Halloween in the Music Classroom

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, so it’s no surprise that I love teaching during this time of year! I wanted to share with you three of my favorite lesson ideas for this season!

If You’re a Monster and You Know It
By Rebecca and Ed Emberley

This book is a twist on the classic “If You’re Happy and You Know It” . Students love to act out the story and sing along.

5 Little Pumpkins – Instruments

I am sure you are familiar with this poem. I have taught it for many years to to focus on solo speaking/singing. It wasn’t till last year when I came across this video did I think about adding instruments.

First of all, these kids are adorable! Second, I like the verbal cues she gives them for when to play. I don’t have all of these instruments in my classroom, but you can easily make it work for you! Below is a link to the slides I have created for this lesson. Feel free to use 🙂

There Was an Old Woman All Skin and Bones

This is another go to song that I think many music teachers use! There is so much you can do with it, from singing the song to the students with the lights turned off, to playing the spooky refrain on barred instruments, or creating your own. There is something for everyone!

While I enjoy all of these activities, my favorite one is having the students create their own! They really get into it! After the students finish we allow for share time. I have one student at a time sing their song while the class sings the response (the ooo’s). It’s extra fun if you turn off the lights and give the student sharing, a flashlight to shine spookily under their chin!

Below is the worksheet I have created for this! I print out a class set and put in dry erase pouches so they can be used again and again.