Fun Fall Ideas
1. Write a Fall Simile
Take students outside, encouraging them to observe the nature around them carefully. Have them write similes based on their outdoor inspiration! If similes are new to students, then provide sentence frames to help them get started.
__________ is as __________ as __________.
__________ is __________ like a __________.
This is a good way to begin to introduce your students to figurative language.
2. Write a Fall Haiku
Introduce your upper elementary students to poetry writing without overwhelm with this short form of poetry. The structured lines help make this task a little less intimidating.
Haiku are nonthreatening because they only have 3 lines:
- Line 1: 5 syllables
- Line 2: 7 syllables
- Line 3: 5 syllables
Show them some examples of haiku, and then have them write their own fall haiku!
3. Go on an Outoor Scavenger Hunt
Combine the beautiful fall weather with learning by going on an outdoor scavenger hunt! You can adapt this according to the skills you want to practice. For example, you could have students look for:
- things outside that are 3-syllable words
- things outside that are about 4 inches long
- things that start with every letter of the alphabet
The options are endless! Find more outdoor scavenger hunt ideas here.
4. Collect Leaves - Then Sort or Measure Them
Send students outside to collect a large handful of leaves (hopefully ones of different shapes and sizes). Then, have students sort them in different ways. You could have them sort by:
- size
- color
- type
- shape
- condition
Or, let them come up with their own classification system!
After sorting the leaves, you could have them measure their length or width for an added activity.
5. Describe a Pumpkin Using Adjectives
Display a pumpkin to students, and then have them use their 5 senses to come up with a variety of adjectives that describe the pumpkin. If your students have not yet been introduced to adjectives, then these parts of speech activity ideas might be useful for you.
You could also do this with a leaf instead of a pumpkin!
6. List Rhymes for Fall Words
Give students a fall word, and have them come up with as many rhyming words as they can in a certain amount of time. You could do this as an independent, partner, or small group activity.
After making a list of rhyming words, you could have students sort the words based on different spelling patterns or phonics skills, for an added word study element.
Some possible fall words that students could find rhymes for:
- corn
- leaf
- coat
- chill
7. Write a Pumpkin Word Problem
Halloween Activity Ideas
8. Read in a Monster Voice
9. Trick or Treat Opinion Writing
Have students practice their opinion writing skills with a fun Hallowen-themed prompt: Which is better - giving someone a trick or a treat?
You might also like some of these other Halloween Opinion writing prompts.
10. Monster Descriptive Writing Exchange
Have students secretly draw a picture of a monster, using a lot of color and imagination. Then, have students write a thorough description of their monster.
Once everyone has completed their monster descriptions, lay the monster drawings out for everyone to see. As each student reads their monster descriptions, their classmates should be able to determine which one was their monster!
This can be done with just a sheet of paper and a pencil, but if you want to provide some scaffolding and descriptive writing lessons with the activity, check out this Monster Descriptive Writing Activity.
11. Making Words: Halloween
12. Write a Halloween Story from the POV of a Jack-O-Lantern
Have 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students think about all the things a jack-o-lantern might see and experience on Halloween night, and then write a story from its point of view!
You might also like these other Halloween-themed writing prompts.
13. Halloween Stories on Storyline Online
14. Monster Finger Toys Reading
Make reading a little more exciting for Halloween by giving each student a monster finger to use while they read. They could follow along with their finger as you or a partner reads aloud, or have them follow along with their finger while they read silently.
Don't want to buy one? Have students draw a tiny monster and tape it to their finger!
Other No Prep Ideas for October
15. Free October Themed Writing Prompts and Discussion Starters
16. Rewrite a Fairy Tale from a Different Character's POV
17. Review Theme with a Cut and Paste Freebie
18. Have Students Write Sentences of Various Lengths
19. Nonfiction Countdown
After reading a nonfiction text, have students write down 10 things they learned, in order from most interesting to least interesting.
Or, have them practice their determining importance skills, listing the things they learned in order from most important to least important.
20. Grouping Words Centers
Have students practice their categorization skills by sorting different words into groups. Classifying and categorizing are important and often overlooked skills that give students practice organizing information. It is also a good way to help students learn the difference between topic and main idea!
These no prep grouping words centers are a no prep way to give your students the practice with this skill that they need!
21. Convert a Worksheet into a "Find Someone Who"
22. Fiction and Nonfiction Book Scavenger Hunt
23. Interview an Inanimate Object
For a fun writing assignment, have students choose an inanimate object to "talk" to. Let them consider questions they would like to ask that object, and write down possible answers the object would give!
Make this a fall activity by having them "interview" something related to fall, like a leaf or a pumpkin.
24. Write Thank You Letters to the School Custodian
October 2nd is School Custodian Appreciation Day. Let your students show their appreciation - and get a little writing practice in - by writing a thank you letter!
This Thank You Letter Resource walks students through the entire writing process while helping them write a more meaningful letter.
25. Silent Ball
This is a great way to give your students a brain break, while giving you a break from the noise! All you need is a ball (or something students can throw).
Have students throw the ball to their classmates. Players are out if they make a noise, miss a catchable throw, or make a wild throw. The last student left is the winner!
26. List as Many Equations as You Can That Equal a Certain Number
Give students a certain number - like 10, 56, or 114 - and have students list as many equations as they can that equal that number within a given time period. Encourage students to think outside the box and not stick to addition and subtraction equations. They could use extended equations, fractions, decimals, etc.
This activity is a great time filler and can be used repeatedly with different numbers.
27. Vocabulary Tic-Tac-Toe
All students need is a piece of paper and a pencil for this fun vocabulary activity! Have students draw a tic-tac-toe board and write one of their vocabulary words in each of the boxes.
Then, call out clues for different vocabulary words. You could provide a definition, or act out a word, or provide a synonym for the vocabulary words. Students cross out the words as you provide clues. The first person to get a tic-tac-toe wins!
You might also like these other no prep vocabulary ideas.
28. 3 New Things, 3 Things I Already Knew
29. End of Day Reflection Questions
Whenever you have a few extra minutes at the end of the day, give students the opportunity to reflect on what they have accomplished throughout the day. Perhaps this will help students actually provide a thoughtful answer to their parents when asked, "What did you do today?"
Check out some possible end of day reflection questions here.
30. Add A Text Feature
After reading a nonfiction text, have students add a text feature to support the text! This gets them thinking a little more critically - and also helps them recognize how text features help the reader out.
Check out these other ideas for teaching text features.