Schoolhouse

Free Halloween lesson · Grades 3–6

Haunted House If/Else

One print-and-teach period on conditionals and debugging. Spooky-cute door cards, a floor-plan worksheet, a lying-door debug round, and an exit ticket. No devices. About 40–50 minutes.

Download the printable PDFPlay the browser version on Hi, Bot

Objectives

Conditionals and debugging, on paper

Conditionals

Students read and follow IF / THEN / ELSE rules on door cards, then write one rule of their own.

Debugging

In the lying-door round, they spot a swapped THEN/ELSE, name the bug, and write the fix.

Timing · Materials

One period, common classroom supplies

Timing: 40–50 minutes. Self-paced pairs with a short teacher-led hook and close — no live workshop, no accounts.

  • Printed pack (door cards, floor plan, lying-door sheet, exit ticket)
  • Scissors for cutting door cards (one set per pair is enough)
  • Pencils
  • Optional: tape or sticky notes as “door stamps” on the floor-plan path

Lesson plan

Step by step

  1. 5 min

    Hook

    You are a friendly robot. Ask the class for one IF / THEN / ELSE (for example: IF someone says boo, THEN smile, ELSE wave). Follow it literally. Swap the condition once so they see THEN and ELSE flip.

  2. 5 min

    Model Door A

    Read the Candy Porch card aloud. Give the clue “bowl is empty,” choose THEN together, then flip the clue to “bowl has candy” and choose ELSE.

  3. 20–25 min

    Floor-plan path

    Pairs cut the door cards and work the floor-plan worksheet room by room. Circulate and ask: “What is the IF asking? Is it true right now?”

  4. 8–10 min

    Find the lying door

    Hand the debugging sheet. One printed rule has THEN and ELSE swapped. Students name the lying door and write the corrected rule.

  5. 5 min

    Exit ticket

    Each student invents one new door rule and circles the IF. Collect before dismissal.

What’s in the PDF

Door cards through answer key

  • Six cut-out door cards, each with a full IF / THEN / ELSE rule
  • Haunted-house floor-plan worksheet with room clues
  • Find-the-lying-door debugging round
  • Exit ticket and teacher answer key
Download PDFPlay the browser version on Hi, BotMore free downloads

This pack teaches conditionals and debugging as classroom practice. It does not claim a specific standards crosswalk on this page.