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Happy Halloween!

 

Boo!
Ghosts and goblins are about. Witches walk among us. Princes, princesses, fairies, and knights fill schools and classrooms. Is there any doubt that Halloween is here? If you are not quite ready to celebrate in "spooktacular" fashion, you're sure to find a fun idea of two right here.

HALLOWEEN LESSON IDEAS

Principal Turns Bat Presence Into Teachable Moment
Bats typically are not welcome indoors, and when bats in a school gymnasium raised concerns about potential attacks on students, a principal turned to a biologist to give the school and greater community an education about these misunderstood winged mammals.

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Every-Day Edits for October

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Halloween Math
Halloween is a time for math fun -- for estimating and measuring pumpkin weights and waistlines; for drawing spiders with coordinates and discovering the math woven into spider webs; for categorizing costumes; and for graphing candy counts.

My Pumpkin Story
Use an online tool to create a unique pumpkin, then write a story about its special characteristics. (Grades K-5)

Create a Pumpkin Candleholder
This easy-to-make candleholder is sure to be a Halloween hit. (Grades K-5)

"War of the Worlds": A Broadcast Re-Creation
Relive (and re-create) the panic-causing 1938 radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds." (Grades 6-12)

Halloween Party Alternatives from UNICEF
Replace your typical school Halloween party with a valuable service-learning project. This lesson plan presents many fundraising ideas. Included: A detailed plan for a Read-a-Thon for UNICEF, plus ten more ideas and links to many others.

Pick a Pumpkin Activity
Pumpkins are the ultimate October icons -- the fruit of the month, if you will. (Yes! Pumpkins are a fruit.) This month, celebrate pumpkins with these across-the-curriculum activities. Included: Art, science, language, and math activities.

Move Over Halloween -- Here Comes Historical Figure Day
Historical Figure Day is an alternative to the traditional Halloween hoopla. Find out how students bring the past to life.

Scare Up Some Great Halloween Poetry-Writing Activities
Halloween is the perfect time for students to scare up a humorous poem or epitaph.

Bats in the Classroom: Activities Across the Curriculum
October -- the perfect time to work bats into the curriculum, to teach about some of the misconceptions often held about these interesting creatures of nature.

The MindsEye Monster Exchange Project: Monsters Made to Order!
A project that will challenge your students' imaginations!

Pump Up the Curriculum With Pumpkins
Jump into pumpkin facts and pumpkin lore. Try pumpkin science, pumpkin math, pumpkin writing...

A Dozen Candy-Coated Classroom Activities
Candy across the curriculum. Activities for all ages.

Webs (The Discussion Kind) in the Classroom
Think Discussion Webs, not spider webs.

A Spooky Adlib Story
Get creative this Halloween with this adlib activity in which students answer questions on an Excel sheet to create a silly, spooky story. Besides having fun, students can review basic spreadsheet skills and develop creativity.

Vampires: Fact or Fiction?
Students predict, then extrapolate, how many vampires are in the world, based on the legend that, once bitten, each victim becomes a vampire. This creative lesson by Microsoft improves math, problem solving, and group skills.

SPOOKtacular Lessons for Halloween
Education World shares five Halloween treats, lessons to put you into the "spirit" of the season,

Goosebumps in the Classroom
The Guinness Book of World Records lists Goosebumps as the best-selling children's book series of all time. Now you can take advantage of that popularity with this witches brew of Goosebumps-inspired lessons.

Bats, Bats, Everywhere
This Web site was developed to teach children about bats.

Monster Exchange
Students try to communicate an original monster image into another child's mind using learned writing skills and technology.