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Candy corn changed my life.
Every October, I feel a little meh. It’s not the students, it’s not the curriculum, I don’t think it’s me… it’s just the time of year. There are no breaks on the horizon and nothing is new and shiny anymore.
Then all of a sudden it’s almost Halloween and we’re zooming to Thanksgiving break. I used to ignore Halloween teaching-wise and just kept plodding through my curriculum. Then I realized that I could take advantage of the enthusiasm around the holiday and work it in my favor.
Here are my 3 favorite Halloween activities for English Language Arts, all could be completed in 1 or 2 class periods for grades 4-12th.
#1 Candy Corn Argument
One year, I got into a debate with some students about candy corn. I LOVE IT, but they had the audacity to oppose my view. Other kids chimed in on either side and others said they’d never tried it. I came to class the next day armed with bags of the good stuff. I challenged them to write an argument in favor of or opposed to candy corn.
Because we had just wrapped up a unit on argumentative writing, they were primed and ready. I told them extra points for incorporating rhetorical appeals (I teach high school) and it took off from there. It was one of the most fun lessons I’ve ever taught and I have repeated it every year. Here’s the lesson plan I use every year, including the slide deck. This was a super fun Halloween writing activity!
I definitely recommend having some candy corn on hand for students to snack on while they write. It helps them engage their full senses and makes it a little more exciting. I usually prep cups of 5 or so pieces per student. If you really want to get into it, you can “plant” the topic a few days ahead of time. I have students discuss their favorite/least favorite candy. After that, I usually do a quick poll to see what they think about Candy Corn.
#2 Short Story Read-aloud
Pick a fun, “scary” short story and read it to your students. I try to make this as un-academic as possible, just some fun reading.
My favorite is in Richard Peck’s Past Perfect, Present Tense and it’s called “The Most Important Night of Melanie’s Life.” The main character, Melanie, gets stuck at home watching her brothers until the babysitter can come. Once he arrives, she thinks he’s cute and they flirt a little (to the humorous chagrin of her younger brothers).
There’s a fun spooky story within the story and a twist at the end (I won’t spoil it) that will leave your students literally gasping.
I’ve read it to students ages 11 through high school, even my 12th graders loved sitting and listening.
#3 Trick or Treat Writing Prompts
Just about all teenagers love candy in some form or another. This time of the year provides a great opportunity for them to write about it!
Because I’ve taught different curriculums/grade levels, sometimes Halloween has hit at a time where my students are writing in any of the 3 main genres: argumentative, narrative, or informative.
I developed this pack of writing prompts so that I would always be ready with options to assign. Some years, I’ve only had time for them to do a quick extended paragraph instead of a full-blown written piece. Other times, we’ve worked through the whole writing process with one of the prompts, using the graphic organizers and rubric to guide students.
Here’s to October being far more thrilling!
