1-2-3 Come Play Some Halloween-Themed Games With Me!

As a child I loved drawing haunted houses and spooky things at Halloween.  The first and only art contest I ever won was a picture of a witch riding her broom past a crescent moon.  I was in 4th grade and thrilled!  One of the things that really pops out at you when you're looking at a haunted house is all of the broken and shuttered windows.

I thought it would be fun to make the windows look like the 6 standard 2D shapes.  To play the Spooky Windows game, print, laminate and trim the haunted houses.  Run off the shapes on a variety of colors of construction paper. 

Keep each set in its own Ziploc Snack Baggie and attach with a paperclip to one of the Spooky Windows haunted house mats. Children place the shape cut outs onto the matching spooky window. 

You can also play this as a game.  Children choose a partner and spin the spooky shape spinner.  Whatever shape they land on, they say the name of the shape and place it on their haunted house.  The 1st one to match all of the shapes on their house, is the winner.

I've also made the Spooky Windows into a dice game.  Here students choose a partner and take turns rolling a dice. Whatever number they roll, they color in 1 matching numbered window and identify the shape.  The 1st child with all of their windows filled in, or the one with the most filled in when the timer rings, is the winner. 

By having students play with the color spinner,  you can also review colors.  Whatever shape they land on, they color the matching shape window that color.  Afterwards, little ones can color their haunted house.  Challenge older students to only color the rectangles.  How many did they color?

Also in this packet is a Spooky Windows shape sorting mat.  I found that after awhile, most of my Y5's readily identified the various shapes, but when I asked them to find that shape in the world around them, many had difficulty. 

i.e. I could show them the shape of a rectangle and they'd say "That's a rectangle."  but when I asked them to name something in the classroom that was a rectangle, some of them had difficulty doing so. 

Because of this, I also like to design shape activities using pictures of things representing the various shapes, so children can sort them.  Print off the shape pictures, trim and keep each set in a separate Snack Baggie.  Children can work independently or against a partner to sort the shapes.  Turn it into a game, and have students spin the spinner in order to be able to place that shape on their mat.  

Another fun way to review shapes with the haunted house, is via a little ghost puppet.  Print and laminate the haunted house, trim and cut out the windows.  Using an Exacto-knife, I cut out the circle and oval windows completely.

I cut the other shape windows, so that one side was left un-cut, to act as a hinge.  You can fold the windows open, or leave them shut, so your students can better see the shape as your ghost puppet pops through it.

Hold the house up in front of you. Manipulate a white ghost (Popsicle stick) through a window or simply have the ghost peek behind the window. 

Students call out the shape of the window the ghost is peeking out of. 

You can also make a ghost finger puppet by cutting off a “finger” of a white glove, and gluing on 2 wiggle eyes.  Use rubber gloves for an eerie transparent look.  I experimented with dotting eyes on with a black marker as well as using puffy paint. 

I personally like how the ghosts with wiggle eyes turned out.   You decide which you like best.  Because these are really quick, easy and inexpensive to make, you could set this up as a center and have your students each make one.

Finally, I've included a card game called "Shapely Haunted Houses".  These are cards with a shape on them that can be matched to the shape, or shape word cards for a Memory Match or "I have; Who has?" game. 

All of these games and "craftivities" are included in the Spooky Windows packet.  Click on the link to view/download it.

Thanks for visiting today.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you can fly on by for tomorrow's FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN away.  To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button located on the burgundy menu bar.  If you'd like to take a look at all of the awesome educational items that I pin, click on the heart button to the right of the blog.

"Faith is building on what you know is here, so you can reach what you know is there." -Allen Hightower

1-2-3 Come Do Some Spook-tacular Activities With Me!

Halloween is just around the creepy corner, so I thought I'd blog about a few of our Halloween-themed FREEBIES. Since the Fact Family Schoolhouses were such a huge back-to-school hit,  I thought I'd repost the Fact Family Haunted Houses.

The Packet includes:

• Fact Family "craftivity" templates.
• Fact Family spinner game templates.
• Directions and link for a home-school math connection, for fact family online-homework practice.
• Directions and sample of how to make mini dry erase envelope boards.
• Fact Family T-bar "mad-minute" skill sheets +
• A certificate of praise.

If you're looking for a language arts activity, one of my favorites is the Trick or Treat Word Family packet, which will help reinforce Common Core State Standards: RF.K2a, RF.K2c, RF.K2e

It's a fun way to review the -ick and -eat word families.  Students make this "craftivity" and pull the letter sliders through the treat bag windows, to reveal humorous new ways to say "Trick or treat!"

I've also included traceable word flashcards for the -ick and -eat families (28 cards) + another "Trick or Treat!" word activity game extension.  Click on the link to view/download the Trick or Treat Word Family packet.

Thank you for visiting today.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you can zip on over tomorrow for more FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN away. 

To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top, it will turn black; now click on the "Pin it" button on the burgundy menu bar.   If you'd like to see all of the wonderful-educational items that I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart to the right of the blog.

I wish you and yours a very Happy Halloween.

"The whole idea of living, is to believe the best is yet to be." -Peter Ustinov

3 pages.

After reading Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider, have each student fill out the student page.  Collect and collate into a class book. To add extra pizzazz, print off 2 copies of your class's school photo, and cut your students' heads into ovals.  Glue a set to the webs on the cover (You can leave them as kids or turn them into spiders with a black marker) and include a photo of yourself in the top web.  Have students glue their photo to the spider on their page.

5 pages.

Make these sparkling webs after you read The Very Busy Spider. I mixed Elmer's glue with white paint. A black construction paper circle is placed in a metal cake pan.  A dollop of the paint-glue is put in the middle and a marble is placed on top.  Students manuever the pan to "spin" a web.  When they are happy with the results, they sprinkle opalescent or silver glitter on their creation.  I've included a colored web with the poem on it.

12 pages.

This packet covers lots of Common Core State Standards in simple, quick, and fun ways. 

3 pages.

Before reading The Very Busy Spider, grab your students' attention with this awesome spider cutting "craftivity" and review symmetry at the same time.

5 pages.

Cover LOTS of Common Core State Standards with these grammar cards.  Put them in a pocket chart or on your whiteboard and read the sentences together as a whole group.  For added fun make a spider pointer with the spider pattern, glue it to a Popsicle stick and use it to point to the words as you read them. 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Spider Craftivities With Me

My Y5's LOVED the story The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.   I especially liked it for sequencing practice.  The Very Busy Spider is also an easy story to review beginning, middle and end concepts.

To introduce the story, and grab your students' attention, do the Spider Cuts  scissor activity.  While your little ones watch, inform them that you are "busy" and ask them what they think you are making.

I got the spider idea over at Green Baby Guide.  She didn't have a pattern, so I thought I'd make one.    Add some wiggle eyes for pizzazz.  Click on the link to view/download Spider Cuts.

The Very Busy Spider is super to sequence! My little ones always enjoyed sequencing stories,  because I'd pass out picture cards or manipulatives to them. 

Prior to passing out "stuff" to quiet children, I'd explain that if they played with it and didn't listen to the story, they would get the card or item taken away; this really kept them from fooling around with any story props that I handed out.

When I came to a picture in the story that was on a card, I'd pause, the child with the matching card would come up and place it in the pocket chart or on the white board. 

So that everyone could have a turn with the cards, as well as provide another opportunity to review the story, I'd pass the cards out again, and we'd try to put them in order without the help of the book.  You can make extra sets so that children can transition and play Memory Mathching games.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Busy Spider Sequencing cards.  Included in this packet is a mini sequencing sheet that students can do as a center, or run off copies for all of your students to cut, glue and sequence. 

I enjoy looking for interesting videos on YouTube that match an activity.  There's almost always a professional reader out there who's made a nice Power Point of a story. 

There were quite a few for The Very Busy Spider.  One that I think was rather well-done, is read by an English gal.  The moving graphics of the spider and buzzing fly are sweet.  Click on the link to check it out. 

As another fun way to review the story, have your kiddo's watch it and do the mini sequencing activity at the same time.  Afterwards, as a transition activity, students can choose a partner and play the Spin To Win Busy Spider game. This is also included in the packet.

As part of our review, I'd use pocket cards that said: characters, setting, and events on them. 

After reading the story, we'd discuss each one as it pertained to the book.  I've included a set for The Very Busy Spider.

Understanding the concept of beginning-middle-and end of stories enables a child to better retell it.  Knowing this organization, will also improve writing.

Because of this, I always followed up story telling, by asking children what happened in the beginning, the middle and at the end of the story.  After you review this orally, have your students write their thoughts on The Very Busy Spider (beginning-middle-end) graphic organizer.  All of these items are in  The Very Busy Spider Story Packet. Click on the link to view/download it.

To nail even more Common Core State Standards-- print, laminate and trim The Very Busy Spider Grammar Cards.  Put them in a pocket chart or on your whiteboard and read the sentences together as a whole group. 

For added fun make a spider pointer or web wand, with the spider & web patterns; glue them to a Popsicle stick and have children use them to point to the words as you read the pocket cards. 

Using a red dry erase marker, have a child come up and circle any letters that should be capitalized.  Another student  can add the end punctuation.

Review parts of speech by having children circle nouns, underline verbs and put a square around adjectives. 

You can also practice vowel identification.  Have a student come up and circle the vowels with a green marker.  I have set up the content of the cards, so they also provide a nice discussion and review of the story.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Busy Spider Grammar Cards.

To put their grammar skills into practice, have students write a page for your class book: The Very Busy Students and Their Spiders. Click on the link to view/print a copy.

Finally, it's always fun to throw in an art activity if you have time.  I set the "glittering web" craftivity up as a center, where 3 children come up and do the project with me. While they are working, I have each one tell me a spider fact that they learned, or ask them what their favorite part of the story was.

This photo does not do the artwork justice, as it's truly lovely; it doesn't capture the sparkling and glittery effects. 

Since you might not be able to find a colorful little stationery web that my kiddo's attached to their webs, you can either skip this step, or print off the Very Busy Spider one that I made.  I've included my little poem on it.

To make a busy spider glitter web, pre-cut black circles to fit inside a metal cake pan.  Each child holds one.  I squirt a dollop of white paint that has been mixed with Elmer's glue, in the middle of the circle; children place a large marble on top of the "paint-puddle."

The object of this project is to make an orb spider web by having the marble roll back and forth + up and down through the paint.  As it does so, it "spins" a web.  When students are pleased with their web, and while the paint is still wet, children sprinkle opalescent or silver glitter on their creation. 

I squirt a blob of Elmer's glue wherever they want me to, and they plop a black plastic spider or fly on it.  They write their name on the little spider web Halloween tag and glue it to a corner.  

These look smashing on a bulletin board, wall, or hung back-to-back from the ceiling.  Your caption can be: "Our students and spiders have been very busy!"  Click on the link to view/print the Glittering Web craft.

Thanks for visiting today.  Sorry this article got a bit long.  I have so much to share, so I hope you can pop back tomorrow for more FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN away.  

"Most people see what is, and never see what can be." -Albert Einstein

12 pages.

This packet is filled with all sorts of interesting writing activities with a spider theme.

5 pages.

Here's a list of my all-time favorite spider books.  Do you have one that's not on the list?  I'd love to hear from you. diane@teachwithme.com