Halloween Reading Escape Room

By Rissa Hanneken

Halloween reading offers a unique and easy solution to the challenges teachers often grapple with student engagement, easy implementation, and versatility. In upper elementary classrooms, it’s essential to grab and keep our students’ attention, prepare and modify resources, and accommodate different learning styles. How about a Halloween reading comprehension with an added element – an escape room? Why not meld the spookiness of Halloween with the fun of solving mysteries?

Why Choose a Halloween Reading Escape Room?

• Engagement Overdrive: By its very nature, an escape room captures attention. When combined with the allure of Halloween, students are immediately immersed. Instead of just another reading lesson, they’re now on an adventure, motivated by their excitement about Halloween.
• Swift and Simple Implementation: You are often swamped, juggling lesson planning, grading, and more. This Halloween reading escape room is a print-and-go resource. So, you can easily introduce this innovative, interactive lesson without hours of prep.
• Versatility is its Middle Name: Escape rooms can cater to various learning styles and paces. Whether students are working solo, in pairs, or in groups, the structure can be tailored. Different challenges within the escape room can target different skill sets, ensuring comprehensive learning.

Your students will read this fun passage multiple times to find the text evidence they need to solve the four challenges! What a great way to build fluency and comprehension!

Strategies for Effective Implementation

1. Know Your Audience: Consider the dynamics of your class. Escape rooms are brilliant for fostering teamwork, but if certain students might benefit more individually, adapt as needed.
2. Ambiance Matters: Set the stage. Convert your classroom into a spooky haven. The atmosphere can significantly bolster the engagement factor.
3. Break it Down: This escape room will span multiple sessions because there are four different activities. You can introduce challenges over days or have extended sessions for those who finish their tasks quickly.

As they solve each challenge, they collect a piece of the code. But, to get the codes they will work with vocabulary, true or false statements, multiple choice questions, and finding the text within paragraphs. There is no fluff in this escape room. Your students will work hard for the code!

Quick Tips for Maximizing The Halloween Reading Escape Room Experience:

• Always Review: Even if it’s print and go, always preview the material. It guarantees a smoother, hiccup-free session.
• Celebrate All Wins: Use the accompanying rewards, Halloween Color-By-Number Pictures, to celebrate the successful completion of the challenges or simply as a relaxing post-challenge activity.

Their reward for solving the code is a choice of three Halloween Color-By-Number pages. If they can solve the code – I think they deserve some fun coloring time!

In conclusion…..

The Halloween Reading Escape Room doesn’t just offer reading comprehension; it delivers a fun and engaging experience for students. So this Halloween, let’s embrace a resource that not only ticks these boxes but does so with flair and fun.

There is very little planning necessary on your part. Just make copies for your students, determine the timeline, and watch them have fun while improving their reading comprehension and fluency! It’s a fun, highly engaging, sanity-saving, no-prep reading activity for that crazy time right before Halloween!