Halloween

I love Halloween. Unfortunately, not everyone shares my love, so my advice for this time of year is to proceed with caution. Early in my teaching career, I got into trouble. My first grade class and I made a witch's brew. It contained a lot of spicy good ingredients like cranberry juice and cinnamon sticks, but I went too far with my class.

     For example, I said, "Here is cranberry juice . . . or is it blood?"
     The kids all giggled.
     Then I said, "Here are cinnamon sticks . . . or are they bones?"
     Once again, the room echoed with the giggles of small children.

However, when the kids got home, their parents weren't laughing, and I was called under the carpet! This was over thirty years ago, at a time when few thought to question the fun of Halloween. Today, making a Witch's Brew would only be worse. So before celebrating witches and goblins in your classroom, you must make sure the principal and school supports this. Many Halloween parties have been replaced with Harvest parties, which could also spell a good time.

Halloween has certainly changed in other ways, too. Years ago, our doorbell used to ring nonstop with trick-or-treaters from the wee little ones to the teenagers. We'd make sure to buy lots of candy so that we wouldn't run out. In fact, once my brother ran out of candy, so he gave each trick or treater a can of Coke. This was a big hit because the same kids kept coming back.

Last year, we only had one trick-or-treater, so I didn't buy as much candy, this year. I hope we don't run out. I bought a six pack of small Cokes in case we do.

If you're looking for classroom fun, I have Halloween resources and Fall Resources. Here are a few possible buys for your kid's. They will love these!

Halloween Activities for Primary Students

Halloween Logic Puzzles and Brain Teasers

Autumn Logic Puzzles

I send these posts to my mailing group; however, they get free resources along with the article. You can, too. Just join my group by clicking below!

https://mailchi.mp/b9a669919a4c/samplerpack

You will also receive a FREE No Prep Problem Solving Pack!

Now, since it's time for Musical Monday Moves Me, here are some fun Halloween tunes.

Here's a fun song from a fun movie! GhostBusters

I love the spooky music that goes with this video. HA! HA! I recently watched Halloween, with a young Jamie Lee Curtis, for the first time. This is a hoot.

For this last song, I figured I needed to post the entire sketch in order for you to appreciate the song. Plus, this was my son's, daughter-in-law's, and grand dog's Halloween costumes. Any questions?

 

And finally, here is my very own Halloween commercial, designed by my son. You'll be sure to get a chuckle.

Red Ribbon Week

Ribbon by, Kate Hadfield Designs
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kate-Hadfield-Designs

Red Ribbon Week falls during the last full week of October and has been a tradition since 1988 to teach students about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. This annual tradition is marked by school assemblies, 5K races, bracelets, and other trinkets to remind students about the dangers of using drugs. Most importantly is a pledge which students sign to agree to be drug free!

I was once a sponsor of the Pride Team at our K-8 school. Upper grade Pride students were typically the middle school leaders. They were the kind of kids who could step into an elevator, face the back wall, and have all the other kids follow their stance. They would sing and put on skits to remind all to be drug free. Also, several of these kids attended national Pride meetings.

I used to commemorate Red Ribbon Week with a door design. I would post pictures of witches and ghosts at the top and drugs on the bottom, "Witches and ghosts give me a chill, but DRUGS are really scary!" I would also have my kids sign pledges promising to remain drug free and hang these on the wall. Did this work? With some, maybe even most, but not all, for sadly, I do have a few former students who have died from drug overdose.

To help you teach drug awareness, here is a free product from my store that I hope you will download and leave feedback!

Click HERE for FREE Red Ribbon Week Reading Passage.

And now, since it's Monday, here are my Monday Music Moves Me songs.

They are all about anti-drug topics, so have a listen to:

Neil Young, "The Needle and The Damage Done"

Next up, Lynyrd Skynyrd, "That Smell"

And finally, here is Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Under the Bridge," about Heroin addiction.

October Research

When a new month arrived, I'd find a lot of tidbits about the month through research. Why not have your kids research people born in October? They may choose a celebrity or famous person and write a report about him or her.

In searching October birthdays, I found the following people:

• Buster Keaton
• John Lennon
• Eleanor Roosevelt
• Molly Pitcher
• Bela Lugosi
• Pablo Picasso
• Mahalia Jackson
• Teddy Roosevelt
• Sylvia Plath
• Emily Post

Perhaps your kids don't want to research these "old" people, even though it might be a great challenge for them. If that's the case how about researching the current celebrities listed below? If you're over 30, you've most likely never heard of most of these kids, but your students probably know them. Most are Gen Z stars through youtube or young pop culture.

• Brie Larson
• Alex Guzman
• PewDiePie
• Cardi B
• SSSniperWolf
• Queen Naija

Famous people born in October are not the only research possibilities. How about looking into famous historical events? Your kids could research the following:

• 1636 - Harvard was founded
• 1793 - Queen Marie Antoinette was beheaded
• 1871 - The Great Fire of Chicago started
• 1881 - shoot-out at the O.K. Corral
• 1884 - Greenwich began universal standard time zones
• 1908 - Henry Ford's Model T first went on sale
• 1927 - First full length "talkie" film, The Jazz Singer, opened
• 1929 - stock market crashed starting the Great Depression
• 1946 - Twelve Nazi leaders sentenced to death in Nuremberg, Germany
• 1957 - Russians launched Sputnik, first Satellite in space
• 1967 - Thurgood Marshall sworn in as first African American on the Supreme Court
• 1973 - Yom Kippur War against Israel started when Egypt & Syria attacked

Find products related to October below:

                                          

Click HERE for Historical Fiction Reading Passage on The Chicago Fire.

Also, find enough Fall Activities to keep your kids engaged and challenged throughout the month of October.

Click HERE to find the Autumn Activities Bundle

I send these posts to my mailing group; however, they get free resources along with the article. You can, too. Just join my group by clicking below!

https://mailchi.mp/b9a669919a4c/samplerpack

You will also receive a FREE No Prep Problem Solving Pack!