Happy Sunday to all you alls. It's Kelley Dolling from Teacher Idea Factory. I'm here to help spread a little Halloween themed cheer. How do I intend to do that you ask . . . with a spooky writing freebie, of course :) I have been runnin' with Sketchin' Out Spooky sentences for years in my classroom and it has been in my TPT shop for a while now. However, this freebie needed a serious face-lift . . . let's just say that my design skills have come a LONG way in three years ;) Here's how this one works . . . First, stock your center with a handful of Halloween or strange/spooky directed draws. Ed Emberly has oodles of great books, From the Pond has a great Spooky Directed Drawing packet, or you can simply print out multiple free Halloween themed directed draws via a Google Search. Next, the kids get a worksheet template and use the books to help them sketch out a spooky scene in one of the boxes - just in pencil up front (they come back at the end to add more details). This one always delights my kiddies. I think it's the whole BREAKING the classroom writing rule of ALWAYS drafting your sentence before illustrating that draws them in right off the bat. Yup . . . they get to sketch first. This is usually a two day center activity. They get into producing SUPER quality work. These are the old ugly templates, but you get the idea :) When finished, they write a detailed sentence to go with their sketch. They complete this task twice. After both sentences have been drafted, they can add more details to their pictures and some color! This assignment always lends itself to a wonderful round of "author's chair." The giggles are contagious and they LOVE showing off their spooky work :) If you are interested in picking up this fun writing FREEBIE . . . click here. Alright, I am out of here. It's time to prep for the week. I will see you again in November . . . 11/11 to be exact. Until then, catch me over at Teacher Idea Factory. Merry Sunday!