Halloween Activities The Spooky Wheels on the Bus Storytelling Craft

Teacher Comments:

• "I LOVE this book and this is an adorable companion that is interactive, engaging, and fun!!! SO CUTE!!! Thanks for creating!"
• “Excellent Resource.” “These were so fun to make!”
• "Super cute and detailed. My little ones wanted to sing and retell all day!"

"The Spooky Wheels on the Bus” by J. Elizabeth Mills is a new favorite of mine. Perfect for counting, introducing onomatopoeia, and practicing the “sequencing and retelling a story” standards.

Since my students are familiar with, and really enjoy singing “The Wheels on the Bus”, having an alternate version for Halloween fun is particularly enjoyable.

For educational fun on Halloween party day, read the story, sing the song, and make the slider craft. Woo hoo for simple.

With these things in mind, I designed a quick, easy and fun ”Spooky Wheels on the Bus” “slider” craftivity, which will help your students retell the story in the proper order.

Students color the story elements on the “slider strip” then cut and glue it together.

As they pull on the end of the “slider-strip” the various pictures go through the “window” of their bus, so that children can take turns retelling the story to a partner or reading buddy, then take their craft home to share with their family, once again practicing these standards.

I introduce the lesson by reading the book ”The Spooky Wheels on the Bus”, then share my completed "slider craft” with my students.

So that you can quickly, and easily make an example, I’ve included a full-color slider pattern.

After I read the story, we retell the tale together, using the picture prompts on my slider.

I have children guess which story element they think comes next, before I pull the picture through the “window”.

My students now know what’s expected of them, and are very excited to transition to making a “Spooky Bus” storytelling slider of their own.

Storytelling sliders are also an easy & interesting way to assess comprehension.

Teacher Comment:

• "My students loved doing this. It helped me assess the student's ability to retell the story."

I’ve included a "Let's sequence the story” activity for this, where students color and trim the picture “windows” then glue them in the correct order on their worksheet.

There's also a colorful, bus answer key poster, which you can use in various ways, including as an independent puzzle center.

(Check the PREVIEW for details.)

A “Here’s What Happened…” writing prompt worksheet, is another way to check comprehension, plus practice sequential writing, hopefully using a variety of ordinal numbers and other transitions.

Teacher Comments:

• My students loved these activities! They also loved the book, which I hadn't known about until coming across this activity on Pinterest. They wanted me to read it over and over with them! Will definitely reuse this every year now.

• My students were engaged and loved looking for the item that came next. I love that they are able to interact with the pieces; it kept them more engaged.

I’m Diane from Teach With Me, wishing you a fantastic and fun-filled fall.

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