5th grade halloween writing activities

82+ Halloween Writing Prompts (+ Free Printable)

There are still a couple of weeks until Halloween, making it the perfect time to start writing some Halloween stories and poems. We understand that writing horror stories can be difficult, so here are over 82 Halloween writing prompts to help you out and even a free printable! Whether you only have 20 mins or 2 hours, these Halloween writing prompts should be perfect for getting those creative juices flowing. To get extra spooky with your story writing, you can even try combining some of these prompts into a mega story. Alternatively, why not write a scary story for each day until Halloween? Take a look at these Halloween picture prompts for more spooky inspiration!

For more Halloween inspiration, check out our horror book title generator or our list of horror writing prompts .

Halloween Writing Prompts:

Mu hahaha! Prepared to get creative this Halloween with our writing prompts.

• You’re a mad scientist. Today in your lab you are creating a new monster. Can you describe this monster? What does it look like? What do they eat? What do they smell like? You can use this monster name generator for some cool name ideas.
• Write a spooky story about three ghosts to tell around the campfire. Don’t forget to end on a big finale to scare everyone! (Check out our list of ghost name ideas for possible character name ideas.)
• One night, after carving a pumpkin, the pumpkin starts speaking to you.
• You hear a strange sound from your wardrobe, you open it and see…
• A bat flies into your room and says he needs your help.
• Describe your perfect haunted house . You can even draw a picture of it.
• What is the scariest thing you have ever seen? And are you still scared of it?
• You find some footprints leading into your house. What do you do?
• Your imaginary friend becomes real and starts causing trouble for you.
• Write 10 questions to interview a vampire and then answer them from the point of view of a vampire.
• Write a recipe for a witch’s brew. If you need an awesome name for your witch, check out our witch name generator .
• Write three acrostic poems using the words, Halloween, Witch and Frankenstein.
• Write a poem in any format you like about the scariest monster you have ever seen.
• Write down a detailed description of a recent nightmare that you have had.
• Your name is Connor. You are a troublemaker. What sort of problems do you think you would get into at your school Halloween party? Write about them!
• Write a gothic poem using the words creepy, ghouls, goblins and pitch-black. 
• Write a scary story about a group of friends playing a creepy version of Chinese Whispers, called Black Lotus. What consequences does this game have on their friendship?
• Write a script for a Halloween ghost stage show that includes a musical number.
• What happens when you dream of a creature that never sleeps? This creature is there when you wake up and there when you sleep. There’s no escaping it, or is there? 
• Write a poem that begins with the sentence: This night it’s your turn to die! How will you die?
• Write a ghost story using the book title idea: Catch A Ghost.
• Make a list of three things you love about Halloween and three things you hate about Halloween.
•  Write a scary story where a house does something supernatural and dangerous in order to stay in the Halloween spirit (it can even be a ghost that is haunting your house!).
• Imagine you are throwing the best Halloween party ever! How would you plan this party? Who will be at the party and what will happen at the party?
• Create a wish list of all the items you need for your Halloween party (dress, food, decorations…). How much money would you need?
• Think of 10 scary things that could happen on Halloween and brainstorm the consequences of each one.
• Find a relative of yours from the past who has passed away and imagine a conversation you might have with that person (for example Grandma: “When I was growing up…”).
• Think of a scary place where you would go on Halloween (it could be an old house, a building,…). What makes this place so scary?
• Candy is a huge part of Halloween, so why not think of something scary that you could do with your Halloween candy? Try to think of at least one idea.
• Write a short horror story about an evil, living pumpkin and its past.
• Write a ghost story that sounds like a haunted phone call that you would get if you called a non-existent person.
• Make a top ten list of the best Halloween costumes to wear.
• Make a list of your top five favourite Halloween candy or treats to eat.
• Do you follow any Halloween traditions or something that you do every year? If yes, why is this tradition important to you? Examples of common Halloween traditions include watching horror movies, going trick or treating, wearing costumes etc.
• If Halloween was banned in your town, would you care? Write a letter to your town mayor stating your opinion on Halloween. 
• Imagine you are a new student in school and you have to write a speech about Halloween. Write an interesting speech and share it with your friends and teachers.
• Write a newspaper article about a scary event that happens in your town every Halloween. 
• Make a top ten list of your favourite scary movies.
• Imagine you are a ghost and you want to haunt people. Where would you like to haunt people?
• Monster Mash is one the most popular songs to play on Halloween. Can you write your own spooky song for Halloween about monsters?
• Think of the worst Halloween treat you have ever eaten, and describe its taste in great detail.
• Make a top ten list of the scariest monsters or villains from books and movies.
• Trick or Treating is an ancient tradition that dates back to the middle ages. Back then it was known as mumming where people dressed up as creatures and performed tricks in exchange for food and drink. If you lived back then, what trick would you perform?
• Imagine your life as a ghost and you are chasing people to tell them what happens after death. What are you going to tell people?
• Think of any object in your room right now, and imagine that it was haunted by a ghostly spirit. What would it say or do?
• Write a how-to guide on how to scare people. What is the best way to terrify someone? What are some of the best things to use to scare someone?
• If you walked through a haunted house, what would be the scariest part?
• Do you think that trick-or-treating is just for little kids, or is this an activity that grown-ups should also be able to do?
•  Write a story about someone who gets lost in the woods on Halloween.
• Imagine a world, where instead of dressing up as monsters or creatures on Halloween, people dressed up as each other. Who would you dress up as and why?
• Write a newspaper article titled: The Biggest Trend Coming This Halloween Season!
• Have you ever seen a ghost and even if you didn’t believe in them, do you think they are real?
• Make a list of at least 5 activities to do on Halloween.
•  Think of a scary ghost from history or legend and write a ghost story about it. For example, some of the best ghost stories are based on true events like The Apparition of Madeleine or the Bloody Barrow in West Virginia.
• Write a Halloween story where ghosts and monsters appear and cause havoc all around town.
• Complete the following sentence in at least three different ways: Halloween is a time to…
• Write a newspaper article about the different Halloween traditions that exist around the world.
• Make a list of at least 5 scary words and use each one in a sentence. 
• Think of a time when you were scared of something and it was so bad that you couldn’t think about anything else. Describe what was going on around you.
• Write down a spell for turning people into toads. For this spell to work, it must rhyme. 
• Imagine that a ghost in your home is following you around. What would you do to scare it away?
• Write a scary story about a person who works at a pumpkin farm.
• Make a list of your greatest fears, and explain each one.
• Describe the world’s scariest clown. What would their name be? Think about their appearance and how they talk.
• Research and make a list of 5 interesting facts about Halloween.
• You’re hosting a Halloween dinner party at your house. Make a menu of the food you plan on serving your guests.
• Write a newspaper article about the history of Halloween and how it has changed over the years.
• Pretend you are on a ghost-hunting tour. Write a list of questions you will ask your tour guide.
• Imagine you are interviewing a real-life vampire for your school newspaper. Make a list of 5 questions you would ask this vampire. As a bonus, why not try answering these questions from the perspective of a vampire?
• Make a list of ten words related to Halloween, and use each one in a sentence.
• Complete the following sentence in at least three ways: If Halloween was a person, they would be…
• Would you rather be stuck in a graveyard on Halloween night, or lost in the woods? Explain your choice.
• Create your own Halloween greeting card – What spooky message will you include on the inside?
• Most people are scared of ghosts, but what do you think ghosts are scared of?
• Imagine you are invisible and you can hide anywhere in the world. Where would you hide and why?
• Write a limerick about a boy who drinks blood. You can start the limerick like this: There once was a boy who drank blood.
• Imagine that a ghost resides in your room, and every time you walk by, it laughs and tickles you. What should you do to stop it?
• Describe the monster that lives under your bed in great detail.
• Use the following story starter: A drop of blood, a handful of toenails and a pinch of ground-up teeth.  Timmy smiles and waits for things to come back.
• Use the following sentence to start your story: “Once upon a time, on Halloween night, there lived a guy named Sam…” 
• Use the following story starter: “So, which monster is going to eat you up tonight, little boy?”
• How do you think ghosts pick their victims? Make a list of things they look out for in their victims.
• Imagine you work for a spooky monster agency. Your task is to write up a job description for hiring a ghost to haunt people. What skills and traits are you looking for in a ghost?

For more Halloween writing prompts, check out our 31-Day October writing challenge ! You might also be interested in the list of over 62 fall writing prompts .

Halloween Writing Prompts Printable

Print out our spooky writing prompts to use offline. Perfect for when the electricity cuts off and all you have is the daylight or candlelight to write by. We even included a list of Halloween words to make your stories extra scary!

Share your Halloween stories with us!

Got a funny or scary Halloween story you want to share with us? We would love to read them! Comment your stories below or use the #imagineforest on social media to share them. You can even use the Imagine Forest story creator to publish your own stories online and share them with your friends. If you loved our 82+ Halloween writing prompts for kids, you’ll love our Halloween paper bookmark tutorial !

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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4 Bedazzling Halloween Writing Activities for Upper Elementary Students – Guaranteed Ghastly Engagement!

Why should you incorporate Halloween writing activities into your ELA block? Incorporating Halloween themed writing activities can be a great way to harness the enthusiasm and energy surrounding this holiday while also achieving educational goals and promoting writing skills. It adds an element of excitement to the writing process and can leave a lasting positive impression on students.

Let me give you 3 extraordinary reasons why you should incorporate Halloween Writing Activities into your ELA curriculum during this spooky season!

• Engagement: Halloween is a holiday that many students look forward to with excitement. Using Halloween-themed writing activities taps into this excitement and can motivate students to participate more actively in writing tasks.
• Creativity: Halloween allows for a wide range of creative writing opportunities. Students can write spooky stories, create imaginative characters, or describe eerie settings. This encourages them to use their creativity and imagination.
• Language Skills: Halloween-themed writing can help students practice and improve their language skills. They may need to use descriptive language, figurative language (e.g., similes and metaphors), and expand their vocabulary to convey the spooky atmosphere effectively.

Explore all of the Fall and Halloween Resources in my Store, Teaching with a Vision by Clicking here OR view them below!

1. Halloween Spooky Sentences Activities

This  Halloween Writing Activities Resource for 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade & 6th grade  focuses on having students write  creative, spooky sentences  with an emphasis on  building Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences .

It includes  6 Halloween sentence writing worksheets  with Halloween Graphics to spark students’ imagination,  Halloween sentence writing paper , a  narrative haunted house writing prompt  with a  Spooky   Word Bank List – great to use as a Halloween Bulletin Board Display.   Scaffolding for struggling writers is provided with sentence starters to help cement students’ understanding of each sentence type, making differentiation seamless.

Offered in Google Slides to assign in Google Classroom and a PDF Version for making copies.

Here’s what teachers are saying:

“My students loved having this resource for practice write simple and compound sentences. As I get further in the year to do complex sentences with my 5th graders, I think they will enjoy having Halloween at a strange time of year.”

“I used these sentence strips for students to use to write a spooky story. They were every engaging and the kids loved their story being displayed.”

Click on the images above to view or click here to view this spooky resource!

2. 32 Spooky Sentence Building Task Cards, 3rd 4th & 5th Grade

Get students engaged in this  Halloween Activity with 32 Halloween Task Cards  that have students  writing compound and complex sentences using Spooky Graphics to spark their Halloween imaginations . This recently updated unit provides  differentiated task cards based on the needs of your students .

Available in both PDF version and in Google Slides.

Click on the images above to view or click here .

3. BUNDLE: Simple, compound and Complex sentence Activity with Task Cards

Grab the Bundle for Resources 1 and 2 and SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!

Spark your students’ writing creativity with this  Halloween Writing Activities Bundle for 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade and 6th grade!  It includes  6 Halloween sentence writing worksheets for simple, compound and complex sentences,  using Spooky Graphics to spark their Halloween imaginations;  Anchor Charts for each of the 3 type of sentences; Halloween sentence writing paper;  a  narrative haunted house writing prompt  with a  SpookyWord Bank List  – great to use as a  Halloween Bulletin Board Display;  and  32 Halloween Task Cards  that are scaffolded and differentiated to allow students to successfully write compound and complex sentences, again using Spooky Graphics to ignite their imaginations!

“Used in groups with lab kiddos and on their own with advanced students. This definitely fit the needs of both groups. Nicely done!”

“Awesome resource!”

Click on each image above or Click here for the to grab the BUNDLE.

4. 6 Writing prompts & Parts of speech grammar activities Adjectives, verbs & adverbs

These engaging  Fall  or  Halloween Activities for 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th grade include 6 Writing Prompts ,  3   Halloween Grammar Worksheets that focus on Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives  that your students will simple love. These no prep Halloween or Fall Activities are a  terrific way to get reluctant writers eager to write  as it includes  6 writing prompts with word banks, narrative writing graphic organizers to support struggling writers, narrative writing checklist, a narrative writing rubric, and 3 Halloween Grammar Activities or worksheets to instill more descriptive language, including more  powerful verbs, adjectives and adverbs .

Digital in Google Slides and PDF version for printing.

View the images above or click here to explore this engaging resource.

In conclusion, as the leaves fall and the nights grow darker, these 4 Halloween writing activities are sure to ignite their creativity and embrace the spooky spirit of the season. So, grab your pens, summon your imagination, and let the magic of Halloween storytelling cast its spell on your classroom!

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Teaching with Jennifer Findley

Upper Elementary Teaching Blog

Halloween Activities and Ideas for Upper Elementary

When I first started teaching fifth grade, I was seriously bummed about the lack of seasonal activities and centers for upper elementary. It was pretty much limited to writing prompts and crossword puzzles/word searches. Upper elementary students can definitely have just as much (if not more!) Halloween fun as the younger students. Here are some of my favorite Halloween activities and student treats for the Halloween season.

Halloween Math Activities

Halloween math centers.

One activity that is definitely a staple in my classroom is the use of math centers. We actually do math center rotations two to three days a week during math instruction and my students always love them. To mix things up a bit, I like to switch out my normal math activities and centers for Halloween activities during the month of October (or at least the two weeks before and of Halloween).

These math centers shown below are from my Halloween Math Centers resource that can be found in my store. There are centers for 4th and 5th grade skills which helps meet the needs of all of my students since it is still pretty early in the school year. Click here to see the Halloween Math Centers in my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Halloween Math Printables

Another recent favorite resource of mine is my Differentiated Math Tasks . Once I created my non-seasonal set (with a chocolate theme!) for fractions, I knew I wanted more. I have started creating these tasks for each holiday.

Each task is available at two levels. Level 1 is the simpler level (perfect for 4th grade or struggling 5th graders) and level 2 is the more difficult level (perfect for 5th graders, advanced 4th graders, or struggling 6th graders). Another option is to use them both with your class. Sometimes I complete level 2 as a class and the students complete level 1 for independent work or homework. Click here to see the Halloween Differentiated Math Tasks in my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Halloween Math FREEBIE

For a FREE Halloween-themed math activity, I love this decimal place value review with “not-so-spooky” ghosts. Click here to grab the free math activity in my TpT store.

The Day After Halloween Math Task Cards – FREE

The day after Halloween can be just as crazy as the days leading up to the holiday. For free “Day After Halloween” math task cards for grades 4-5 that are perfect for the day after Halloween, click here or on the image shown.

Halloween Science Activities

For science and stem activities, we love making candy corn catapults and then exploring the scientific method with dissolving pumpkins.

Candy Corn Catapults

My students love making catapults and testing them out. Click here or on the image below to read a few more details and grab free printables. There are also a few more candy corn freebies on this post so make sure you check them out!

Dissolving Candy Corn Pumpkins

Click here for more information on the dissolving pumpkins experiment and to download the free simple recording sheets that I use.

Halloween Writing Activities

Halloween writing prompts for all genres.

I use a Writing Workshop format for writing instruction, but I still like to use seasonal prompts . The students love them, too. I have seasonal writing prompts for each major holiday in all three writing genres. Sometimes I use all three and sometimes I pull out a specific genre that I want the students to practice.

Halloween Grammar Activities

Halloween grammar task cards.

Just as much as my students love math centers, they also love grammar centers. We only do grammar/language centers once a week due to time constraints. Typically, we do my non-seasonal task cards and my grammar roll and answer games, but I love to use seasonal task cards, too.  Click here to see the Halloween Grammar Task Cards in my TeachersPayTeachers store. The resource includes four sets of task cards that review figurative language, conjunctions, commas, and titles.

For the day of or before Halloween, I like to tape these task cards around the room and have the students move around the room, answering the questions. This type of activity helps channel their excitement and get it out of their system. 🙂

Halloween Themed FREE Grammar/Language Review Activity

Another engaging activity for Halloween is using Halloween themed graphics to review grammar skills such as parts of speech and figurative language. Click here to grab this engaging Halloween language freebie!

Halloween Reading Activities

Halloween reading comprehension activities.

Moving right on to reading, I love using seasonal/holiday themed reading activities to review skills AND engage my readers. The students love reading these high-interest stories. I typically use these for homework during the month of October. Click here to see the Halloween Reading Comprehension Activities in my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Halloween Paired Passages

I also love using Halloween Themed Paired Passages . This resource includes two themed and connected paired passages (four passages in all). Each set of passages comes in a traditional worksheet format and in an interactive notebook format. The students love the interactive notebook version. I typically use these sets for guided reading instruction the week before and during Halloween; one set a week. Click here to see the Halloween Paired Passages in my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Halloween Read Alouds with FREE Printables

Of course, I cannot forget about Halloween read-alouds. My students love read-alouds but they really love holiday-themed ones. Click here to see my favorite Halloween picture books and grab free printables to use with the books.

Halloween Figurative Language Sort

I have these super fun figurative language sorts in my store. The students will sort lollipops to the correct trick-or-treat bucket based on what figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification, and hyperbole) is being described or used in the sentence.

Halloween Party and Treat Ideas

Halloween treats (not candy).

Now let’s talk Halloween Treats that are NOT candy- because let’s be real, our students definitely get enough candy!

Here are a few options for treats that I have given out over the years. The homework pass is a favorite every year. The popcorn is always popular, too. The “Here’s a Treat” card is pretty generic so you can give candy if you want. A really fun idea is to give the students an orange or tangerine and let them decorate it with a pumpkin face. Click here to grab the Halloween Treat Cards for FREE!

In addition to the treats, I also love passing these Halloween bookmarks out at the beginning of the month. There are six different options so you have some choice, or you can let the students choose. I printed them on colored cardstock, but you could print them on white cardstock and let the students color them. Click here to grab the Halloween Bookmarks for FREE.

Halloween Classroom Party Ideas

For a fun party idea, I love this mystery bag activity! Click here or on the image below to read more about this fun Halloween activity!

Finally, I like to have my students calm down a bit at the end of the day or after a Halloween party with a Halloween coloring page. Click here or on the image to download a free Halloween coloring page for your students!

More FREE Halloween Activities: Exclusive Email Freebies

If you want even more Halloween activities for math and literacy (including a reading review mini-booklet, no prep printables, and math puzzles), make sure you join my email and get access to the freebie library. Click here or on the image to get all the details and sign up today!

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4th Grade Halloween Math Printables

5th Grade Halloween Math Printables

And there you have it: my go-to resources to have a Halloween-themed, but academic school month. What resources are your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

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October 16, 2018 at 11:03 am

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7 writing activities for Halloween

Boo! It’s time to get your scare on: hello, Halloween!

Many of us love to dress up for Halloween, but it’s also the perfect time to go beyond spooky sartorial choices and inspire creativity in the writing classroom.

These 7 spooky writing activities for Halloween will help your students create a creepy tale or two.

The Creepy Castle | Creepy Character Profiles | Through the Keyhole | Picture Writing Prompts | Persuasive Fast Starts Challenge | Spooky Stories | Petrifying Poems

1. The Creepy Castle writing prompt

Perfect for all year levels, this fun writing prompt will provide lots of fun this Halloween. This activity encourages students to use descriptive writing to show rather than tell (Step 5).

Show us what kind of character lives in a castle like this.

What do they love to do?

What is their pet like?

Access the teaching notes for this writing prompt!

Start your FREE Teacher Hub trial then click on the link below to download the resource.

It includes:

• Writing Prompt – The Creepy Castle (Step 5: Show, Don’t Tell )
• five ways to use the writing prompt
• thinking questions
• additional links
• ‘In the Moment’ editable template.

Your Teacher Hub trial gives you access to almost 300 other writing resources!

2. Creating Creepy Character Profiles

This activity and template has been extracted from our new Narrative Writing Manual .

For a story to have tension, the writer must create characters with depth that the reader can empathise with.

• Start by discussing characters from familiar spooky stories. What do we know about them? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What makes us care about them?
• As a class, brainstorm a list of possible spooky characters (e.g. a vampire, a mummy, Frankenstein).
• Ask students to form pairs and pick a character from the class list, then brainstorm ideas to create a profile of their chosen character using template below from the Narrative Writing Manual.
• Ask students to write a brief description of their spooky character based on the ideas in the profile. Challenge them to write it in a way that makes the reader want to know more.

Download your free template

3. Through the Keyhole Template

• Ask students to imagine they are looking through a keyhole. Is it a haunted house? A goblin’s grotto? A dungeon?
• Students can use the template to draw what they see, then write about it below. Don’t forget to capture the reader’s attention with a Sizzling Start.

Download the template

4. Picture writing prompts

These eerie and magical images are perfect visual prompts to help your students focus on specific writing skills.

View more free Seven Steps Writing Prompts: Narrative | Persuasive | Informative

Teacher Hub members: Remember to log in to gain access to the teaching notes for these Halloween writing prompts including:

• ‘In The Moment’ graphic organiser to help students writing more descriptive
• related media links.

Not a member? Start your 14-day free trial (no payment details required).

5. Persuasive Fast Starts Challenge

This is one of the best ways to increase your students’ engagement and bring the fun into your writing lessons.

• Trick-or-treating is dangerous
• Ghosts do exist
• Vampires vs werewolves
• Halloween is better than Christmas
• Being scared is fun
• Set a 60 second timer – try this one .
• Students write a Sizzling Start for each topic. After going through each topic, every student should have 5 different Sizzling Starts.
• Ask students to share their favourite Sizzling Start in groups of 3–4. This will help them generate more ideas, develop concepts and learn from each other.

New to the Seven Steps? Try the Sizzling Starts Transformation Challenge – it has all the resources you need to learn, teach, apply and assess Step 2: Sizzling Starts.

6. Spooky Stories

Using random words as the basis for a story is a great way to spark students’ creativity.

• As a class, watch the spooky story in the following video (watch from 1:30 to 2:20):

• Get each student to write a word they associate with spooky stories on a strip of paper.
• Place the strips of paper into a hat.
• Ask each student to pull a strip of paper from the hat.
• Get students to form groups of three and work together to write their own spooky story based on their words.

For example: attic, moon, bat.

‘She pushed open the attic door. It made a long, high-pitched creaking sound. She slowly tiptoed into the  darkroom and tried the light switch. No luck. Something rustled in the corner of the room, disturbed by her entrance.

‘I hope it’s a mouse,’ she shuddered.

The moon shone its faint light through the small window. Slowly, a shadow began to appear: large wings, a pointed head. A bat, bigger than any ordinary bat.’

7. Petrifying poems

The poems in the following videos are a a great example of Step 5: Show Don’t Tell. Watch the video as a class then get your students to create their own Show, Don’t Tell poetry.

For younger students:

One dark night, in the middle of the day….

For older students:

The vampire by conrad aiken.

The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

Want to continue improving your students’ poetry writing?

• Blog: ‘Instructions’ – A poem by Neil Gaiman  may help students think a little differently about writing a poem.
• Action Activity & writing samples: Teaching Poetry with the Seven Steps
• Story Graphs – Poe ms

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Halloween Activities that Teach

Halloween can be a crazy day for teachers in the classroom. In all of the excitement of the day, students are bound to be a little extra. Keeping them focused on learning can be a huge challenge.

In this post, I will share some activities that I do with my students to make sure that it is not a lost day. I used to just skip over holidays in the classroom since we needed to stay on pace to cover the standards. That wasn’t fun for the students or me. Now, I incorporate the holiday in the activities we do throughout the day without having to dress up (which we aren’t permitted to do) or even having a party. The kids have so much fun; they think it is a party.

Halloween Activities that also Teach

First, I sit down and look at my schedule for that day to see which subjects need to be covered. I use this day as an opportunity to review what we’ve been working on for the last two months of school. It’s a great time to get a sense of what is sticking with your students so far and what they may need more practice with. I want to cover the standards that we’ve been working on while incorporating the holiday into our day. It truly helps the students to have a fun day without all of the craziness of a party.

Schedule of Activities

Here are the examples for each subject of what we do. Students have focused work to complete that is also fun so that we can enjoy the holiday together. They start looking forward to more holidays, and we will still practice important concepts in a fun way.

First thing in the morning we have math class. For math, I use my set of Halloween centers for students to complete and rotate. This is such fun for the students, and I pick out the centers on the topics that we have already covered. I use the cards in the set to set up 4-5 stations throughout the room. Each student gets recording sheets for the centers so that they can keep track of the work they do and I can hold them accountable while they are rotating. Check out all the centers on TpT by clicking here .

Since the cards can be used in so many different ways, I set up a nice variety of games to keep them engaged. One center may be the power of 10 cards with a game board (included), game pieces, and a die. Students flip a card, and everyone answers on their recording sheets. Once everyone has their answer, someone checks the answer sheet, and everyone that was correct moves. Or I may put the cards with a mini basketball game where students need to answer, and if correct, they shoot the basketball for a bonus point. Another idea is to go to the dollar store and grab a bunch of Halloween stuff to use in the games. I got these ping pong eyeballs there and put them in a big cup, and if the students answer correctly, they get to try and bounce the eyeball into the cup.

My favorite is someone bought these centers last year from me, and they used them to create glow games! So cool! She had the cards set up at different stations and used light sticks, black lights, invisible ink, and more! The students were so engaged, and they had a lot of fun practicing their math! Find the cards used by clicking here.

She found almost all of her supplies on Amazon. She got ring lights, glow sticks, blacklights, hats, and invisible ink pens.

Another great center for math is these Halloween review puzzles. There is a 3rd-grade set , a 4th-grade set , and a 5th-grade set . They work on ANY device with an internet connection which makes them super versatile. Have students record their answers for accountability. Great for independent practice, partner work, centers, early finishers, and 1:1 classrooms.

For writing, we just had some fun with a few Halloween writing prompts that I typed up real quick for them. I made five different ones so that the students could have some choice in what they wrote about. Once they got their prompts, they were to brainstorm some ideas and get to writing. They enjoyed being able to write about Halloween. It was a nice break from the other essays that we’ve been working on. Here’s the set of writing prompts for you to download if you’d like them. They can be found in this free download.

Reading/S.S

For reading class, I wanted them to practice a bunch of reading standards but still wanted to incorporate the holiday. I also found that a lot of students knew what the holidays were but didn’t necessarily know the meaning behind holidays or where they originated. They even had a totally incorrect idea of what the holiday was about on some holidays. That’s the reason behind creating these Holiday Close Reading Passages with Mystery Pictures, and this Halloween set has some great topics in it! I wanted to TEACH them about the holiday while incorporating some fun AND also practicing the standards. These passages are PERFECT for all of that. Check out the bundle of all holidays on TpT by clicking here .

The Halloween set includes a non-fiction passage about the history of Halloween and one about Halloween around the world. I also include one fiction passage about Samhain for practicing some of those fiction standards. Each passage features 3 levels of text. The lowest level is written for 3rd graders, the middle level for 4th-5th graders, and the highest level for 6th graders. It’s great! Because they want to color their mystery picture correctly, they work really hard to read the passage and answer the questions. I’ve even included writing prompts and graphic organizers in the set to cover even more of the standards. Find this set of close reads on TpT by clicking here .

There is also this super fun self-checking Google Form activity for the ELA skill review for Halloween. All of the paragraphs are Halloween themed and students work through each set of 10 questions in order to earn DIGITAL Halloween stickers to decorate their DIGITAL items. Halloween Sticker Style ELA Skill Review is the perfect no-prep activity to do anytime during the month of October and into November.

For Science, I bought some gummy-like pumpkins and a bunch of toothpicks. Each group received a bag with the same amount of each item and a planning page.

They needed to look at their supplies and create an inventory of their items. Then they made a plan to create the largest standing structure that they could. Before they were allowed to start building, they needed to discuss and agree on a final plan and then complete the planning part of the page. They added a few sentences about their plan.

Before they got started on building, we decided that we’d be judging their structures in 3 categories….tallest, most solid standing, and most creative. Once we finished that, they were to construct their structures.

It was so fun to see them so excited and engaged with this activity. I love watching their minds work as they try to build their planned structure. Some had to revisit, analyze, and modify their plans as they built their structures due to inconsistencies between what they planned and how it was working out for them in reality. They talked about this activity for the rest of the year! I’ve even done similar ones with other classes on Valentine’s Day, Christmas, etc. Just change the type of gummy used and get to work! Can be found in the free download.

I realized one year when I asked my students that many of them had never painted or carved a pumpkin. A local farmer sells pumpkins down the street and would give me a discount for buying lots of them. I just purchased a small one for each of my students so that we could do that as one of our Halloween Day activities. It cost me about $15 in total. I was able to get paint and brushes from the art teacher, so I didn’t have that cost. If you have to buy your own paint, the craft store always has a pretty cheap brand of paint. I got them to do with my kids at home, and they were about $0.59 per color.

The excitement that I saw from my students when they saw the pumpkins was priceless.  They were SO EXCITED! While they worked on their reading passages, I would have small groups of students come to my small group table to work on their pumpkins. It worked perfectly.

The students were engaged in their reading passages and happily waited their turn to be able to paint their pumpkins. Then I would only have 4-5 students at a time working on painting since I had minimal supplies and the thought of all of them painting at once takes me back to my subbing days when I had to sub for an art teacher. Let’s just say I have mad respect for art teachers even since then.

You can find out how I incorporate additional holiday fun in these posts:

8 Ways to Use Leftover Candy in Your Classroom

Halloween Glow Games for Upper Elementary

Halloween-Themed Review Activities for Upper Elementary

Planning for the Holiday Season in your Elementary Class Made Easy

I’d love to hear about the Halloween activities you do that also teach! I’m always looking for fresh ideas! Have a great holiday with your students! 

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Free Halloween Activities for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

What teacher doesn't love the lack of self control we see every October around Halloween? Between the inevitable sugar high, the excitement of costumes and trick-or-treating, trying to teach upper elementary students around the end of October can seem like a hopeless cause.

However, it is possible to take advantage of the excitement our students have towards Halloween. By planning Halloween themed activities (or October/fall themed activities if your school avoids holiday talk), you can try to bring some of that excitement into student learning.

Below are some great activities created by a variety of teachers that can be used in the classroom around Halloween for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. And best of all, they are all FREE!

Free Halloween Reading and Writing Activities

October Themed Conversation Starters and Writing Prompts Use these questions during a morning meeting, or have partners or small groups ask these October themed questions to each other. Students must read a fun question to their partner(s), and then their partners answers it orally.

This is a great team building activity, class meeting activity, or get-to-know-you activity.  Use the paper or digital version (for Google Slides).

You can also use the writing paper provided to help you easily use these questions as writing prompts.

History of Halloween Reading Passage with Comprehension Questions Students read a reading comprehension passage about Halloween, and then answer comprehension questions. A main idea graphic organizer is also provided, as well as a Venn Diagram that has students compare Halloween in the past to Halloween now.

Two levels of reading passages are also provided.

Fun Halloween Writing  9 fun Halloween writing prompt ideas.  Monsters, pumpkins, spiders, and more.

Halloween Grammar Pack Students have to correct the grammar mistakes in the Halloween themed sentences.

This resource addresses personal pronouns, word order, irregular plurals, noun-verb agreement, and irregular past tense.

Trick AND Treat Reading Comprehension Play a trick on your students AND give them a treat with this Halloween activity!

First, play a trick on your students with a Halloween themed directions page. If students read all of the instructions first (like they are told to), then they will only have to complete steps 1 and 2 of the activity. However, most of the students will not follow instructions and end up doing more than four times the amount of work than they need to.

Then, give your students a treat. Have them read a Halloween reading comprehension passage and answer questions. The questions lead students to their treat - no homework!

Are your students still struggling with finding the main idea / central idea? This scaffolded resource is designed to help struggling students better understand this difficult skill. Students will learn:

• that titles give clues about the main idea
• that details should support the main idea
• the difference between main idea and details
• how to find the main idea in short and long text

Help your students be successful with main idea!

Free Halloween Math Activities

Halloween Themed Word Problems 6 Halloween themed word problems for students to complete. Geared towards upper elementary students.

Halloween Math with Candy Use Halloween candy to practice math skills. A fun activity for students to complete, but they must have an understanding of prime/composite numbers, as well as factors and multiples in order to be successful.

Mixed Math Practice Practice multiplication and word problems with these Halloween themed resources. Includes a mystery picture, a multiplication coloring page, a secret code activity, and more!

Free "Just for Fun" Halloween Activities

Would You Rather Questions One of my favorites that you can use as a partner, small group, or whole class activity. Ask students these Halloween themed Would You Rather Questions and get them thinking! Some of these could also be used as writing prompts for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students.

Halloween Joke Book A book students can make of Halloween jokes! Get a little reading practice in by having them read jokes with the jokes with a partner.

"Healthy Bones" Halloween Party If you are planning on throwing a Halloween party for your class, then this might help. Includes a note home to parents about bringing healthy snacks for the party, as well as a game you can play during your party.

Dissolving Candy Corn A fun experiment that has students dissolve candy corn in several different solutions.

Never Stress Over Sub Plans Again!

Make copies, find a fiction book, and you'll be ready for any emergency that comes your way!

These are awesome! Thank you so very much!

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200 Halloween Words for Writing, Vocab, and More (Free Printable)

Capture the eerie horror of the spooky season!

Gearing up for some Halloween writing activities? You’ll want this list of evocative Halloween words to share with your students. Start by grabbing the free printable, then try some of our favorite Halloween activities for all ages.

How To Use Halloween Words in the Classroom

There are so many ways to use these creative words with your students. Some ideas you might try:

Build Vocabulary

Have students pick 10 words from the list that are new to them. Then use those words for your weekly vocab activities. Need some new vocab ideas? Check out this big list of vocabulary activities for every grade.

Compose Poems

Whether kids write Halloween poetry that’s spine-chillingly scary or funny and sweet, they’ll need lots of the words found on this list. Read these Halloween poems first for inspiration.

Make a Bulletin Board

Fill a bulletin board with Halloween icons like ghosts, pumpkins, and bats, each featuring their own word from the list. Explore these Halloween bulletin boards and doors for more ideas.

Write Short Stories

First, read some of the best spooky stories from masters of the craft like Poe and Lovecraft. Then, challenge kids to write their own, using as many words from the list as they can. Here are 10 scary short stories kids and teens will love.

Respond to Writing Prompts

Give students prompts related to Halloween, and encourage them to incorporate the words found below in their writing. Here are 20 spooky writing prompts plus free printable Halloween writing paper!

Halloween Word List

Halloween words that start with a, halloween words that start with b.

• Blood-curdling

Halloween Words That Start With C

Halloween words that start with d, halloween words that start with e, halloween words that start with f.

• Frankenstein

Halloween Words That Start With G

Halloween words that start with h.

• Hocus-pocus

Halloween Words That Start With I

• Incantation

Halloween Words That Start With J

• Jack-o’-lantern

Halloween Words That Start With K

Halloween words that start with l, halloween words that start with m, halloween words that start with n.

• Netherworld

Halloween Words That Start With O

Halloween words that start with p.

• Poltergeist

Halloween Words That Start With Q

Halloween words that start with r, halloween words that start with s.

• Shape-shifter
• Supernatural

Halloween Words That Start With T

• Transylvania
• Trick-or-treat

Halloween Words That Start With U

Halloween words that start with v, halloween words that start with w.

• Will-o’-the-wisp

Halloween Words That Start With X, Y, and Z

Get your free halloween words printable.

Print copies and hand out to students to use for writing assignments, vocabulary practice, and more! Just click the button below to share your email address and get instant access to the list. Then share your ideas for using it on our We Are Teachers Helpline Facebook group.

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10 Festive Halloween Writing Activities for the Upper Elementary Classroom

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Halloween writing activities are so much fun! There is just something wonderful about this spooky fall holiday in the classroom. . . Because the learning doesn’t stop for holidays and parties, I’m providing a list of 10 fun Halloween writing activities to enjoy the holiday and the season while learning at the same time!

Happy writing!

10 Fun Halloween Writing Activities

1 . Spooky Story Contest : Challenge your students to write a spooky story or poem that is no longer than one page. The best stories can be read aloud at the class Halloween party, with Halloween prizes for the best entries!

2. Halloween Acrostic Poem : Have your students create an acrostic poem using the letters of “HALLOWEEN.” Each line should focus on a Halloween-related word beginning with the corresponding letter. This is a great way to get students’ brains going while keeping with the fun holiday theme!

3. Plan a Halloween Party: Have students practice writing without really feeling like they are practicing writing by asking them to plan a Halloween party! Using this Plan a Halloween Party Bite Sized Writing PBL , you’ll have a whole set of already prepared Halloween writing activities for students to complete on their way to planning a Halloween party!

4. Creepy Descriptive Writing: Invite your students to use their imaginations and come up with creative descriptions of scary characters or scenes, such as a haunted house or a witch’s potion brewing in her cauldron. This is one of my favorite Halloween writing activities for fostering creativity! Provide them with ready-made fall writing prompts and guidelines based on your goals and allow their ideas to flow!

5. Word Play: Have your students create a Halloween-related story by using only words that start with the letter “H.” This can be as creative or spooky as they want it to be. You could assign one letter to different groups to create a class writing board that spells out a Halloween related word! Fun Halloween writing activities that double as classroom decor are the best!

6. Design a Haunted House: Incorporate a little bit of math along with writing in this fun and interactive project based learning activity! With no prep and pre-made worksheets, this is a great option for a stress free and oh so fun Halloween writing activity, and you can find it here!

7. Mystery Writing: Place a mysterious item in the middle of the classroom and have each student come up with a story about where it came from, who owns it, and why it’s so special. Once again, this activity leaves plenty of opportunity for you to add in your needs or guidelines for your students to follow!

8. Create a Candy Informational Writing: Allow students to use their imaginations to create a candy , advertise the candy, and use various activities to inform on their invention! One of my favorite Halloween writing activities for informative writing without the sometimes boring prompts!

9. Halloween News Report: Have your students pretend they are reporters and create a news report about a strange event that happened in the town on Halloween night. You can provide a list of prompts for students or leave it all to their imagination!

10. Make Your Own Monster: Challenge your students to come up with their own monster, complete with traits, special powers, and a backstory. They can draw a picture of their creature and write a story about it. Have them share their monsters with the class to see who has the scariest one! You can display the monsters at the end for a Halloween classroom decoration!

I sure hope that you’ve found some winners among this collection of Halloween writing activities because holidays in the classroom are a big deal and deserve to be celebrated amongst the learning!

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Shelly Rees

Hi, I’m Shelly! Thank you for being here. I love helping third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers with fun and engaging activities that require no to little prep! Let me help you by taking some of the stress and work off your plate.

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Halloween Reading & Writing (Grades 2-6)

Printable Halloween-themed reading, writing, grammar, and spelling worksheets for your students. Files include reading comprehension passages, writing prompts, poems, and graphic organizers.

For Phonics & Early Literacy worksheets (grades PreK, K, 1), please see our Halloween Early Literacy page.

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Quickly access your most used files AND your custom generated worksheets!

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Reading Comprehension Fiction

Reading Comprehension Poems

Reading comprehension non-fiction.

Halloween Writing Worksheets

Proofreading

STW has Halloween math worksheets, Halloween spelling, and Halloween coloring pages. There are crafts and puzzles too!

This page has resources for young readers in PreK, Kindergarten, and 1st Grades. Includes phonics worksheets, build-a-word activities, and word card sorting games.

Download a reading comprehension passage and coloring pages to help students learn about Day of the Dead .

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