Spooky Writing

Writing is one of the things that I look forward to most each day... I'd been thinking of some ways to get in a little Halloween writing, and finally came up with the perfect idea. The other day, we read In a Dark, Dark Wood by David. A Carter. I had it on the board behind me during reading groups, and kept hinting at how scary it was. Every once in a while, I'd open the book and scream then slam it shut. Needless to say, those little first graders were ready to eat right out of my hand! When we finally read the book, they were ready to jump every time I turned the page! For those who don't know me, I'm slightly very theatrical. I made it seem as if something was going to jump out every time I turned the page. When we finally reached the end of the story, and the ghost popped out of the book, they just about died. They've been bugging me every day since to read it again. I love that even the simplest of stories can keep them SO excited! When we finished up, I had the students close their eyes and think about something that might scare them if they were walking through the woods on a dark, dark night. We talked a lot about descriptive language, and how we could help the reader to really picture these creatures in their mind. Then I set them free... They came up with the coolest things! Some went very traditional, and others went WAY beyond!

After Halloween, I'm planning on taking them down to make a book for our classroom library. Do you have any fun Halloween writing ideas? Please share if you do :-) Have a good night!