Simon Lester Henry Strauss is a young boy that is not afraid of a haunted house. Around each corner, Henry sees ghosts, witches, vampires, ghouls, and many other scary creatures. The author uses her ideas and rhymes to keep children engaged. With each scary creature that shows up in this book, we can ask our students, “What could you find in a haunted house?”

And this is where our next lesson on Ideas comes in. Students will use their ideas to think of creatures they might find in a haunted house.  Click on any of the worksheets to download for free.

Give students the worksheet. Let them draw pictures and/or words to tell what they could see in a haunted house. Remind students to use their ideas, which can come from books or movies they have seen.

It doesn't end there! You can also have your kiddos write their own haunted house stories.

Have students use the web to help plan their stories. Use the pictures to decide which three things they will find in a haunted house.  Cut out them out and glue in the web.

To write a story, use the topic sentence provided– Last night I visited a haunted house. Next use the pictures to help create a story. For example, First I saw a black bat flying in the air. Next I heard a witch laughing while she made a potion. Finally I saw a white ghost coming toward me! I ran out of the haunted house as fast as I could. 

 
Now I don't use this activity during Halloween, which would probably be more appropriate, but that's OK. This lesson is a great way to use what the students have learned from the first two lessons to use ideas in writing.

Don't forget to check out my other posts to download the free traits of writing posters.
Teaching Ideas with Mentor Text (Rocket Writes a Story)
Teaching Ideas with Mentor Text (Enemy Pie)

Thanks for stopping by! Coming up, the next trait, Organization!

The post Teaching Ideas with Mentor Text (I’m Not Afraid of This Haunted House) first appeared on Literacy Please.