Golden Apple: Riverside Elementary First Graders Celebrate Halloween

Learning while having a little fun was what Halloween Day at Riverside Elementary School was all about.

“They’ve been having a great time. We’ve had to take a couple of times to take deep breaths because we get super excited,” said Amanda Langan, Riverside Elementary First Grade Teacher.

First graders at the elementary school have the unique opportunity to celebrate with a fun tradition of Halloween stations. The students rotated through six different classrooms throughout the day, all featuring a different and unique Halloween-themed activity.

“There is roll-a-pumpkin where our students roll dice, add up the number, and then they make a shape for the pumpkin. There is bingo. There is a skeleton art project and then there’s also some book making that they’re doing, too,” explained Riverside Elementary First Grade Teacher Jennessa Steele.

“We have an art project. We have candy corn math where they’re doing graphing activities and equations. We, of course threw, in a Halloween bingo just to get some prizes and candy out there,” added Langan.

Each activity is specifically chosen to be fun, yet educational.

“This is a unique thing for first grade. We started doing it a couple years ago because each teacher was taking on trying to do all these stations by themselves all day long, and so then we were like, ‘hey, firefighters, we work together,’ and now every person is now taking one station and we’re all rotating,” explained Langan.

On Halloween when many students have a lot of energy, the teachers look forward to the opportunity to step outside of the usual routine.

“I think it’s good for them to just let loose a little bit. We have our expectations and we’ve been working so hard the last eight, nine weeks, so it gives them a chance to kind of just enjoy themselves and celebrate with their classmates and meet other teachers and students as well,” added Steele.

“I think it’s important to be able to celebrate and get together and do something fun and different than just your normal routine,” said Langan. “But still involve academics.”