Pumpkins, Spiders, Bats, and Owls Thematic Units – October Bundle

This bundle of October thematic units will really help you harness your kids’ excitement this Halloween season and get them fired up about learning! The three engaging themes (All About Pumpkins, All About Spiders, and Comparing Bats and Owls) in this bundle provide primary students with the information they crave and keep them busy with fun and meaningful activities. Each unit includes a nonfiction PowerPoint slideshow along with materials to support writing, printable posters and vocabulary cards, thematic worksheets and activities, a cute hat or crown, and a craft.

Each of the three included units (All About Pumpkins, All About Spiders, and Comparing Bats and Owls) includes a PowerPoint file and a PDF that you will download as a zipped folder. The PPT slides are also included at the end of the PDF, so if you don’t have access to PowerPoint, you will still be able to use the slideshow with your class.

The three units included in this bundle are:

All About Pumpkins Unit

Students will learn about the life cycle of pumpkins, the parts of a pumpkin, and food products that are made from pumpkins.

All About Spiders Unit

Students love the eye-catching photos in this unit! They will learn about the life cycle of spiders, the parts of a spider, and habits and characteristics of spiders.

Comparing Bats & Owls Unit

In this set, students will learn all about bats and owls and will also compare the two flying creatures. This unit covers the life cycles, body parts, and the habits and characteristics of owls and bats.

What’s included in each unit?

Each of these thematic units includes materials to help you integrate its topic into science, literacy, and math.

Here’s what’s included:

✔ Informational PowerPoint Slideshow

The slideshows are packed full of information and clear, eye-catching photographs. Treat the slideshows as you would a read-aloud book, giving students time to ask questions and discuss the facts they’re learning.

✔ Vocabulary Word Posters and Word Wall Cards

Each set includes vocabulary posters with photographs as well as word cards that can be included in a writing center. These materials support students as they write and talk about pumpkins, spiders, bats, and owls.

✔ Anchor Chart Materials and Posters

Printable materials are included to help you create meaningful anchor charts with your students. You’ll find what you need to make at least three anchor charts per theme. In addition, these sets include printable posters and diagrams to illustrate important concepts about pumpkins, spiders, bats, and owls.

✔ A Simple Song or Poem

Children love memorizing these simple songs and poems and doing so helps them remember a few interesting facts they can share at home!

✔ Printable Activities

▶ Themed Informational Writing Materials: In addition to writing organizers, all three units include themed writing paper and activities that support informational writing. The spider unit also includes materials to get students started with opinion writing and the bats and owls unit includes templates for comparison writing.

▶ Science Activities: To give students practice with the science concepts introduced in the slideshows, these sets include printable activities such as cut and glue life cycles and diagrams to label.

▶ Thematic Crafts: Each set includes a simple craft with clear instructions. These crafts integrate thematic learning with fine motor practice and make easy bulletin board displays.

▶ Hats/Crowns: Use a sentence strip to complete each simple hat. These crowns encourage children to build their oral language skills and practice vocabulary as they tell others about what they’ve learned. Making a hat or crown is a great way to culminate your unit!

▶ Thematic Printables: Each set includes printable worksheets that help you incorporate pumpkins, spiders, bats, and owls into your reading and math lessons.

Check out the preview files to see more details about what’s included in each set!

How do I use these thematic units?

Begin by accessing students’ background knowledge about your theme by having a class discussion. As you discuss, fill in the “K” (What I Know) and “W” (What I Want to Know) columns of the KWL chart. Follow up with the PowerPoint slideshow, which can be read aloud in one sitting or can be used across several days. Young children will need time to discuss the information as it is presented, so be sure to build in time for conversations and questions! Upon completion of the PowerPoint (or as you go along), have students help fill in the final column of the KWL chart.

To guide students toward informational writing about your theme, begin with the “Can, Have, Are” chart, having the students help determine what you should write in each section (sample charts are included). Students can then begin to work on their own organizers which will scaffold them toward writing three informational sentences about your theme.

Use the other anchor charts to help students expand their knowledge and to give them opportunities to practice new vocabulary.

The original songs and poem help students remember facts about your theme while also working on memorization. Consider having students come up with hand motions to go along with the songs and poem!

The thematic activities can be completed in any order (and you can pick and choose based on the needs and levels of your students).

Have students make hats to culminate their studies and encourage them to share facts with anyone who asks about their hats!

What teachers are saying about this October bundle:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ " Worth every penny. Outstanding PowerPoints and printables. My students loved them! Excellent resource, thank you.” -Cathline B.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “We LOVE this resource in 1st grade. It fits in perfectly with our unit of inquiry and what our students want to know.” -N.P.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ " Very student-friendly. Well-made! Easy to put to use right away!” -Carrie S.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “What amazing power points and correlating activities. My students were very engaged with the information and graphics!” -Jaime P.

You may also like:

▶ All About Turkeys Unit
▶ Candy Corn CVC Word Puzzles
▶ Fine Motor Activities for Fall

Please see the preview file for more detailed images. If you have any questions, email susan@myhappyplaceteaching.com or use the “Q&A” feature on this page.

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Susan Jennings (My Happy Place)

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