I have so much fun coming up with new ideas for my blog every day. Actually, these ideas are old as I am, but it’s fun to adapt them to the season or skills you might need to reinforce. I thought it might be interesting to brainstorm a few ways to integrate vocabulary and spelling words with Halloween. (Even though you might not do holidays in your school, you can make these work for “autumn” or another theme.)
Word Makers – Give children a seasonal word or vocabulary word. How many other words can they make using the letters in that word? (This might be a good activity for children to do with a partner or in a small group.)
Pumpkin Head - This game is similar to “Wheel of Fortune.” The teacher thinks of a
word and makes blanks on the board for the number of letters. As children call out letters, the teacher writes them on the appropriate blanks. If a child calls out a letter
that is not in the word the teacher draws a pumpkin on the board. For each letter
that is not in the word the teacher adds features (stem, eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) to the
pumpkin. The children try to identify the word before the pumpkin head is
completed.
*Keep a “bone pile” in the corner where you write letters that are not in
the word.
Picture Words - Write words so they look like what they mean. For example, write “spooky” in shaky letters, “fall” in letters that go down, “colorful” with many colors, “candy” decorated with sprinkles, etc.
Word Finder - Read a sentence and leave out a word. Children supply a word that would make sense. For example, “I am afraid of…”
*Write a sentence on the board and leave out a word. Brainstorm all the possibilities. For example, “The ______ monster ________.”
If you're looking for a fun October Music Mix, look HERE! You'll find the Halloween Medley, The 5 Days Of Halloween and much more!