Happy Halloween Storytime Lesson Plan
Happy Halloween Storytime Lesson Plan
Books
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, Harcourt Brace Javanovich, 1993.
Where's my mummy by Carolyn Crimi, Candlewick Press, 2008.
If you're a monster and you know it by Ed and Rebecca Emberley, Orchard Books, 2010.
One witch by Laura Leuck, Walker and Company, 2003.
Los gatos black on halloween by Marissa Montes, Henry Holt and Company, 2006.
Cinderella skeleton by Robert D. San Souci, Silver Whistle/Harcourt, 2000.
Plumply, dumply pumkin by Mary Serfozo, Margare K. McElderry Books, 2001.
Room on the broom by Julia Donaldson, Puffin Books, 2003.
Where the giants sleep by Mem Fox, HMH Books for Young Readers, 2007.
Monster mash by David Catrow, Orchard Books, 2012.
I'm the scariest thing in the castle by Kevin Sherry, Dial Books, 2011.
Frankenstein: A monstrous parody by Rick Walton, Feiwel and Friends, 2012.
Go away, big green monster by Ed Emberley, Little, Brown and Company, 1992.
Boo, bunny by Kathryn O. Galbraith, Harcouert, 2008.
The little old lady who wasn't afraid of anything by by Linda Williams, Crowell, 1986.
Songs
“Monster Boogie” by Laurie Berkner (Buzz Buzz CD)
“Dry Bones” from Silly Favorites CD
Other songs can be found here and here.
Fingerplays and Action Rhymes
"Little witch, little witch" Action Rhyme
Little witch, little witch, turn
around
Little witch, little witch, touch the ground
Little witch, little witch, reach up high
Little witch, little witch, touch the sky
Little witch, little witch, find your nose
Little witch, little witch, touch your toes
Little witch, little witch, touch your knees
Little witch, little witch, sit down please
"Horns and Fangs, Knees and Claws" Action Rhyme (tune and actions from "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes")
"Pumpkin, Pumpkin" Action Rhyme
Pumpkin, pumpkin, big and round, (Make big circle with hands.)
Sitting on the cold, hard ground. (Sit on the ground.)
Soon I'll pick you off the vine, (Pretend to pull pumpkin from vine.)
Give you a name and make you mine, (Hug imaginary pumpkin tightly.)
Carve a face for all to see, (Point to face.)
Add a candle -- Halloween glee! (Clap, clap, stomp; clap, clap, stomp.)
The little old lady who wasn't afraid of anything Flannel Board
Art Project
Multimedia
"Dr. Seuss - Halloween is Grinch Night" - 25 minutes
Every Child Ready to Read Skills and/or Practices
Stellaluna - The reader could use dialogic reading techniques with this story asking the children questions throughout the story of Stellaluna’s adventures. It meets the new ECRR goal of Read and the old ECRR goals of Print Motivation and Narrative Skills and Comprehension.
Where's my mummy - This story has a repetitive nature that is engaging to children. The reader can also do different voices for the characters in the book to add interest to the story. It meets the new ECRR goal of Read (perhaps Play, depending on how into the voices the reader gets) and the old ECRR goal of Print Awareness (the reader could point at the repetitive line “Where’s my mummy?” while reading and eventually the children could join in when saying this line).
If you're a monster and you know it - This books meets the new ECRR goals of Read, Sing, and Play. It meets the old ECRR goals of Print Motivation and Phonological Awareness. This story also encourages interaction between parents/caregivers and their children as they sing and act out the story.
Los gatos black on halloween - This book not only introduces foreign languages elements with the Spanish words, but also has a clever rhyming scheme and alliteration sequences that are great to sound out (an example from a portion of the story about flying witches “Above the early and before the moon, they swoop, and swish, and swoosh and soon…”). It also has a clever ending that does away with any scary parts of the story (also the monsters and ghosts are afraid of the tricker-treating kids that come to their door). There are also many new words in the book, such as “eerie” and others. This story meets the ECRR goals of Print Motivation (a storytime reader can do a lot with their voice with the different sounds in this book to make the story fun), Phonological Awareness, and Vocabulary.
Plumply, dumply pumkin - This book also has a simple rhyming scheme which meets the ECRR goal of Phonological Awareness. However, it is also a great story to use dialogic reading techniques. The storytime reader could have the children continue to guess what the pumpkin is going to be for throughout the book. In this way, it also meets the ECRR goals of Narrative Skills and Comprehension.
Possible Asides to Parents and Caregivers
“Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parody is a great read-aloud book for children. It has a rhyming scheme that children can easily identify, but unlike many rhyming books, it has rhymed words within the sentences themselves, and not only at the end of the line. This helps teach children to recognize the sounds of words and look for those sounds to connect words. It also has a diverse selection of vocabulary words such as “laboratory” and “grotesque” that aren’t found in many books. Look for books like this with rare words to help build your child’s vocabulary.”
Minnesota Early Childhood Indicators of Progress
Domain: Language, Literacy and Communications:
Concepts of print
Comprehension of narrative text
Grammar
Language comprehension
Letter recognition
Motivation, engagement
Phonological awareness
Social conversation
Vocabulary and syntax
Storytime Implemented
Opening Activity: "Little witch, little witch"
Book: One witch (Leuck)
Book: Frankenstein: A monstrous parody (Walton)
Activity: "Horns and Fangs, Knees and Claws"
Book: Plumply, dumply pumpkin (Serfozo)
Flannel Board Activity: The little old lady who wasn't afraid of anything
Book: Los gatos black on halloween (Montes)
Book: Stellaluna (Cannon)
Activity: Lollipop Ghosts
Activity: "Pumpkin, Pumpkin"
Book: If you're a monster and you know it (Emberley)
Further Resources
Minnesota Early Childhood Indicators of Progress