Halloween is the time of year when imaginations run wild and is the perfect time for elementary teachers to teach descriptive writing. Teachers can take advantage of the students’ heightened creativity during October by using Halloween themed story starters or writing prompts during Writer’s Workshop time. Students can work with partners or small groups to compose their best descriptive Halloween stories by following the steps of the writing process.
Halloween Descriptive Writing Lesson Plan
The teacher begins the lesson by playing scary Halloween music for the class. After listening to the music the kids talk about what the music made them think and feel. The teacher writes the words and phrases the students generate on chart paper. The teacher talks about Halloween and how everyone uses their imagination to make the holiday more fun.
The teacher then reads the elementary class a descriptive Halloween story or poem. The teacher prompts the students to identify the descriptive adjective and adverb phrases in the story that help set a scary or silly Halloween mood. The teacher writes a simple sentence on the front board and reads it to the students. The students add to and change the words and phrases in the sentence to make it more descriptive and fit for Halloween.
The teacher explains to the students that they are going to be composing their own Halloween stories during Writer’s Workshop time. She tells the students that they are going to get to choose one of the Halloween story starters and work with a partner or small group to use the writing prompt to write and edit their descriptive stories.
Halloween Story Starters or Writing Prompts for Elementary Kids
The teacher lists three Halloween themed writing prompts on the board for the elementary students to read. The students each choose one of the following story starter that they would like to finish writing about. The teacher groups the students together in pairs or small groups. The students work together to prewrite, write, revise and edit, rewrite and publish their Halloween stories during Writer’s Workshop time.
- This Halloween is going to be the best ever. I am going to…
- The key was old and rusty and almost broke as I turned it in the lock. Once I got inside I couldn’t believe my eyes, in front of me stood…
- When I came down to breakfast on Halloween morning I couldn’t stop laughing. My Dad was dressed as a…
After the students have finished their stories they use shoe boxes and art supplies to make dioramas illustrating an important scene from the story. The kids take turns reading the stories and sharing their dioramas to the class. The teacher displays the Halloween stories and dioramas in the school library for other classes to see.
For more Halloween themed lesson plans teachers can read the Halloween Creative Writing Lesson Plan, the Ten Little Pumpkins Poem and Math Lesson, and the How Pumpkins Grow Lesson Plan.
Megan Sheakoski - Megan Sheakoski is a teacher, mom and writer whose ideas have been featured in college text books, graduate courses, on websites and on ...
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