A SCARY HALLOWEEN lesson

I was teaching in a first grade last week.  The word SCARY came up in a discussion.  They were writing in their journals and someone needed to know how to spell it.  I couldn't find the word in their first grade dictionary.  I asked the other teachers how to spell it.  They drew a blank.  We laughed and couldn't remember whether to leave the E in the word when you added the Y.  Have you been there?  So I devised this way of helping.

 

Here is an elephant who is VERY scared about something.  
The class chose elephant because it starts with an e and is at the end of scare.
"What is he afraid of?  Is he YELLOW?" I asked.  "Yes," they responded.  "He is afraid of all things yellow."  We picked yellow because it starts with a y, and that is the letter we are adding to the word scare.  
   Then we listed things that were yellow that the elephant was afraid to see.

   The class and I resolved that the e in scare, which represents the elephant, runs away when he sees anything yellow, which represents adding a y to the word scare.  
   Have a very happy, yet scary Halloween.

 

 I am re-giving you this Halloween graph because you can now download the GASpinner app on your iphone or ipad, or even on your computer.  Match the colors on the spinner to each Halloween character.  Color the graph as their colors come up.  I did this with a 2 year old and a five year old, and they LOVED it.