Halloween Narrative Writing Fun for Middle School

At this time of year, my students really enjoy some spooky fun.  After all, they're still kids and many even go out trick-or-treating.  

To help them stay focused but still have fun, I came up with a narrative writing project where students write an original story about a spooky (or haunted) house.

We start with an exterior planning sheet and a black and white image of old, ramshackle house.  I ask the students to decorate it in any way they would like and then write adjectives that describe those "decorations" on the planning sheet.  I even put up some spooky house pictures on the board for inspiration!  

After we repeat this process for the interior of the house, it's time to think about what this house sounds like.  I have the students turn to the pages where sound adjectives and adverbs are to be recorded and then play some spooky music clips accompanied by some more spooky house images.

Next, it's time to think about the characters.  There's a full planning sheet for names, appearances, and traits.

After that is completed, we're ready to begin thinking about some situations and develop the story.  I lay everything out step-by-step with organizers to make sure the students have a complete narrative - including the time order for the climax and a section for falling action and resolution.

Then, as I bet you've already guessed, students put it all together into a final copy and we read the final copies out loud in class on the days leading up to Halloween.  If we get lucky, Halloween is on a school day and there's nothing better than reading scary stories on that day!

The students absolutely love this project and not only do they write a narrative, but they also go over all of the parts of a story.  So in the future, when I need a reference point for rising action, for example, I can refer back to this writing project.  

Want to try this out with your own students?  I have the Halloween Narrative Writing Project all ready to go - complete with spooky sounds and video!  PLUS, there's a digital version included!

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