Halloween Adjectives...A Quick and Easy Idea

Today we reviewed adjectives. For some reason this part of speech has been a bit tricky for my group this year.  I'm not complaining though because I love adjectives and all the fun things you can do to teach/reinforce them.

Since tomorrow is Halloween, I had the students create a Halloween Adjectives book.  This book was completely student made.  That is, I did not create any sort of template.  Instead, I simply took two sheets of copy paper, folded them in half, and stapled along the fold.

After briefly reviewing what an adjective is (a word that describes a noun), we brainstormed a list of Halloween nouns on the board.


They made a cover using the title Halloween Adjectives.  On the inside, the students illustrated (and labeled) a Halloween noun.  Then, they wrote a list of 6 adjectives to describe that noun.

This student is my resident artistHer talent is undeniable and it is both amazing and fun to watch her create.  She never ceases to amaze me with her skills.



The students were allowed to consult with their "teaching buddies" as they created their books.   As I walked from table group to table group, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a student give a wonderful piece of advice to his teaching buddy.  She was stuck on her list of adjectives and needed two more to complete a list.  He suggested she think of some synonyms for some of the words she had already written down.  Love it!!

I know we've all had students make things from scratch over the years.  But, I think we sometimes forget just how much the kids enjoy it and just how effective a tool it is.

With that said, the kids loved this activity! They were bummed when they ran out of time and those who had time to spare asked if they could use the back cover as another page in their book.

I loved that it kept them engaged, had them thinking about adjectives (and synonyms), and that it was very minimal prep on my part.  It's also something that could be adapted for a variety of skills/themes!  My mind is already thinking about Thanksgiving....

Do you have any quick and easy/effective activities that you like to use with your students?
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3 comments:

  1. This is a great idea. You are right, when kids made their own things from scratch, it's so much more meaningful for them!

    I'm your newest follower. Hope you will stop by sometime soon, :)

    Cindy
    Granny Goes to School

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  2. I love it!!! Halloween has been "officially" moved to Monday here in NJ, so I get to stretch the Halloween activities through the rest of the week. I am so stealing this!

    Halle
    Across the Hall in 2nd Grade

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  3. I love ideas like this- simple, easy, and no prep, but still valuable. And with it being Halloween-themed, I bet your kids were way into it! Thanks for sharing your great ideas!

    Jenny
    Luckeyfrog's Lilypad

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