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My favourite writing activity for the end of October is creating persuasive and descriptive haunted house ads—written for prospective monsters! If you're looking for a writing activity your students will absolutely love, this is it! Lesson Plan: Descriptive Haunted House Introduction: I start by reading local house ads online with the class to get students familiar with how listings are written. We discuss who might be interested in these houses and what features stood out. Front-loading Vocabulary: After introducing the writing activity, I build a brain map with spooky vocabulary students can use in their haunted house descriptions. Words like “spooky,” “bloody,” “creaky,” “draught,” “cauldron,” “vampire blood,” and more. I’ll even doodle little icons (like bats or headstones) to support my EAL students. Writing: Here’s the assignment. Students are encouraged to keep these key points in mind: Audience: Who are you attracting? Witches? Monsters? Vampires? Why would this house appeal to them? Key Features: List 3-4 spooky selling points—creaky floorboards? Broken windows? Perfect! Catchy Title: Use alliteration if possible to make it pop! Students typically get 2–3 class periods to draft their 5-ish sentence ad. Once the rough drafts are done, they create their polished final copies. Haunted house artwork paired with student advertisements. In art class, we create haunted house silhouettes using black oil pastels and watercolor backgrounds to complement the writing pieces. When finished, students mount their ads and artwork on black or orange construction paper to make them stand out. Final display with writing and art combined. The creativity really shines in these ads! Students thoughtfully consider their “buyers” and craft some hilarious and spooky listings. These are the kinds of writing lessons where students can’t wait to participate! More Halloween Activities? Keep the Halloween spirit alive with my Solve the Room math activity! Students must identify place values (up to 100,000) to solve fun Halloween riddles. Once completed, they can colour their map and escape the Haunted Ghoul School! Students love solving silly riddles and escaping zombies from their haunted school—all while reinforcing place value skills! Grab the Halloween Ghoul School Activity There you have it—Halloween writing in the morning, and spooky place value math in the afternoon! Enjoy! Maryana

What's the Difference – and Why It Matters for Your Classroom As elementary teachers, our mission is to equip young minds with essential tools for successful literacy development. Two critical components in this journey are phonemic awareness and phonics. While these words might sound similar, they are quite different. Here’s how: Phonemic Awareness: The Power of Sound Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. It’s all about understanding the sound structure of language without connecting it to written symbols. Activities that enhance phonemic awareness include rhyming, segmenting words into sounds, blending sounds to form words, and manipulating sounds within words. Why is Phonemic Awareness Important? Reading Readiness: Phonemic awareness is a precursor to reading. Children who understand phonemes are better equipped to decode words. Spelling Proficiency: Awareness of phonemes aids in spelling accuracy. Oral Language Skills: It fosters effective communication and vocabulary development. Phonics: Bridging Sounds to Symbols Phonics involves connecting sounds to written symbols. It teaches the relationship between letters and sounds, helping students decode words by sounding them out. Phonics instruction includes letter-sound correspondences, blending sounds to read words, and segmenting words to spell them. Why is Phonics Important? Decoding Skills: Phonics empowers students to read and comprehend unfamiliar words. Spelling Mastery: Understanding phonics rules enhances spelling accuracy. Reading Fluency: Phonics contributes to reading fluency, allowing students to read with speed, accuracy, and expression. The Symbiotic Relationship: Why Both Matter While phonemic awareness and phonics serve distinct purposes, they are interconnected. Phonemic awareness sets the stage by helping children recognize and manipulate sounds, while phonics builds upon this by connecting sounds to written symbols. Classroom Strategies: Incorporate Playful Activities: Use rhyming games, word segmentation, and blending exercises to develop phonemic awareness. Interactive Phonics Instruction: Integrate systematic phonics lessons that emphasize letter-sound relationships and practical reading/spelling exercises. Differentiated Instruction: Tailor your teaching to meet diverse student needs, recognizing varying levels of phonemic awareness and phonics skills.