Happy almost Halloween everyone! I am so excited to be participating in this Halloween Blog Hop! There are lots of great teacher tips, lessons and freebies along the way, so I hope you’re able to visit each store for inspiration and (who’s kidding who!) the awesome freebies! And check this out:

You’ll see the Rafflecopter machine a little further down. But first, I thought I’d take you down memory lane..

Did you used to sing the classic song 99 Bottles of Beer, with its stick-in-your-brain-forever melody and uncanny ability to teach even the most math-challenged among us to rote count backwards from 100?

I did, and it stuck so much that, years ago, I changed the words and created an activity to go with it. Its adhesive quality remains.

The activity:

1. Print enough freebies for your entire class, and one for yourself. You’ll also see options for the color version at the bottom of this post.
2. Plan enough time for each student to take a turn at the board. You’ll see why in a minute!
3. Have some early finishers color and cut out your freebie, mount on sturdy paper, laminate if you wish, and place magnets on the back for use on a magnetic surface.
4. Gather the class and draw a wall for your characters to stand on. If you have not read the story with them (optional purchase pictured below), then introduce the activity by discussing their thoughts regarding standing on high walls, predictions about what could happen etc. Throughout the course of the song, one character will be falling at a time.
5. Now, warm up that singing voice! “Mi, mi, mi…”
6. Give each child a chance to make a character fall from the wall as you sing this song:

5 Halloween friends on the wall, 5 Halloween friends …

If 1 of these friends has a big fall, How many friends are left on the wall?

4 Halloween friends on the wall, 4 Halloween friends …

If 1 of these friends has a big fall, How many friends are left on the wall?

3 Halloween friends on the wall, 3 Halloween friends …

If 1 of these friends has a big fall, How many friends are left on the wall?

And you simply continue this way until there is one friend left on the wall.

7.  Invite your students to discuss what they noticed or found interesting about the song / story. Were there any patterns? Does anyone think that there was math in the story? How could a number sentence be written about what just happened?

8. Have fun!

Now back to the fun for the grown-ups!  Here’s the secret word for the Rafflecopter machine…

Be sure to pop over to Elementary AMC by clicking below!

And grab your freebie below! The story and activity book with color cut-outs is also available here.

And here’s a little something of interest for those advanced-placement math-types (who I know all too well…)

Happy haunting everyone!

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