1-2-3 Come Do Some Halloween Storytelling Crafts With Me  

Do you read ”The Spooky Wheels on the Bus” by J. Elizabeth Mills?
It’s put out by Scholastic and a new favorite of mine.

Perfect for counting, introducing onomatopoeia, and practicing the “sequencing and retelling a story” standards.

Click on the book photo on the left, or this LINK, to see it being read by a librarian on YouTube.

Since my students are familiar with and really enjoy singing “The Wheels on the Bus”, having an alternate version for Halloween fun is particularly enjoyable.

With these things in mind, I designed a quick, easy and fun ”Spooky Wheels on the Bus” “slider” craftivity, which will help your students retell the story in the proper order.

For educational fun on Halloween party day, read the story, sing the song, and make the slider craft.  Woo hoo for easy-peasy!!

Choose the simple square cut pattern for little ones, or the "cut me out" bus template for children with better scissor skills.

Students color the story elements on the “slider strip” then cut and glue it together. There are two options for these as well. 

I use the numbered strip because my Y5s are learning number recognition, plus how to count and sequence. 

You could also use the strip with just the graphics, and have students number their own to get in even more practice.

As children pull on the end of the “slider-strip” the various pictures go through the “window” of their bus, so that children can take turns retelling the story to a partner or reading buddy, then take their craft home to share with their family, once again practicing these standards.

I introduce the lesson by reading the book ”The Spooky Wheels on the Bus”, then share my completed "slider craft” with my students.
So that you can quickly, and easily make an example, I’ve included a full-color slider pattern.

After I read the story, we retell the tale together, using the picture prompts on my slider. I have children guess which story element they think comes next, before I pull the picture through the “window”.

My students now know what’s expected of them, and are very excited to transition to making a “Spooky Bus” storytelling slider of their own.

Storytelling sliders are also an easy & interesting way to assess comprehension.

I’ve included a "Let's sequence the story” activity for this, where students color and trim the picture “windows” then glue them in the correct order on their worksheet.

There's also a colorful, bus answer key poster, which you can use in various ways, including as an independent puzzle center.

A “Here’s What Happened…” writing prompt worksheet, is another way to check comprehension, plus practice sequential writing, hopefully using a variety of ordinal numbers and other transitions. 

Since the story is about the WHEELS on a spooky bus, I also made a story wheel craft as well. 

This option provides another way to sequence and retell "The Spooky Wheels on the Bus" story.

Like the slider craft, I've included a "Here's What Happened" writing prompt. 

There's also another fun writing option, where students continue the story by thinking of an 11th thing that might be riding the spooky bus. 

They fill in the blank, compleete the sentence with some sort of onomatopoeia then illustrate their worksheet. 

My example has 11 black bats, which go flap, flip, flap all through the town.  Students will enjoy sharing what they've come up with, and completed projects make a cute bulletin board. 

Today's featured FREEBIE is a set of apple-themed time cards for practicing telling time to the hour and half hour. 

There are blackline patterns plus a cover, so that students can make their own "Itty Bitty" Telling Time Flip Booklet, along with two assessments I think you'll find useful.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for dropping in. 

I'm absolutely loving the Indian Summer weather we've been having here in Michigan, so it's time to go rake a few leaves out of my flower beds, before the rain that's brewing changes my plans. 

Wishing you a fun-filled day.

"Autumn, the year's last loveliest smile." -William Cullen Bryant

1-2-3 Come Sing A Halloween Song and Play Some Halloween Games With Me

My Y5's really enjoyed singing all sorts of fun October songs with me.  With that in mind, I wanted to dream one up of my own.  

Since the Wheels On The Fire Truck  song, was such a popular download, I decided to make a Halloween version, entitled The Things In The Halloween House. 

It has the same tune as Wheels on the Bus, only these are things in a spooky house.

Here's one of the verses: :The Mouse in the house goes squeak, squeak, squeak--squeak, squeak, squeak--squeak, squeak, squeak. The mouse in the house goes squeak, squeak, squeak on Halloween.

I've made up motions to go with the song and included these directions in the packet. The song and matching games, are quick, easy and fun activities for your Halloween party day. 

The packet includes 17 matching picture cards, as well as 15 word cards. 

Since most of the words are onomatopoeia words, you have a teachable moment to explain that to your students as well.  

I've included an onomatopoeia poster. Make extra sets of the picture and word cards and use them for games like Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?"  

You can also make a set to cut up as puzzles and use for an independent center.

The packet also includes a "What's Missing?" Halloween circle game that my Y5's absolutely LOVED!

Gather your kiddos in a circle on the carpet. Place the cards face down, in 3 rows of 4 in the center of the circle.  Flip up the top 4 cards.  Point to each of the 4 cards and say its name. 

Have children repeat the name of the cards with you.  i.e., “Owl, cat, mouse, spider."  Hold a piece of tag board (a size that will cover all of the cards) so that it just hovers over the top.  

Have students close their eyes tight.  Carefully reach under and flip a card over, so that it is now face down.  Say “Ready!” and have students open their eyes.  Remove the tag board, so that students can see the flipped up cards.  You ask: "Which one is missing?"

Children call out an answer.  You can give the first child who called out the correct answer a sticker, or simply continue to play. 

Play continues, as you make things a bit more difficult, by flipping up another card for each round of play. 

Use fewer cards for younger children.   Click on the link to view/download the Haunted House Song and Games packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can stop by tomorrow for a few more FREEBIES.  I'm off to go shopping for some treats for Halloween. 

We only get about a dozen trick or treaters, so I make up extra special Halloween bags for the neighborhood kiddos.  Wishing you a day filled with sweet moments.

 "If you were another person, would you like to be a friend of yours?" -Unknown

18 pages.

This haunted house song, to the tune of Wheels on the Bus is a wonderful activity for your Halloween party day.  The packet includes 17 matching picture cards, as well as 15 word cards.