Use the excitement of Halloween to engage your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in opinion writing! Choose one or more of the Halloween-themed opinion writing prompts below to have your students celebrate Halloween in an educational way. There are prompt ideas that are specific to Halloween, as well as October-themed prompts for the schools or classrooms that do not celebrate holidays.
If your upper elementary students are still struggling with opinion writing, then this Scaffolded Opinion Writing Template will help walk them through the process of writing a successful way. Best of all, it can be used over and over again any time you practice opinion writing!
1. Best Costume
Have upper elementary students share their opinion on the best Halloween costume and then explain why.
For a fun added twist, you could have your students write a short opinion essay explaining what they think YOU, their teacher, should be for Halloween. Students will love telling you what to do!
2. Trick or Treat?
Have your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students share their opinions about which is better—playing a trick on someone or getting a treat?
Some students might not realize the meaning behind the phrase "trick or treat," so this is a good chance for them to think about harmless tricks they might enjoy playing on someone.
3. Scariest Animal / Creature
This is a good October opinion writing prompt for schools or classrooms that do not celebrate Halloween but still want to get into the spirit. Have your students think about what animal or creature is the most frightening and write an opinion paper giving their opinion and explaining why they find it so scary.
You can have your students stick with real animals like bats and spiders. Or, to add a spookier element, have them consider make-believe creatures like mummies, vampires, and werewolves.
4. Best Candy / Worst Candy
5. Favorite Candy Corn
6. What Do You Think About Scary Books / Movies?
7. Graveyard or Haunted House?
8. Best Monster Book
Integrate reading and writing with this Halloween opinion writing prompt.
Read aloud a few of these monster-themed books to your students. Then, have them write an opinion piece on which of the books or monsters was the best and why. This would be a fun (and academic) way to spend your reading block on Halloween!