Non-Halloween activity for October 31

Students will rewrite the lyrics to a well-known song focusing on Autumn sounds, smells and sights, but without any of the usual Halloween trappings.

A lesson plan for grades 3–4 English Language Arts

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Related topics

• Learn more about Nature Walks, field trips, language arts, literary devices, onomatopoeia, parody, rhyming, and songs.

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Learning outcomes

The students will work on writing descriptions using senses other than sight. They will work on using descriptive language and poetic conventions when writing their songs.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 days

Materials/resources

• Clip board
• wax paper
• iron

Activities

Day 1

1. The day before October 31, we took a nature walk. I shared with the class a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. In the first three panels are onomatopoeias galore of Calvin and Hobbes walking in the woods in Autumn. Crunch, swoosh, etc. In the last panel, Calvin says to Hobbes, something along the lines of “sometimes you have to hush up and let Autumn do the talking.” (This strip was originally published October 17, 1987 and is available in several Calvin and Hobbes anthologies).
2. That being said, I had them take their clip boards and a piece of paper, folded into fourths. In each box I had them write smell, touch, hear, see. I didn’t want them tasting anything, so we left out taste. I explained that we were going on a nature walk and that they would be writing down things that yelled autumn. Dog barking wouldn’t cut it because that could happen any time of year, but squirrels storing nuts would be okay. I also told them that they would need to be completely silent.
3. We walked outside, and they quickly started taking in all the signs of autumn. We sat down, and I had them close their eyes for a whole minute and discuss what they heard, felt, and smelled. Then we moved to another area. Soon they were running out of room on their papers.
4. After about 30 minutes of this, I had them collect 5 of the prettiest leaves they could find. We brought these inside and pressed them between wax paper with an iron to use for part of their final project.

Day 2

1. On October 31, I played them two Christmas carols. First I played “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”. Then I played them part of a parody I wrote called “Peter the Plastic Pumpkin”. We compared the two, and I explained what a parody was.
2. Then I played “Jingle Bells.” We discussed how this song is not really about Christmas, but rather about a time of year and about taking a ride in a sleigh. There are various clues in the song that tell you it is cold and wintry, but it never really says it directly.
3. We then talked about the rhyming scheme (ABAB) and about how many syllables were in each line. Then I asked them to list some words that tell us it is Autumn. They took out their sheets from the day before and started brainstorming ideas. I put these up on the board.
4. Then I modeled what a song parody of “Jingle Bells” might start off like. I asked them what might you do in October rather than dashing through the snow. They immediately came up with “running through the leaves”. Since we’ve been working with worn-out words, we quickly brainstormed and came up with some variations on running. Jumping, strolling, and crunching came up.
5. I also explained how to write a sentence backwards. As I songwriter, I do this often. We came up with the line: Strolling through the leaves. I explained that the third line, not the second, had to rhyme with this line. So I asked them what words rhyme with leaves. We came up with thieves. Then we started writing sentences with the same number of syllables as “strolling through the leaves” that ended with “thieves.” We came up with “squirrels acting like thieves.”
6. We did a couple more lines, and I then sent them off to work in pairs. I set a timer for 20 minutes, and when it rang, they cried for more time.
7. When they were done, we shared and offered praise and suggestions, and students made edits. They wrote their final copies on posters, and decorated them with their pressed leaves. This really lit up the hallway into our class.

Assessment

I used their observation sheets as a science grade while we were outside observing nature. I graded their posters, checking for rhyming scheme, details, and organization.

Supplemental information

First Verse of Rudolph Parody for Halloween

Jingle Bells Parody for Halloween

Comments

I was inspired to write this lesson after having some parents ask if I were going to “do” Halloween in my class. Some parents told me that they would keep their kids out of school if I did any of the usual Halloween activities. I believe this was due to religious reasons. I decided that we would celebrate Autumn and avoid a lot of the craziness of candy and costumes.

Halloween activities are quite plentiful, but at some schools there is an effort to avoid any true acknowledgments of the holiday. At my school, Hall Fletcher Elementary school in Asheville, NC, we are not allowed to wear costumes, and October 31 is an instructional day. All activities must have an educational objective. But this does not mean we still can’t have some seasonal fun.

Being a songwriter and singer/guitarist, it is surprising how little I actually do get to play music with my kids. This lesson idea sort of came to me when my co-teacher suggested I teach her kids something fun “with that guitar of yours sitting in the corner,” while she did a fun math activity. Necessity being the mother of invention, I got started on a lesson that would a: not be about scary monsters and witches, b: meeting objectives in the standard course of study, c: include the guitar and music, and d: have some relevance to the day.

Questions about this lesson? email me at info@vincejunior.com