How to Write Spooky Poetry For Halloween

Halloween is a great time to read spooky poetry with kids to set the mood for the holiday. Children like the combination of rhyming words and frightening images that Halloween poetry inspires. Often, reading poems inspires them to want to write one of their own. Halloween is a holiday filled with many images, like pumpkins, witches, black cats, ghost, goblins, graveyards and more. This lesson uses Halloween to drum up some excitement for children about writing poetry.

Instructions

1. Read aloud the following poem by Shel Silverstein called "On Halloween."

   On Halloween I'll go to town
   And wear my trousers upside down,
   and wear my shoes turned inside out
   And wear a wig of sauerkraut.

   Discuss the poem with the kids. What does it make them think of? Do they notice how the pattern of rhyme is every other line at the end. This is called end rhyme.

2. Read another poem aloud by Jack Prelusky called "It's Halloween."

   It's Halloween! It's Halloween!
   The moon is full and bright
   And we shall see what can't be seen
   On any other night.

   Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,
   Grinning goblins fighting duels,
   Werewolves rising from their tombs,
   Witches on their magic brooms.

   In masks and gowns
   we haunt the street
   And knock on doors
   for trick or treat.

   Tonight we are
   the king and queen,
   For oh tonight
   it's Halloween!

   Discuss the images and theme. Read more poems from the websites Halloween Poems and Coolest Halloween poems, if desired (see Resources).

3. Hand out two pieces of paper and pencils to the children. Brainstrorm creative ideas for writing Halloween poems with them. Come up with a list of word and ideas about Halloween to write about. The list of words might have ghosts, witches, moon, brooms, candy, orange pumpkins, jack o lanterns, costumes, candy, black cats, monsters, full moon, skeletons, ghouls, goblins, masks and werewolves. The themes to write about might be a spooky night out trick-or-treating, the haunted house in the neighborhood, the black cat and the witch, or the skeletons that walk at night on Halloween. Write down these ideas on one piece of paper. Get a long list so that everyone will have material to work with.

4. Write the poem in rhyme with at least 2 stanzas, 4 lines each. The lines should rhyme at the end of the sentence. This is called end rhyme. Every other line should rhyme at the end so this will make it consistent. Tell them to write down some lists of spooky words that rhyme with each other like cat, hat, bat, mat and fat. Another list might be witch, twitch and switch, or moon, loon and goon. This gives them an idea of how to rhyme words. When they have written a few lists of spooky words, write the poem. Give them approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete it. Each child should use the second blank piece of paper to write the poem.

5. Allow children to draw pictures with colored pencils or crayons to illustrate their poems, if they like.

6. Read the poems out loud after they have finished.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider allowing the children to type the poems and print them, to give them practice using the computer.

Resources

• Halloween Poems
• Coolest Halloween Poems