Hello! I remember my teachers always creating fun activities that had spooky themes around Halloween. This holiday is obviously exciting for most children, especially considering all the free candy, but connecting fun with academics is really beneficial. I would like to know what you think of incorporating Halloween into the classroom, as well as any activities you can think of that mixes holiday fun with educational purposes. Thanks!
My view is that I don't go beyond giving treats to the students just because I do not want to disrespect anyone's cultural beliefs. Many of my students have told me that they do not recognize the holiday.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bummer. I remember making crafts, writing essays and painting canvases, all associated with ghosts, witches, mummies, monsters, and whatever else fit the Halloween tradition. Everyone is entitled to their cultural beliefs, and I respect that. However, that's not to say I won't sneak in some Edgar Allan Poe literature and Halloween decorations. I guess old habits die hard!
ReplyDeleteI think incorporating the right literature into a language arts clash (such as poe as you stated, or maybe something kafka's metamorphosis or marquez's old man with enormous wings) would be a great idea. Another way would be to look at the background of the holiday in a history class, and in doing that you could look at other's cultures holidays as well (such as day of the dead) so to keep it as multicultural as possible.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I love Marquez's "Of Love and Other Demons." He would be a great author to establish an eerie mood. Although there might not be cinematography class in middle school, there might be a special topics in high school that covers the history of cinema. I took a horror class at South, and around Halloween we watched old scary movies that were inspired from real events in history. For example, during WWII when atomic bombs were dropped in Japan, this inspired the movie "Godzilla."
ReplyDeleteGreat idea about incorporating the history of Halloween into a lesson. That is the perfect way to make the holiday educational without infringing on anyone's personal or cultural beliefs. Also, in an elementary school setting, Halloween can be incorporated into the classroom through decorations that the children make during Art time. In a middle school or high school setting, it would be a lot harder to incorporate the holiday into an educational atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteI think any holiday, if you bring up how it started, why we celebrate it can become fun and educational. The idea of learning the beginning and how other cultures celebrate it is very interesting! In Brazil, where i am from, we do not celebrate halloween, but the day of the dead. It is a catholic holiday and people usually visit the cemetery and don't dress up in costumes. We leave the costumes part to the carnaval, which is celebrated the same time as Mardi Gras.
ReplyDeleteThis year we are going to the Playhouse in the Park performance of a couple different Edgar Allen Poe stories. The students are really excited and it is timed just right for Halloween. Just this weekend I bought some silly decorations some lighted spiders to dangle from the windows for the holiday. My parents were always pretty strict about not celebrating it so it's fun even for me to make it a little spooky. I however will not give out any candy treats, because I think kids get enough unhealthy foods in their diet already.
ReplyDeleteThose are all awescome contributions! When I visited Mexico years ago, we celebrated Day of the Dead and it was an amazing experience! I want to go to that Edgar Allan Poe event at Playhouse in the Park, where is it? I do understand the point about the difficulty of incorporating holidays with adolescents, although I'm 25 and still love dressing up for Halloween. At my high school, we had an entire "spirit" week that was during homecoming where students dressed up every day according to a theme. Changing up ordinary school days really encouraged students to have fun in school. Of course, academic boundaries should be established as well. Thanks for all the ideas!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school one thing we did for thanksgiving was we had a little lunch in my history class. Our teacher divided us up into Pilgrims and Indians from there each group brought a certain type of food. As we ate together as Pilgrims and Indians our teacher then proceeded to talk about the first Thanksgiving and how it came about. He talked about how life was and why the Indians and Pilgrims came together. He gave us a great background of the first Thanksgiving. It was pretty awesome and fun!! I think students would enjoy it a lot.
ReplyDeleteAt the elementary level you might as well just give into the holiday spirit, because the students minds about this time of year are already thinking about Halloween. Every art lesson I have done lately has had a vampire or two sneak into the students drawings. Halloween week I usually read a scary folk tale to my third, fourth, and fifth graders and have them illustrate the main characters. With younger students we discuss bats, pumpkins, witches etc. If it is Halloween day ........... well just give in and enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on the class how you can do it but Yes! incorporate Halloween. You know its Halloween they know its Halloween give in and let them enjoy it. Since I am a history person I give a lesson on where Halloweens name comes from. Then I might read them a story about the witch trials even if it is not in context with that weeks lesson. Just let the kids enjoy it because it is what they are thinking about. So be a teacher who uses Halloween as a teachable moment.
ReplyDeleteI love celebrating and decorating for the holidays. I think that it helps the students feel relaxed and comfortable. I love doing gylphs. Around Halloween time, I like to do a pumpking glyph and the legend represents the student themselves. If you are in a higher grade level, you could even connect Halloween to science and create a skeleton.
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