TeachersFirst Collection: Resources related to Fall Celebrations and Halloween

As the days grow shorter and the leaves change, fall brings a rich tapestry of celebrations from around the world, and this collection helps you bring them into your classroom. You'll find resources for autumn festivals and Halloween fun, along with lessons and activities that explore the meaning and traditions behind Día de los Muertos and Diwali, the festival of lights. These resources include crafts, videos, read-alouds, and cultural background information to help students appreciate each holiday's history and significance. Whether you're planning a themed week or simply looking for ways to celebrate diversity, these tools offer respectful, engaging ways to help students learn about their classmates' traditions and the wider world.

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Lesson This! - Lesson This!

Grades
K to 6
1 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Find full length lesson plans for many subjects at Lesson This! For example, there is Pumpkin Addition and Subtraction (perfect for a fall math lesson). Scroll through the latest posts...more
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Find full length lesson plans for many subjects at Lesson This! For example, there is Pumpkin Addition and Subtraction (perfect for a fall math lesson). Scroll through the latest posts or browse by learning objectives, tags, materials, or grade level using the boxes on the right side of the home page. Each lesson states objectives, lists materials required (with links to print-ables if needed), and includes complete directions. Many also include pictures of the activity.
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tag(s): christmas (35), colors (63), counting (58), crafts (109), descriptive writing (41), drawing (57), halloween (44), holidays (292), nutrition (140), parts of speech (39), patterns (79), preK (352), recycling (47), symmetry (31), valentines day (10)

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site (or save in your favorites) to use as a resource for many lesson ideas throughout the year. Many lessons can be modified by changing materials or content of the lesson to fit your particular needs. Use the many seasonal "fun" ideas around Halloween, December holidays, and more.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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WHODUNNIT? Bringing a Little Mystery into the Classroom - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 6
22 Favorites 0  Comments
This readaloud collection is part of the Help I lost my library/media specialist series, reviewed here. Although nothing can replace the specialized...more
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This readaloud collection is part of the Help I lost my library/media specialist series, reviewed here. Although nothing can replace the specialized knowledge of a teacher-librarian, this collection of books and activities was created by an experienced elementary library/media specialist for fall read alouds and class discussions as Halloween and "mystery season" bring a chill to the air. The list of books to read aloud and accompanying activities include puzzles and stories that challenge their thinking. Of course we include Lexiles where available.

tag(s): book lists (167), halloween (44), reading lists (79)

In the Classroom

Use mysteries as an opportunity to learn some specialized vocabulary, a new story/text structure, to practice making inferences, and to synthesize information and make predictions. If your library does not have the books you want from this list, try using the ISBN numbers to borrow them on interlibrary loan from a public library nearby.

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Shadow Light Productions - ShadowLight Productions

Grades
2 to 12
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Investigate the art of shadow puppetry through Shadow Light Productions. This is a commercial site featuring performances for school groups, community centers, or various events. Examples...more
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Investigate the art of shadow puppetry through Shadow Light Productions. This is a commercial site featuring performances for school groups, community centers, or various events. Examples of performances with traditional stories appear in written and video format. A commercial venture on this site sells DVDS of actual performances. Begin your study of shadow puppetry at this site. Detailed plans with standards include suggested objectives, strategies, equipment, materials, and resources for audio, video, and texts. These plans answer all your questions on how to use shadow puppetry effectively in your classroom. Examples of lesson plans and student performance give ideas for language arts classes. Some of the images (although appropriate) may appear scary to younger students. So please preview before you share with your class.
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tag(s): halloween (44), short stories (18)

In the Classroom

Share some of this "puppeteer fun" on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Integrate into your Language Arts classroom to discover theme, plot, characterization, or myths and legends in a new way. Science classes can investigate the use of shadow and sound. Shadow puppetry is an easy way to incorporate several multiple intelligences. Easily differentiated plans for ESL/ELL and Gifted students to capture interest and motivate success. Use as an enrichment cluster, or after-school activity. Be sure to capture all your class creations on video and share on your class web site or blog.

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The Explorers' Graveyard - TeachersFirst

Grades
3 to 6
17 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Combine writing, an explorers' study, and fall celebrations using this activity which asks students to compose an epitaph for an explorer of their choice. Writing and art opportunities...more
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Combine writing, an explorers' study, and fall celebrations using this activity which asks students to compose an epitaph for an explorer of their choice. Writing and art opportunities abound, and the end product makes a great display for parent-teacher conferences.

tag(s): explorers (65), poetry (194)

In the Classroom

Take advantage of this free and interactive lesson plan! Just be sure to save it as a favorite to allow for easy retrieval later on!

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The Interactive Raven - TeachersFirst

Grades
6 to 12
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Here's TeachersFirst's famous on-line presentation of Poe's classic poem, with notations explaining definitions and literary devices. Roll over words for definitions, literary devices,...more
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Here's TeachersFirst's famous on-line presentation of Poe's classic poem, with notations explaining definitions and literary devices. Roll over words for definitions, literary devices, and more.

tag(s): halloween (44), poetry (194)

In the Classroom

This is a great on-line independent study for students who need additional help with either vocabulary or poetic devices. Introduce the site on your projector (rollovers will not work on an interactive whiteboard), then have students work alone or with a partner to become acquainted with the full text of Poe's masterpiece, accessing definitions and literary devices on their own. Augment classroom technology use and challenge students to create their own dramatic readings of the poem using a tool such as podOmatic, reviewed here, or accompany their reading with illustrations using ePubEditor, reviewed here, where your can upload images and text and add audio.

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Halloween - Myvocabulary.com

Grades
4 to 12
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As part of their extensive site for vocabulary, roots, and more, MyVocabulary.com has added a themed area for Halloween. Find interactive vocabulary activities using Halloween vocabulary...more
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As part of their extensive site for vocabulary, roots, and more, MyVocabulary.com has added a themed area for Halloween. Find interactive vocabulary activities using Halloween vocabulary words. You will also find printable crosswords, fill in the blanks and more, all using the same theme words. This and other "themes" available on the site will make vocabulary development fun.

tag(s): halloween (44)

In the Classroom

Share the puzzles on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students work with a partner to try out the puzzles on their own. Have students (or groups) create their own word puzzles to share as a class challenge as a student-run interactive whiteboard activity or share them on a class wiki.

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Anoka - Halloween Capital of the World - Anoka Halloween, Inc.

Grades
2 to 8
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This simple site provides historical information about Anoka, Minnesota. Do you know what makes Anoka so interesting? It has the unique nickname of the "Halloween Capital of the World."...more
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This simple site provides historical information about Anoka, Minnesota. Do you know what makes Anoka so interesting? It has the unique nickname of the "Halloween Capital of the World." Do you want to know why it is the capital? Visit the site and read all about the history, celebrations, and more. Suddenly a community's claim to fame can become a way to introduce your students to the process of tracing local history.

tag(s): halloween (44), minnesota (3)

In the Classroom

Use this site when studying community and culture. There are many sites that offer Halloween games and printables, but this site offers some real history - check it out! Why not have students research the history of Halloween (or another holiday) in your hometown. Do they have a parade? If so, when did it begin? What year did trick-or-treating begin in your hometown?

Assign cooperative learning groups different cities throughout your state, and have students do "Halloween" (or holiday) research on that particular town. Have the groups create interactive presentations to share with the class. Try having students create videos using FlexClip, to share using TeacherTube.

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Making Science Fun: Screaming Balloon - Steve Spangler

Grades
3 to 6
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This very simply written explanation of how to make a balloon "scream" is easy to follow for the teacher and appealing to all kids who enjoy experimenting with sound effects. ...more
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This very simply written explanation of how to make a balloon "scream" is easy to follow for the teacher and appealing to all kids who enjoy experimenting with sound effects. Besides the "how-to" part, there's also a brief explanation of why the balloon starts emitting shrieks. There are also variations on the experiment. The page includes links to several other, related experiments.

tag(s): experiments (66), halloween (44), sound (71)

In the Classroom

Use this activity to teach scientific observation, centripetal force, or sound-- and have the bonus of a great spooky sound if it happens to be October!

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Literary Bash - Cara Bafile

Grades
3 to 12
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This website provides a lesson plan that was designed to use around Halloween. There are objectives, assessments, and standards provided. This lesson is all about throwing a "literary...more
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This website provides a lesson plan that was designed to use around Halloween. There are objectives, assessments, and standards provided. This lesson is all about throwing a "literary bash" in honor of your class's favorite piece of literature (Harry Potter is used an example). This activity is an excellent alternative to a traditional Halloween party.

tag(s): halloween (44)

In the Classroom

Use this lesson plan, and tailor it to fit your unit in almost any content area - math, english, history, science, etc. Though this lesson was intended just for Language Arts classes, most content areas also have books or common themes that this could apply to. Use this lesson plan after a test or towards the end of the year when students might need a break from the traditional classroom routines. This is a great way to make sure students get some substance of a "break" while keeping it academic! Be sure to save this as a favorite on your classroom computer to allow for easy reference later on.

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Halloween Lesson Plans - TeAchnology

Grades
K to 8
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This website offers a collection of Halloween lesson plans in various disciplines including math, science, language arts, creativity and others. ...more
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This website offers a collection of Halloween lesson plans in various disciplines including math, science, language arts, creativity and others.

tag(s): halloween (44)

In the Classroom

Save this site as a favorite, an reference it if in need of new lesson plans and activities for Halloween. There are a lot here, so be sure to peruse the many to find one that will best fit your classroom.

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History of Halloween - History Channel

Grades
5 to 8
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Turn Halloween into a history lesson with this History Channel site that traces its origin from an ancient Celtic festival to the modern-day practices of trick-or-treating and Jack-o'-lantern...more
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Turn Halloween into a history lesson with this History Channel site that traces its origin from an ancient Celtic festival to the modern-day practices of trick-or-treating and Jack-o'-lantern carving. Includes some hauntingly intriguing video clips (some with specific ties to American history), ghost stories, and recipes.

tag(s): halloween (44), holidays (292)

In the Classroom

This is a great site to show students how history can impact their everyday! One good project would be to use this site as an introduction to Halloween activities. Introduce the site on the interactive whiteboard or projector. There are several different "histories" on the site, such as the history of the jack o' lantern, or the origins of Halloween, or the origins of several ghost stories. Have students look at the site in pairs, and create a poster of what they thought were the most interesting facts. We recommend a site such as Padlet, reviewed here. Have students display their posters, and then use the free craft ideas offered to celebrate the holiday in your class!

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Comparing Cultural Holidays - The Kennedy Center

Grades
3 to 5
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Invite your students on a festive journey as they compare cultural holidays through a vibrant lesson from the Kennedy Center-perfectly tailored for grades 3-5. In this activity, learners...more
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Invite your students on a festive journey as they compare cultural holidays through a vibrant lesson from the Kennedy Center-perfectly tailored for grades 3-5. In this activity, learners explore the traditions, music, and art of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, examining the similarities and differences between these celebratory customs. Through guided discussions, creative projects, and musical exploration, students gain insight into how communities honor the themes of remembrance, creativity, and celebration. This lesson not only fosters cultural awareness and empathy but also encourages artistic expression and critical thinking as students reflect on how holidays connect to identity and culture.

tag(s): cultures (302), holidays (292)

In the Classroom

Show images or objects related to Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Have students sort them by holiday and explain their choices, sparking a discussion about the meaning of each tradition. Have students create a Venn diagram comparing Halloween and Dia de los Muertos in terms of purpose, symbols, food, and music, then share findings in small groups. They can use Canva's Venn Diagram Creator, reviewed here to create the Venn diagram digitally. Students can write a short paragraph or journal entry imagining they are attending Dia de los Muertos or Halloween in another country, describing what they see, hear, and feel.

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