Adjectives: Halloween

Author: Elyssa Place

Based on lesson by: Elyssa Place
Date created: 10/21/2011 1:31 PM EDT ; Date modified: 10/23/2011
9:20 PM EDT
Subject(s) Language Arts (English),
Reading
Grade/Level Grade 5
Descriptive Data On October 25, 2011, for Mrs.
Cummins' fifth grade class, i
will teach the children about
adjectives. I will allow 5
minutes to show the children
the suckers and explain what
an adjective is on the rug in
the corner of the room. I will
allow 5 minutes for me to read
the book along with my
comments. I will allow 4
minutes for the kids to
brainstorm Halloween
adjectives and write the
adjective definition. I will allow
10 minutes to fill in the
Halloween poem at their
desks. Then I will allow 10
minutes for the children to
share their story with the class
at their desks. Mrs. Cummins
has been teaching different
parts of speech. She assigned
me to teach adjectives to the
class.
Rationale Adjectives are parts of speech
that students must
learn. Students that include
adjectives in their writing
create a visually enhanced
paper that captivates
readers. By reading out loud,
student's fluency will
develop. "Fluent readers'
comprehension is stronger,
and they think more deeply
about their reading than
emergent and beginning
readers do" (Tompkins
pg.125).
New York State Learning
Standard(s) Addressed

Instructional Objectives
1. The students will be able
to know the definition of an
adjective.
2. The students will be able
to recognize adjectives and
say their own adjectives.
3. The students will be able
to read aloud fluently and
accurately.

Student Assessment 1. I will look in the notebooks
to see that they wrote the
definition.
2. I will observe which children
are able to pick the adjectives
out of the book. I will examine
the stories the children write.
3. I will observe the children
as they read their stories to
the class.
Materials and Resources Materials and resources: 1.
Suckers (I will
purchase) 2. A Creepy
Countdown (I found in
the Canisius Curriculum
Center) 3. Notebooks
(They are the
children's) 4. Easel (At
the school) 5. 24
Papers with the
Halloween story (I will
make copies at the
school)
Anticipatory Set I will bring in suckers with all
different colors, sizes and
shapes. I will ask the children
what is different about them
and then after they say all the
describing words, I will tell
them that the words they said
are known as adjectives. I will
tell them that adjectives are
words that describe a noun
and adjectives help them
develop a picture in their
minds. I will explain that we
are going to read a book with
adjectives in it and they are
going to write the adjectives
they hear in their notebook,
then they are going to
complete their own adjective
Halloween story. Then once
they complete it they can get
one of the suckers.
Sequence of Instruction
1. I will introduce the book, A
Creepy Countdown. I will tell
the children that it is a
countdown of things that have
to do with Halloween and that
it has many adjectives in it. I
will tell the children to write
down any adjectives they hear
as I read. Then I will ask if
they can pick out the adjective
in the title of the book.
2. I will then read the story.
On the first page I will point
out the adjectives. Then later
in the book I will ask the
children to tell me the
adjectives on the page.
3. I will then allow the children
to respond to the story. I will
ask them what they thought
and then ask them what
adjectives they heard.
4. I will write a definition of an
adjective on the easel and
have the children copy it into
their notebook. I will write:
"Adjectives: words that
describe or modify another
person or thing in the
sentence. They tell how many,
which one or what kind."
5. I will give them the
Halloween story paper for
them to fill in with adjectives.
6. They will go back to their
desks. I will write some
Halloween adjectives on the
board as they fill in the paper.
Some adjectives include:
awful, abominable, alarming, b
ewitched, batty,
cackling, chilling, cynical, craz
ed, crazy, creepy, dark,
decaying, dreadful, diseased, e
vil, enchanted, eerie, freaky, g
hastly, ghoulish, gruesome, ha
unted, hideous, howling, horrif
ying, killer, lurking, lethal, lifel
ess, mad, mysterious, mischie
vous, nasty, nauseating, outra
geous, panicky, repulsive,
revolting, rotting, reeking, scar
y, spooky, screeching, terrorizi
ng, tormented, terrifying, unbe
arable,
unfortunate, villainous, vile, wi
cked, and yucky.
7. Kids that finish early should
take out their notebooks and
write a Halloween memory
using a lot of adjectives.

Closure 1. Each child that wants to
share his or her story with the
class will and then pick out a
sucker.
Modifications/Adaptations I will write down Nolan's
definition and I will write the
adjectives in the story because
he has a broken wrist and is
unable to write.
Teacher Reflection and
Revision