King Toot: 101 Revolting Rhymes for Little Monsters Read online

1.) Assign each student a Halloween, October, fall or “spooky” word – like “ghost,” “pumpkin,” “witch” or “candy” – and have them come up with as many rhyming words as possible to form a “BOO Bank” for when they write their own poems.

  2.) Have kids draw a picture based on their favorite poem and display them prominently around the classroom.

  3.) Read one Halloween or fall poem aloud before lunch – or reading hour or the final bell, etc. – every day.

  4.) To get kids in the mood, write a new Halloween poem, joke, limerick, riddle or a stanza from a popular holiday song like “Monster Mash” on the chalkboard every morning of October.

  5.) Turn your favorite Halloween poem into the centerpiece of a bulletin board.

  6.) Challenge kids to write their own fall, October, Halloween, monster or even “gross” poems.

  7.) Divide your class into four teams and have each team write one stanza of a four-line poem. Publish your results!

  8.) Use computer software to record students reading these – or even their – poems aloud to create a digital audio book.

  9.) Bind students’ artwork and poems to make a class picture book.

  10.) Have kids come up with alternative titles for each poem in this collection, or your own favorite collection of Halloween, October, spooky, scary, gross or fall poems.

  11.) Make a class list of G-rated “Gross” words to use in their own monster poetry.

  12.) As a class, create a “Monster Alphabet” with terms like “V is for Vampires” or “G is for Goblins,” etc. If you dare, you can also create a “Grody Monster Alphabet” with terms like “V is for Vampire Breath” or “B is for Boo Boogers,” etc.

  13.) For a special classroom treat, hand out paper bowls full of white cheddar popcorn and call it “Mummy Boogers”!

  14.) Challenge your class to see how many words they can make out of “Halloween,” such as “Hall,” “No,” “Wean,” “Lean,” etc. You can also use other festive words like “Frankenstein” or “Jack ‘O Lantern” and make this a regular feature.

  15.) Make poetry a part of every season. Find and challenge kids to read and write poems for spring, fall, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, etc.

  16.) Write a seasonal or scary word on the board every morning and see how many words students can find that rhyme with it. Add the results to your “BOO Bank” (See Idea # 1) for kids to draw on all month long.

  17.) Using the same word, ask kids to write a poem about that word, or one of the words they found to rhyme with it.

  18.) Using picture prompts cutout from magazines or Halloween props from the dollar store, have kids write poems or generate word lists about each picture or prompt.

  20.) Start each week of October with a certain theme, like “Bugs,” “Fall,” “Pumpkins,” “Monsters,” etc. Use that theme to drive your prompts, props and poetry all week.

  21.) Check out or borrow fall, pumpkin, Halloween, October or “gross” joke, children’s or picture books to keep on hand all October long. Call it your “Spooky Library” and use it for reading time or as a reward when kids are good.

  22.) Create spooky, creative or silly “bylines” for each of your little authors. (You can call them “Awful Authors” as well.) For example “Spooky Sally” or “Loopy Leroy” or “Petrifying Patel,” etc. Use these bylines in each of their creative October or Halloween poetry assignments.

  23.) Using each kids’ “Awful Author” spooky name, have them draw an “Awful Author” photo of themselves as “Petrifying Patel” or “Spooky Susie,” etc. When they’re done, post around the class as an “Awful Author’s Gallery”.

  24.) We all know Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman, but challenge your kids to create a new monster(s) and then write a poem, draw a picture or create a “character sketch” about him or her.

  25.) Help kids see that music is poetry by writing down a few clever stanzas of “Monster Mash” or “Thriller” or “The Worms Crawl In” song, etc. Use the “poems” as teaching tools and/or challenge students to add a new line, a few lines or even a stanza of their own to their favorite Halloween song!

  26.) Combine all your picture prompts, Halloween props, “BOO Bank”, “Spooky Library,” etc., in one central location and call it your “Creepy Corner” where kids can go for inspiration, a reward or during free time.

  27.) Write fall words on scraps of paper and let each child choose one. Using their random word, have students write a silly poem or at least find a word that rhymes to add to your “BOO Bank”!

  28.) Set an egg timer and see who can write the most Halloween, spooky, creepy, gross or fall words in three, four or five minute increments. Reward the winner(s) with a Halloween treat or time in your “Creepy Corner”.

  29.) Take your favorite Halloween poem and leave out the rhyming words, replacing them with blanks on the board or on a worksheet. Have kids fill in the blanks with new rhyming words to create an entirely different poem.

  30.) Have kids create a fictional “Monster Menu” with the world’s grossest, most disgusting treats, like “Frankenstein Fingers” for hot dogs or “Mummy Boogers” for white parmesan popcorn, etc.

  31.) Throw a “Monster Party” on the last day of school before – or on – Halloween. Use as many items from the kids’ “Monster Menu” as possible as you read these gross, grody and gassy poems to each other!

  I hope these “little lessons” add a lot whimsy to your October, or any time of year you feel grinning ghosts and whacky witches are appropriate!

  Happy teaching… and Happy Halloween,

  Rusty

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  About the Author:

  Rusty Fischer

  Rusty Fischer is the author of several Halloween books for children, including Upon Halloween and The Littlest Witch’s Story. Visit him at www.rushingtheseason.com to learn more.