Hallowe’en is a great time to focus on writing and the trait of word
choice (adjectives, adverbs, verbs).
PROCEDURAL WRITING:
 How to make a witches’ brew
 How to be safe on Hallowe’en night
 How to carve a jack-o-lantern or bob for apples
 How to dress up in my costume
 How to make a Hallowe’en snack
 How to use a technique in Art class to create a spooky atmosphere
e.g. How to make a witches’ brew
Word choice:
For example:
Verbs – Stir the bubbling witches’ brew slowly
Add three bumpy gourds to the brew and let them float gently on top of the brew.
Verbs: Mash , cut,, bake, slice, soak, drop
Adjectives: squishy, colour, tasty adjectives, what does the brew look like? Taste like?
What do the ingredients feel like? hard, soft, squishy, long, big, etc.
Adjectives- describe ghosts, pumpkins/jack-o-lanterns, bats, spiders, haunted houses
Adverbs: slowly, quickly, gently,
Make an “edible” brew so that you can enjoy sharing it with your class – squishy Jello,
hard ju-jubes, slimy ju jubes, etc.
RECOUNT:
 the events of a Hallowe’en party or a spirit day at school
 important events in the life of a saint
 a day in the life of a spider, a bat, a friendly witch, a ghost in an haunted house, a
jack-o-lantern on a doorstep, a scarecrow
DESCRIPTIVE:
Describe the scene in a neighbour’s yard near your school or take some good pictures of
a great one decorated for Hallowe’en. Find at least 3 things to describe. Give lots of
detail.
Take a walk on a crisp, fall day. Have recording sheets divided into 5 columns
for each of the 5 senses. Students can draw or write in the columns what they see, hear,
feel and smell and taste (if applicable).
-2CRISP FALL DAY (con’t)
Tasting might be addressed by returning to your classroom by enjoying a snack of crisp,
red apples or hot apple cider/hot chocolate when you return. Then you can address the
sense of taste, if you wish.
e.g. hot, smooth apple cider – crunchy, crisp, hard, delicious, red, tasty, yummy etc.
apples OR
creamy, smooth, tasty, delicious, wet, hot, etc. hot chocolate
Describe your Hallowe’en costume to someone from head to toe. See if they can draw
your costume based on your description.
If the children come in costume, make up riddles :
“This person is wearing a black hat and red shoes. He (or she) is also wearing a huge
cape.” Who is it?”
Focus on descriptive language to emphasize the trait of good word choice.
******Take digital pics of your students taking part a Hallowe’en
game/activity – then write with them to provide labels/captions for each
pic – and you can write a RECOUNT of the activity.
PERSUASIVE:
 Which is the better Hallowe’en movie book character? Casper the Ghost or
____________?
POWER BOARDS –
Since everyone is doing Hallowe’en art, why not tap into that activity?
Create a POWER bulletin board by having students do one of the following:




think of titles for each other’s artwork (media literacy)
write a procedural paragraph(s) outlining the steps needed to create
the piece of art OR
a paragraph to explain how the artist used a particular art technique
to achieve the desired result.
Write a great story (BRILLIANT) beginning for a piece of art on a
bulletin board.
and more…..
MAKE A CLASSROOM BIG BOOK:
Bill Martin Jr’s – Brown Bear, Brown Bear – use as a sample format – can make a big
book
White ghost, white ghost
What do you see?
I see a friendly witch looking at me.
Friendly witch, friendly witch
What do you see?
I see a black spider looking at me.
Continue….
Gradual release in WRITING (3 weeks or so)
modeled (your costume at home – pretend if you have to) – may require a few days to
create more than one modelled piece of writing - somewhere between 1-5 likely
shared (describe a costume/character in one of your Halloween stories) – again, you may
to create 1-5 modelled pieces of work
guided (let kids try to describe someone’s costume – perhaps the principal or caretaker or
secretary would participate?) Take a picture of that person so that the students can
continue writing afterwards.
independent – describe their own costumes - a digital photo taken at home might help
Page 40 – Hallowe’en book by McCrackens
I Like Witches
I like witches,
Spooky witches, happy witches,
Messy witches, scary, grumpy witches;
Any kind of witches
I like witches!
Big witches, tall witches,
Hairy, scary, bad witches,
Last of all, best of all, I hate witches!
Together, create similar patterned descriptive poems (as above) about:
pumpkins, witches, spiders, zombies, apples, etc.
Ideas for older students;
Use Act IV, Scene 1 – from MacBeth - The Making of a Charm
The Witches’ Ride by Karla Kuskin