Fall is here and that means all things pumpkins, apples and Halloween! Although I live in Florida so the cooler weather takes a little longer to arrive here we still love to do all the fun fall things. By this time of the school year routines are in place and teachers have started working on core curriculum, but that doesn’t mean things have to be boring. I am going to share some of my favorite fall themed, standards-based activities for the upper elementary classroom!
Animals of October
Creepy, crawly critters are the mascots of October and the kids LOVE them! Tying in your reading and science standards while having fun learning about these animals is so easy. Diagrams and research, interactive note pages and grade level reading passages that require little prep are perfect to add into your plans during October to things you already have planned!
Fire Safety Teaching Resources
Fire safety week is October 9th. This is always a great time to not only have a fire safety refresher in your classroom, but also a great teachable moment for all things fire. I love multitasking like that! Nothing is easier than print and go and that is just what my fire safety unit is. With reading passages/questions as well as grammar pages, your reading block is going to be ready in no time. So many science options too with articles on what is fire and fire research.
Theme Day Activities
Theme days are one of my new favorites in the classroom! A theme day is when you take a theme, like football, and create learning activities for each subject based on that theme to use throughout the day. I like to use theme days as a class reward, to break up the monotony of everyday instruction, on holidays like Halloween, or just for fun! Here are three theme days that are perfect to use during October. You can learn more about each of these in the following blog posts.
Football Day blog post
Pumpkin Day blog post
Rock your School Day Post
Classroom Halloween Activities
My family loves Halloween! When you have 4 kids, its just a given! One of my very favorite things to do in my classroom is celebrating holidays and seasons. Halloween is no exception! This Halloween Math and Literacy unit contains 70 pages of standards centered, ready to go Halloween themed resources for you! Everything from ready to print math center activities to pages perfect for sub plans, morning work or early finisher activities. You can read more about my Halloween favorites in this blog post here.
If you want to add in some Halloween science, these human body units are perfect! Tie together learning about bones, the skeletal system, or blood with your Halloween fun. What kid doesn’t like learning about skeletons and blood during this time of year?!
Halloween Boom Cards
If you’ve been around my blog or TPT store since the start of the pandemic you know how much I have grown to LOVE Boom Cards. They are the perfect digital resource to use for just about everything in your classroom! Independent work, small group work, skill review, technology center, you name it. Boom cards can be used for it! I have so many decks ready for October including lots of 2nd and 3rd grade Halloween math skill decks as well as spider boom cards which are perfect to pair with the spider reading and science resource. I promise your kids will love them!
I hope these resources get you in a spooky mood and ready to have some fun in your classroom this October! Reach out on social media or email me if you need any help finding the perfect resources for your class. Happy teaching!
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