360˚ Thinking: A Halloween Lesson

It’s that time of year when all things Halloween are tripping about, including thematic lessons like the one I’d like to share with you today.  Since it can be exhausting to come up with new, exciting ideas to engage kids during the holidays, hopefully, you will appreciate the idea.  I think it’s important to embrace and even outdo students’ excitement because kids long to have adults who can embrace fun!

A favorite lesson plan of mine requires 360˚ thinking—a process where you consider a lesson theme and use it to branch into as many academic areas as possible—sort of like the spokes on a wheel. I like to call it 360˚ Thinking because you actually do look at the possibilities from every aspect where it can apply.

Since Halloween is coming up, mummies make a great 360˚ Thinking project. Yes, they’ve been around for thousands of years, but did you realize they make a fantastic springboard into reading and spelling, history and geography, math, science, art, and writing?  Let me give you some ideas to get you started!

Reading: Teaching reading with a Halloween theme can be tricky (or treaty, HA!). Check out this site for read-aloud ideas. My favorite story when I was young was called How to Care for Your Monster.  I LOVED it! The reading was simple and the illustrations were hilarious.  Since mummies are the topic, this book would be perfect if it’s available.  If not, try to pick books that give mummies a spotlight and share the books with students. 

Spelling: Now, I am not into spelling lists, but I do advocate word study to develop good spelling skills. Here are the steps for one example:  1.) Write the word Halloween on the board and have students use the letters to make words.  2.) I prefer a phonemic approach, so I would emphasize that doubled consonants have only one sound until the word is syllabicated. We always break syllables between doubled consonants, which gives us Hal  low een.  3.) I would also teach the rule about the diphthong: OW. The phoneme OW represents two sounds in English—OW as in owl and OW as in yellow. OW represents its second sound in Halloween.  4.) Finally, I would teach students about Twin Vowels. Two E’s together always represent a Long E sound except in the word been.

History/Geography: For history and geography, it’s not rocket science figuring out how to get kids on board with brief encounters of the wrapped-up kind. After all, mummies were discovered in Egypt in the pyramids. Automatically, you have geography and anthropology to study.

Science: For science, it can get a little gross, but kids will enjoy discovering the process of mummification. It will take a little brainpower and planning, but have fun with this. 

Math: You can hit math a couple of different ways, but why not have fun with it! Get three jumbo rolls of toilet paper and get three volunteers to be mummies. Have three more volunteers do the wrapping, and have them wrap the students in toilet paper. Make sure they don’t overlap the tissue. The students should be covered from the neck down. Next, have students estimate how long the wrapping is on your three mummies. Finally, unwrap your mummies and have the students measure the lengths of the wrapping for each mummy. Award a prize for the closest estimations.

Art: Art is a snap with Halloween themes. For young artists, have them draw mummies in a haunted house. For older students, have them try their sketching skills by wrapping strips of cloth around various classroom objects and then sketch them. If they are able, encourage your artists to capture the details of the wrappings and include shading.

Writing: Top off your lesson with a writing prompt for a narrative piece. Maybe have students write about their night spent in a sealed-up pyramid with a mummy on the loose. Just let your imagination and theirs guide the narrative.

There you have it…360˚ Thinking! 

Remember, you can use this strategy not only for specific themes—use it anytime you want kids to dive deeper. There are endless options for you to develop creative lessons that push your students’ innovation. 

Thanks for allowing me to dig around in your mind a bit this Halloween season. Now, it’s your turn.  Do something spooktacular and then tell us all about it in the comments section. We would love to hear how you and your class explore 360˚ Thinking and where it takes you!