We are or know those teachers who can’t “celebrate” Halloween in their school. Well, let us help you with some ideas for how to add a curriculum spin to give your students a meaningful “Halloween but not Halloween party learning experience!” We think that if you can celebrate in a meaningful and curriculum-based way, that you can still have a great experience with your class.
Multi-cultural, Reading, and Writing
Comparing Day of the Dead and Halloween for cross-curricular instruction can be engaging and meaningful! This lesson plan on incorporating a multi-cultural comparison between traditional Halloween, and the Day of the Dead.:
Multi-Cultural, Research, Reading, Writing, Map Skills, and Art
Another activity that can be done for a variety of multi-cultural celebrations is to have your students research different celebrations around the world, and use the Ready-to-Decorate® Celebrations Around the World Posters to present their findings. The thing that we love about this poster is that it guides the research of the project. Students are instructed to research images, use their map skills, and get an overall multi-cultural understanding. With eight spaces to feature eight celebrations, these posters can be done in a few days or weeks, depending on the time allotted. An additional idea is to focus on a season and use them in a group. With 24 posters in the pack, you can make these posters last the entire year! Have each group focus on a time of year such as fall, and then winter, etc.
Math, Science, Reading, Writing, and Art
AND what is Halloween without candy?!? This Reading Mama has a bunch of super-cute and sweet ideas on how to incorporate candy into the curriculum!
No need to worry if you can’t have candy in your school, simply use small Halloween items such as plastic spiders, candy corn erasers, and eye ball bouncy balls.
Reading
Have a little fun during reading time with Martian Finger Reading Pointers. Students use the long nail to track words during reading. Let students decide what character they are: a witch, a martian, a dragon, or something else!
Science and STEM
Really Good Stuff has teamed up with Steve Spangler Science to offer engaging science and STEM products for the classroom! Many of his products can be used during Halloween time for some exciting and fun – spooky, slimy activities! Watch these experiments to get an idea for your classroom!