Review phonics skills with a Halloween twist! Younger readers can identify initial and final letters in Halloween words. Older readers can spell Halloween words, identify digraphs and blends, and make Halloween word families.
- Guess the Consonant Sound
Say the words below. Students will respond by saying the letter that begins or ends each word. All of these examples begin or end with a consonant sound. Alternatively, provide students with an alphabet chart. As you say a Halloween word, students will point to the letter they hear at the beginning or ending of the word.
broom
spider
cobweb
ghost
monster
moon
pumpkin
skeleton
bat
cat
rat
hat
mask
jack-o’-lantern
trick-or-treat
Halloween
- Sort by Letter Sound
Collect Halloween pictures or small objects. Lay out consonant letters, and ask students to sort the Halloween items by initial or final letter sound underneath the letters.
- Halloween Spelling
Older students can match plastic letters or tiles to all the sounds they hear in each Halloween word. Give students Halloween pictures or small objects. Ask them to slowly say each Halloween word, using plastic letters to spell the word. Students should repeat each word, making sure a plastic letter or tile matches each sound. Provide students with a list of correctly spelled words to check their spelling.
- Word Families
Use the Halloween words cat and moon to review word families –at and –oon. Give students word tiles or plastic letters. Ask them to keep the ending the same, but change the beginning to create new words. Some examples are below:
moon, goon, loon, noon, soon
cat, at, bat, cat, fat, flat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat, splat, that
Any phonics skill can be reviewed using Halloween words. Students can sort words by vowel team, long or short vowel sounds, and syllables. The word witch is a good example of a consonant digraph. Mask includes a consonant blend. Use the list of Halloween words above to create a spooky phonics mini-lesson.
Alphabet stamps, tiles, and plastic letters are important teaching tools for younger students to practice phonics skills. Upper and lower case letter stamps are available at Amazon.com. Click on the picture below for more information.
Look for The ABC’s of Halloween, by Patti Reeder Eubank, at your local library, or at Amazon.com. Click on the picture below for more information.
