Chaos, candy, cackling kids…this may describe your classroom as Halloween approaches. The season’s excitement can be a challenge as we try to teach academic skills while joining in on the fun of Halloween, but it can be done! With these fun spooky book and writing activity pairings, you can teach reading and writing, all while your students have spooktacular fun! They won’t even realize they’re learning! Let’s delve into Halloween Books and Writing Activities to Engage Your Students.
Ghosts
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Ghost by Lucille Colandro
I haven’t read a There Was an Old Lady picture book that I didn’t like. Kids always love this kooky plot line of an old lady trying to swallow crazy objects, including animals, and in this case Halloween characters!
Summary: You won’t believe why the Old Lady swallowed a ghost, a mask, a spider, a flashlight, a cloak, some crows, and a potion! There was an old lady who swallowed a ghost. I don’t know why she swallowed a ghost but she didn’t boast. Filled with hilarious illustrations and fun rhyming text, this Halloween-themed book in the Old Lady series is perfect for young readers.
Sir Simon: Spooky Scarer by Cale Atkinson
Looking for a longer story with a more intricate plot for older elementary kids?
Summary: Meet Sir Simon, Super Scarer. He’s a professional ghost who has been transferred to his first house. And to top it off, this house is occupied by an old lady – they’ ‘re the easiest to haunt! But things don’t go as planned when it turns out a KID comes with this old lady. Chester spots Simon immediately and peppers him with questions. Simon is exasperated… until he realizes he can trick Chester into doing his ghost chores. Turns out Simon isn’t cut out for human chores either. But maybe they’re both cut out to be friends.
The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt by Riel Nason, Illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler
This is a charming picture book with a deeper theme: how one’s uniqueness is a beautiful gift.
Summary: Ghosts are supposed to be sheets, light as air and able to whirl and twirl and float and soar. But the little ghost who is a quilt can’t whirl or twirl at all, and when he flies, he gets very hot. He doesn’t know why he’s a quilt. His parents are both sheets, and so are all of his friends. (His great-grandmother was a lace curtain, but that doesn’t really help cheer him up.) He feels sad and left out when his friends are zooming around and he can’t keep up. But one Halloween, everything changes. The little ghost who was a quilt has an experience that no other ghost could have, an experience that only happens because he’s a quilt . . . and he realizes that it’s OK to be different.
Writing Activity: Looking for a fun ghost craft and quick writing task? This resource focuses on paragraph writing. Students bring a ghost to life with the adorable ghost craft that contains tons of options for students to create a unique character. Our descriptive paragraph writing activity includes the use of spooky character traits, describing a character, and a Halloween list of words to help even the most reluctant writer. This resource comes with a quick print-and-go Boo-tiful Writing sign to display your students’ creations.
Monsters
How to Catch a Monster by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton
How to Catch A…books are wildly popular with children, and why wouldn’t they be? They’re adorable and always tell a relevant lesson.
Summary: Get ready to laugh along in this fun children’s monster book as a brave young ninja heads into the closet to meet the monster that’s been so scary night after night! But what if our monster isn’t scary at all? Maybe our hero is about to make a friend of the strangest sort…
That Monster on the Block by Sue Ganz-Schmitt, Illustrated by Luke Flowers
This best-seller is enjoyable and has a wonderful underlying message.
Summary: Monster is excited to see what kind of creature will move into Vampire’s old house on the block. He even starts practicing his welcome growl for the new neighbor. But when the moving truck pulls up, it’s not a greedy goblin, an ogre, or a dastardly dragon that steps out. Instead, it’s something even more terrifying than Monster could have imagined! Monster quickly rallies the other neighbors to unite against the new guy on the block. But what if the new neighbor isn’t exactly as bad as Monster thinks? Join Monster as he confronts his fears in this charming and lighthearted look at what it means to accept others who are different from us.
The Great Monster Hunt by Norbert Landa, Illustrated by Tim Warnes
This book is highly engaging as anticipation builds with each page as a group of animal friends works to catch a ferocious monster.
Summary: Early one morning, a funny noise wakes up Duck. It sounds like pshhh-pshh, and it is coming from right under her bed! Duck is not quite sure what it is, and she is too afraid to look…
Writing Activity: Students craft a unique monster using a variety of options from crazy eyes to goofy smiles. This activity will be sure to keep students interested during this time of the year!
This descriptive paragraph writing activity includes the use of spooky character traits, describing a character, and a Halloween list of words to inspire your student writers. It also comes with a Monster Mash Writing print-and-go sign to display your students’ crafts and writing pieces.
Haunted Houses
At the Old Haunted House by Helen Ketteman and Nate Wragg
This picture book is fun, rhythmic, and not the least bit scary! It’s perfect for elementary kiddos.
Summary: An old haunted house is home to an assortment of creatures from “a warty green witch and her wee witchy one” to goblins, vampires, bats, black cats, werewolves, spiders, and more. Written in the pattern of the popular poem “Over in the Meadow,” each page starts with the repeated phrase “At the old haunted house” and, on each page, the creatures increase in number from one to ten. The rhyme ends with three trick-or-treaters arriving and a Halloween fright party, which the creatures have been preparing for, bursting forth in celebration. The vibrant painted illustrations are dark, goofy, and mildly spooky. The text is simple rhyme with the creatures practicing spells, making strange noises, stirring brews, weaving webs, and other Halloween activities. A rousing story-hour selection.
She Wanted to be Haunted by Marcus Ewert and Susie Ghahremani
I just love the message of this story! This picture book has a profound theme that will get your students thinking deeply!
Summary: Perfect for Halloween, this delightfully spooky picture book answers the important question of how you can be your very best self.
If only I were haunted-I’d never be alone!
But look at me: I’m cheerful!
I’ve got to change my tone!
Clarissa the cottage is adorable . . . bright pink, with windows that wink, and flowers growing all around. But Clarissa doesn’t want to be adorable–being cute is boring. Couldn’t she be like her father, a creepy castle home to vampires and crypts? Or like her mother, a witch’s hut full of spells and smells? If only she were haunted! Then she’d be less ordinary . . .What will it take for Clarissa to go from adorable to horrible?
The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted House by Jan and Mike Berenstain
You just can’t go wrong with a classic Berenstain Bears Story!
Summary: Join the Berenstain Bears on this lift-the-flap adventure with a twist.
Gracie the kitten has gone missing. Did she go inside the haunted house on top of Spook Hill? Brother and Sister gather up their courage to find out. They’d better beware!
Writing Activity: Students can use their imagination skills and make their very own haunted house craft, complete with their own unique design! Students then brainstorm sensory words and adjectives on the prewriting sheet to help them write a descriptive paragraph all about their haunted house. It even has a SPOOKY SPACES banner to display students’ unique creations and writing pieces.
Nonfiction Bats
If you’re looking to incorporate nonfiction books and a bit of science into your lessons, check out these awesome nonfiction bat books.
Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Ann Earle, Illustrated by Henry Cole
This book has amazing photographs and interesting information about bats!
Summary: Bats fly into the spotlight in this exploration of such basics as where they live, how mothers raise their pups, and how they hunt for food. Included as well is a simple plan for building a backyard bat house.
All Things Bats by Animal Reads
Summary: Kids love these curious, spooky-looking creatures, and it’s easy to see why. Some look pretty creepy, others kinda cute, and they are all super interesting… In short, we consider them FANG-tastic! This colorful book, filled with amazing real-life images, aims to combine fun with education to help you learn all about bats.
Bats (Amazing Animals) by Valerie Bodden
Summary: Beautiful photos are paired with STEM-appropriate text to examine the featured creature’s appearance, habitat, behaviors, and life cycle. Each reissued title also presents a folk story that people have used to help explain the animal’s appearance or behavior. This revised edition surveys key aspects of bats, describing the flying mammals’ appearance, behaviors, and habitats. A folk tale explains why these creatures are nocturnal.
Writing Activity: After students read bat facts through fun nonfiction books, teach them all about expository writing in our Bat Craftivity and Paragraph Writing. Our expository paragraph writing activity includes a detailed expository writing style description, a batty graphic organizer, and a “Batty” list of nonfiction words to help even the most reluctant writer. Students can bring their writing to life with a bat crafitivity and tons of options to create a unique bat!
Bonus:
Do you want to use all four of the above resources for a month-long Halloween Paragraph Writing Practice? Grab our bundle that includes all four resources! Students can perfect their descriptive paragraph writing through the Ghost, Monster, and Haunted House resources. Plus, they can learn all about expository writing with our Bat resource! Grab the full bundle here!
After reading these picture books, students can write their very own scary stories with our full Halloween Writing Unit. It has everything you need, from start to finish, for students to write a boo-tiful story! This unit can take a week to two weeks for a fully immersive writing project. This unit includes:
- Detailed Teacher Instructions
- 4 Spooky Writing Prompts
- 2 Heroic Character Creation / Analysis Graphic Organizers
- 2 Spooky Character Creation / Analysis Graphic Organizers
- Details of a Creepy Setting Graphic Organizer
- Story Plot Map Graphic Organizer
- Rough Draft Guide
- Spooky Cover for published work
- Writing Sheets for their published stories
Conclusion:
As Halloween approaches, keeping students focused can be a challenge, but with the right mix of spooky books and engaging writing activities, learning can still happen! These activities allow students to embrace the Halloween spirit through imaginative storytelling and descriptive paragraph writing, without even realizing they’re practicing key academic skills. Students can also explore nonfiction, science, and expository writing as well! The mash-up of spooky fun, literacy, and writing skills makes for a brew-tiful academic combination!
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