Halloween Literature Unit: The Magic Pumpkin

{Kimberly L. Short, lesson plan contributor to Educator's Reference Desk, has designed an exciting Halloween themed reading unit that your kindergartners are sure to enjoy. Designed to explore several literature selections over sixteen days, here are a few highlights!}

To kick off the unit - and to use as a recurring theme throughout the lesson - Short suggests Martin and Archambault's The Magic Pumpkin.

Lesson Objectives

• Learn about the basic parts of a story - beginning, middle, and end.
• Introduce the concept of sequencing.
• Assess and promote listening and comprehension skills.

Upon reading the story, Short recommends having your kindergartners recount it for you. While prompts here and there may be needed, this activity will show, not only if students were listening, but how much they comprehended. Consider creating story cards that depict the most important events in the book and use them in one of the following ways:

1. Invite student volunteers to place story cards in the correct order on a prepared story "board".
2. Divide students into teams, provide each team member with a different story card, and have teams "race" to see who can line up in the correct order first.
3. Create a 3-column organizational chart with the following headings - "Beginning", "Middle", "End". Have student volunteers categorize each story card.

For more of Short's recommended activities, be sure to read her full lesson plan!