights – I love that you have tied data and surveying into this as well. 🙂
    You're awesome.
    – Sydney
    Lessons Learned

  4. Lovely Nina
    October 13, 2013

    Your activities look like so much fun!!! 🙂

  5. Bethany Louise
    October 13, 2013

    Wow! I am in awe of all your creativity! Your students are SO lucky to have you!

    Bethany
    Ship Shape First Grade

  6. Okay…can I be in your class! You are sooooo creative! Thanks for creating this wonderful packet!

  7. Samantha Kearns
    October 14, 2013

    WOW! Your resources are amazing!! As I am reading your post, I am in awe of your creativity. You are truly an inspiration!

    Samantha
    Tales of a #teachernerd

  8. Holy Cow Lyndsey! Each activity was just as cute as the last! Absolutely love how you did the writing in the cauldron with the green packing peanuts-beyond creative!

    ~Christy & Tammy
    Fluttering Through First Grade

  9. Tammy Ferrell
    October 15, 2013

    Hi Lyndsey!! Your activities look amazing!!! I'm going to be moving to Maryland in about 3 weeks so I'm looking forward to reading more of your blog and connecting with other Maryland teachers:) Newest Follower!!

    Tammy
    ”Dots” of Fun!
    1…2…3…Teach With Me

  10. vicky1970
    October 18, 2013

    Lyndsey – I am seriously in LOVE with your caldron writing idea. I will have to stash that idea away because it's the cutest thing ever! Thanks for sharing my friend.
    xoxo,
    Vicky
    Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After

  11. Nicole Alderson
    October 19, 2013

    LOVE everything!!! You are a rock star!!

  12. Growing Firsties
    October 21, 2013

    Oh Lyndsey, Lyndsey, Lyndsey, you inspire me CONSTANTLY!!!!

  13. April
    October 24, 2013

    This unit looks amazing!! I wish I would have found it sooner because I am not sure I can fit it all in before Halloween and I want to do it all! I just noticed that you teach in Baltimore! Do you teach for a city school? I teach at Dr. Bernard Harris Sr. Elementary which is on the East side not far from BCPSS headquarters.

  14. MrsNeal's3rd
    October 24, 2013

    I teach 3rd grade and I could easily adapt some of these lessons for my kids. I am going out tonight to see if I can find a cauldron and spider web! Thank you so much, this blog is now on my favorites list!

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