creativiteach

Halloween is almost here, and along with creative opportunities for scary story writing (see here and here), come some silly-story options as well. I’ve written previously about Halloween parodies of favorite tales. I also love the story of Delia the witch in It’s Raining Bats and Frogs. When Delia is frustrated by rain on the day of the annual Witch Parade, she changes the downpour to a literal raining of cats and dogs. When that causes problems she tries hats and clogs, bats and frogs, and so forth—each followed by inevitable silliness.

As a patterned book, It’s Raining Bats and Frogs cries out to be expanded. Imagine younger students continuing the story with rats and logs, mats and bogs, etc. With students who are a bit older, consider rhyming other idioms. Let the rat out of the bag? She has a flea in her bonnet? It’s a chance to teach about idioms and have some fun at the same time. There are helpful lists of kid-friendly idioms here and here.

If you want a more traditional approach to idioms, you can have students illustrate them without the rhyming option. Here are some examples to inspire you. Enjoy—and do share what your students come up with, especially if they involve some new rhymes!