What to Teach in October in the Elementary Special Education Classroom

I love October!! It is my favorite month. Fall is here 🍂, decorations are up🎃, and it's my birthday month 🎂! 

Halloween Theme

October is also a fun time in the classroom. We focus on lots of fun Halloween activities each year including learning new vocabulary, playing Halloween games, and sorting and graphing Halloween candy. 

These along with 9 additional Halloween-themed activities are included in my Halloween Thematic Unit in my TPT store! 

Trick or Treat Practice

Throughout the month of October, my class practices trick or treating in our weekly social skills group:

• Week 1: We start with introducing AAC for saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" within the classroom
• Week 2: Then, each staff member (myself, my paras, and our SLP) each set up a station for students to rotate through and practice while we pass out candy.
• Week 3: Next, we practice trick or treating within the office with all the office staff
• Week 4: We are ready to trick or treat with our families! 

And we connect it to this fill-in the blank writing activity.

Pumpkin Carving

One of my favorite annual traditions is hands down carving pumpkins with my class! We have made some super cute jack-o-lanterns over the years!

We also use pumpkin carving as a great opportunity to do some sensory exploration and discuss the texture and feel of the insides (affectionately referred to as the "pumpkin guts"!).

And it is also a great opportunity to work on sequencing!

Check out my previous post for my Top 5 Tips for Carving a Pumpkin in the Special Education Classroom for more details on what this looks like in my classroom. 

Halloween Picture Books

My favorite books for Halloween are Big Pumpkin and The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. 

One year on our hayride at the farm they did a "spooky storytime" and did the Little Old Lady with props. It was SO MUCH FUN! And was a great way to get the kids engaged. After that year, we always acted out the story with spare clothes in the classroom. It was so fun!

Find the activities above in my Picture Book Communication and Comprehension Supports in my TPT store. Click the images below to get them! 

Halloween Crafts

Some fun Halloween crafts we have done was a group pumpkin pinata project for our Halloween Party and some footprint ghosts! Having classmates paint each others feet led to LOTS of giggles!

What a busy month! I love how my little class can mix in so much fun with our learning. 

Halloween Bundles in my TPT store 

The units above are available individually or in a variety of bundles! Click the images to find them in my TPT store!