When children think of Halloween as a story-telling season, there are stories everywhere they look--even out the window in neighbor’s yard decor! This Writer's Box takes full advantage of this season, adding their own spooky tales to this fun holiday.

Instead of a straight line of steps, the writing process is more of a back-and-forth jagged line that is different for everyone. This box highlights this erratic writing process. It is good to help your child recognize that there are different approaches to writing a piece. Sometimes they will write best with a plan in place and sometimes they will write better “off the cuff.” The box invites them to try out both ways, as well as write for an audience and play with onomatopoeia words.

Once again, keep in mind the most important goal: we want them to leave these projects with a feeling that writing is fun, and they want to write more.

For children ages 7 to 12. 

On-Ramp: Are you a “pantser” or a “planner”? Let’s find out!
Clubtime: Spooky Tale neighborhood hunt.
Playbreak: Monster Mash Onomatopoeia.
Editor's Table: RIP “really” and “very.

This set includes:

• Four weekly lesson plans.
• Guide for printing and collecting writing materials.
• Writer's notebook divider page.
• Child Directed Writer's Guide:
  • Welcome letter. 
  • Pantser or planner? Invitation to experiment with different writing processes. 
  • Onomatopoeia Monster Mash book instructions.
  • Neighborhood spooky story hunt guide.
  • Burying "really" and "very" in favor of stronger nouns and verbs. 
• Ghost Story Planning Guide.
• Ghost Story Map.
• Monster Mash activity book (3 pages.)
• 10 spooky writing prompts.
• Neighborhood scary house award page.
• Spooky tales word bank. 
• Spooky tales booklist grades 2nd to 4th and 5th to 7th.
• Spook-tacular writing theme poster.
• Spook-tacular notebook stickers.