Trick or treat?!

Welcome to your funny and scary Halloween lesson!

How will this work? Your teacher will give you a checklist with the numbers of the exercises. Every time that you finish an exercise, you'll have to call the teacher to check it. If the exercise is filled out, the teacher will give you a check on your list. This means that you deserve a treat from the pumpkin basket. Enjoy the sweets :)

The story of Halloween

Read the text and do the exciting Halloween quiz! 

Halloween, the time of pumpkins, candies, ghosts, witches and much more, is annually celebrated on the 31st of October. Celts lived in the British Isles during ancient times. They were pagans. They believed in the gods of nature. There were two important festivals on the Celtic calendar, Beltane and Samhain. Beltane celebrated the beginning of summer and Samhain the start of winter, on the first of November. Samhain was also the first day of the year on the Celtic calendar. 

The Celts were afraid of winter. For them the winter was the season of darkness as well as the beginning of the New Year. The days were short and cold, and the nights were very long. They associated 3 winters with death and evil spirits. Druids in Britain and Ireland would light bonfires, dance around them and offer sacrifices of animal and crops. The fires were also intended to give warmth to the households and to keep free from evil spirits. 

Through the ages these practices changed. The Irish hollowed out turnips, placed a light inside to keep away the bad and stingy Jack. As the legend says, Jack was a man who tricked the devil and after Jack had died he was allowed neither in heaven nor in hell. With a lantern in his hand he began to search for a resting place on Earth. This was the original Jack-o-Lantern. Since Halloween came to America from Ireland (Scotland and Wales) people used pumpkins because they were bigger and easier to hollow out than turnips. 

During the centuries the cultures have added their own elements to the way Halloween is celebrated. Children love the custom of dressing-up in fancy costumes and going from door-to-door yelling "Trick-or-Treat". Adults instead join spooky parties which are nearly held all over the cities and villages on that special evening. A spooky decoration, games and "frightening food" are nuts and bolts for a Halloween party your friends won't soon forget.

Crossword puzzle

Fill out the crossword puzzle with the correct words. You may use Google for some help. 

Writing your own scary story

Now it's time to write your own scary story. Write a short scary story with a minimum of 15 lines. If you need inspiration, you can use the story dice that your teacher has or you can roll the dice online through the link below. 

How do the story dice work? Throw the dice. Use pictures/words on the dice in your text. This can help you come up with some creative stories.

Schrijf jouw verhaal in dit Google Formulier.