5 Last Minute Spooky ELA Lessons

If the thought of teaching on Halloween is sending chills down your spine, check out these 5 last minute spooky ELA ideas. They are all stand alone activities and perfect for a one day and done lesson. ⁠

Idea 1: Read "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe

Introduce the idea of unreliable narrator with an abridged and adapted version of "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe, a spooky story by the master of horror. 

Reading a short story that isn't centered around Halloween is a great way to spread the spooky spirit if incorporating the holidays into your classroom is against school policy or just inconsiderate due to students' different religious backgrounds.

The lesson includes point of view practice as well as text dependent and creative writing activities after students finish reading. Students will love reimagining the story from an alternate character's perspective.

Idea 2: Read "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe

Dig into an eerie classic with a close reading of the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe paired with viewing its rendition from The Simpsons, in which Homer is haunted by Bart in bird form. Like "The Black Cat," it is a great text for evaluating the reliability of a narrator.

Another possibility is pairing it with Amanda Lovelace’s piece titled "The Raven (Remix)," a blackout poetry contribution featured in the YA Edgar Allan Poe-inspired anthology His Hideous Heart: Thirteen of Edgar Allan Poe’s Most Unsettling Tales Reimagined edited by Dahlia Adler.

After reading students can tackle one of two text dependent writing prompts and create a six cell cartoon strip summarizing the poem.

Idea 3: Make A Tombstone

Ask students to summarize or synthesize learning from multiple sources to create a tombstone for an author, character or historical figure.

This free activity can be used as an extension activity or an assessment of students' knowledge. Other creative possibilities could be the “death” of a word, expression, book, or bad habit.

If you do this activity in the days leading up to Halloween, you can cut out and hang the tombstones to spookify your classroom.

Idea 4: Write Two Sentence Horror Stories

Work through the writing process of brainstorming, drafting, revising, and producing a final draft in just one class period with two sentence horror stories.

I put on some spooky playlists, show students a few examples, and then push students to write and rewrite, as they look at their word choice to choose stronger verbs and more specific nouns, and to add sensory details. 

Some years I've had student write their final drafts on paper and illustrate them and other years I've had student design Slides with their two sentence horror stories to make it easy to present them to the class.

Idea 5: Learn About The History of Halloween

Focus on the history of Halloween with a nonfiction close reading that makes connections between an NPR article and FDR's speech at Madison Square Garden.

Seasonal nonfiction close readings like this one are an easy way to incorporate nonfiction texts that your students will actually be interested in reading. A rigorous articles from National Public Radio is paired with ten questions aligned with the Informational Common Core standards. 

Seven engaging suggested after reading activities make cross curricular connections, and include service learning and project based learning ideas.

Two Sentence Horror Stories: Build Students' Writing Skills Even on Halloween

This year I am pushing my students to write and rewrite, to look at their word choice and choose stronger verbs and more specific nouns, to add sensory details. This Halloween will be no different.

I like to do a writing activity on Halloween because although I teach sixth grade, I think older kids should get to enjoy some holiday fun just like the little ones. Last year I had my students write two sentence horror stories and I'll be doing it again this year. To set the mood, I picked out some spooky music from YouTube. There's a ton of choices out there, but this year I have a bunch of Harry Potter fans so I may use this playlist from the films.

I start out introducing two sentence scary stories by showing students just a few examples. I show them one that uses dialogue, one that is fairly short, and one that has more description. I don't like to show them too many because then they'll struggle to come up with their own ideas. For that same reason, the examples I show are not the the spookiest either. If you are looking for more examples, there's some spine tingling ones here.

After looking at examples, students brainstorm a plot for their two sentence story, responding to a series of questions covering the who, what, when, where, and why? Then students write a first draft.

Next up is peer revisions. Students swap papers with a peer who identifies places to add sensory details, possibilities for stronger verbs, and nouns that could be more specific. After getting a peer's feedback, students write a second draft which must be approved by me before they can write out and decorate a final copy. I put in this approval step mostly to just make sure nothing inappropriate is written, but mostly last year I had to keep telling students their story wasn't actually spooky.

If you'd like to use this lesson, you can find the instructions here and the handout here. Happy writing!

Fun Fall Finds: Resources for the Secondary ELA Classroom

The fall can be a daunting time in the classroom. The weather is getting cooler and the days are getting darker. The excitement of back to school has ended and the "honeymoon" phase with your students is over too. Their behavior is less than perfect, they are starting to get chatty, and winter vacation seems so far away. You can bring some excitement back into your classroom and re-engage your students by recognizing some of the smaller holidays or events in between now and Christmas break, such as Halloween, Daylight Savings, and Election Day. If your school frowns upon recognizing holidays of any kind, you can also bring some spookiness into your classroom with a lesson or two or even a unit on Edgar Allan Poe (one of my favorite authors!) combining fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and argument writing.

Increasing the amount of nonfiction you use in your classroom can be a challenge, especially if your school is still using textbooks predominantly filled with literature. Seasonal nonfiction close readings are an easy way to incorporate nonfiction texts that your students will actually be interested in reading. Rigorous articles from sources such as The New York Times and National Public Radio are paired with ten questions aligned with the Informational Common Core standards. Suggested after reading activities make connections with math, science, history, and more. Check out my seasonal nonfiction close readings on the history of Halloween, why Daylight Savings makes no sense, and why Election Day is always a Tuesday. You can read about how one secondary English teacher uses my seasonal nonfiction readings in her classroom here. Look for readings on Thanksgiving and Pearl Harbor Day coming soon.

If incorporating the holidays into your classroom is against school policy or just inconsiderate due to students' different religious backgrounds, considering spreading the scary spirit with author Edgar Allan Poe. It would be difficult for me to chose a favorite Poe short story, but "The Black Cat" is definitely one of them. I mean, who doesn't love a drunk guy who goes crazy and stabs his cat in the eye for ignoring him?! I use an adapted version of the short story to make it accessible for all levels of students. It's an excellent text for discussing the reliability (or unreliability) of a first person narrator.  

Like Poe's short stories, I don't think I could pick just one Poe poem to teach, but "The Raven" is the one I use this time of year. After doing a close reading with my students, we compare the original text with The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" episode in which Homer is haunted by Bart in bird form. Like "The Black Cat," it is a great text for evaluating the reliability of a narrator; students respond to a constructed response prompt on the topic. Another possible constructed prompt is examining how the setting creates mood in the poem. I also like to focus on summarizing with "The Raven" and ask students to write both a written summary and create a cartoon strip form of the poem.

After introducing students to some of Poe's colorful characters, I keep their interest piqued with a series of nonfiction readings on the different possible causes of Poe's death, culminating with an argument essay in which students must select and defend a view point. A highly structured, step-by-step essay writing guide supports even my lowest level writers. During the writing process, I also use a choice board of activities which students complete independently while I work with small groups on their essays. Students are engaged in options such as writing an acrostic poem like the one written to Poe by his wife or creating a timeline of major events in Poe's life, while I assist struggling students with outlining the argument of their essay.