October 2026 Movie Roundup

2 days ago

3 min read

Collage of BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. movies relevant in October: Pumpkins, Writing About Yourself, Types of Writing, Native American Traditions, and Halloween

This month is all about keeping the new-school-year honeymoon period going for as long as possible. First, give students a system for staying on top of their growing workload with BrainPOP’s newest movie. Then, keep the good vibes going by celebrating the notable moments on the calendar (some of which educate as much as they celebrate…shh).

Psst: Follow up any of these movies with a quiz in the new Live Mode, found on both BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr.

New on BrainPOP 3-8: Time Management

From BrainPOP's Time Management topic. A color-coded calendar is displayed, with a column titled "Essay Tasks." Each task is mapped out for a week on the calendar, leading up to a circled "due date."

October brings new deadlines and more to juggle. Cassie and Moby are here to help with the new Time Management movie—walking 3-8 students through planning ahead by blocking off fixed commitments first, prioritizing what's left, breaking long-term assignments into workable chunks, and dealing with procrastination.

All month long: National Bullying Prevention Month

From the BrainPOP Jr. Bullying movie. A teacher pats Moby on the shoulder. On-screen text: "What should you do if you see someone getting bullied?" Subtitle: "Most adults will be very glad you told them because they want everyone to be safe!"

October is National Bullying Prevention Month—a month to prevent bullying and promote kindness and inclusion.

Let Tim, Moby, and Annie help you explain bullying, why and how it happens, and what to do when you see it (and why it matters!).

Grades K-3: Bullying
Grades 3-8: Bullying, Cyberbullying, Peer Pressure

October 12: Indigenous Peoples' Day/Columbus Day

October 12 is marked two ways, depending on what you need to teach.

Tim and Moby sit next to each other. Tim is wearing a white T-shirt with the face of Christopher Columbus on it. From the BrainPOP Christopher Columbus topic.

Columbus Day, a federal holiday since 1937, commemorates Christopher Columbus' 1492 arrival.

BrainPOP's Christopher Columbus movies cover that full history, not just the arrival.

Grades K-3: Christopher Columbus
Grades 3-8: Christopher Columbus

From the BrainPOP Jr. Cherokee topic. On-screen text: "Who are the Cherokee people?" An illustration lists seven different clans.

A growing number of states also observe Indigenous Peoples' Day on the same date.

To honor Indigenous Peoples' culture and history, start with:

Grades K-3: Cherokee and Iroquois
Grades 3-8: Native American Traditions, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy

(Note: these topics contain sensitive content. We suggest teachers preview and teach with discretion).

October 19-23: Digital Citizenship Week

Digital citizenship is more than a week’s worth of lessons—it's the ongoing work of teaching students to think critically about everything they encounter online. Still, it’s never more timely (or more fun!) than Digital Citizenship Week.

BrainPOP is here to help this week—and all year—with topics like:

Tim sits in front of a library computer open to a search engine. A librarian gives him advice on best practices. From the BrainPOP Online Sources topic.

Grades K-3: Internet Safety and Digital Etiquette
Grades 3-8: 20+ topics in the Digital Citizenship unit, including:

October 20: National Day on Writing

From the BrainPOP Jr. "Writing About Yourself" topic. Moby, the orange robot, holds a pencil and paper in his mouth while in a classroom. On-screen text: "How do I write a memoir?"

Every year, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) invites you to celebrate the National Day on Writing on October 20 to celebrate every writer—from those just learning the craft to those who teach it (and everyone in between).

Before using one of NCTE's ideas, activities, or prompts, build your students' literacy knowledge with the following:

Grades K-3: Writing with the Senses, Writing a Paragraph, Writing About Yourself, or anything else from the Writing unit
Grades 3-8: Writing Process, Personal Narrative, Types of Writing, Prewriting, or anything else from the Writing unit

October 31: Halloween

From the BrainPOP Halloween topic. Tim and Moby are dressed up as a pirate and a bug. They are dumping out candy from pumpkin-shaped trick-or-treat bags.

Get ready for a spooktacular Halloween by teaching your students the history behind the holiday—and, for older kids, add a cross-curricular twist to your lesson by tying it to other social studies, science, and ELA concepts.

And, if you want to teach Day of the Dead alongside Halloween, BrainPOP's got you covered there too.

For grades K-3: Halloween
For grades 3-8: Halloween, Pumpkins, Salem Witch Trials, Edgar Allen Poe, Frankenstein, Blood, Bats, Moon Phases, Day of the Dead

Note: Topic availability may vary based on content settings configured by your school or district.

AnnaLiese Burich is a Product Marketing Manager at BrainPOP. In addition to holding an MA in Magazine Journalism and an MA in English Literature, she has worked in (and written for) the edtech space from every angle: from parenting tips and children's activities to classroom strategies and district goals. AnnaLiese's favorite BrainPOP character is Tim.