1) One quarter of all candy sold annually in the US is for Halloween. 2) Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where the Celts believed ghosts returned to earth and honored the dead with bonfires and costumes. 3) Traditionally, Halloween activities included carving turnips and pumpkins, trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, and superstitions about love and marriage.

1. English Club 10-30-2011
Happy Halloween!!!
One quarter of all the candy sold annually
in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween.

2. Estimating - Guessing
• Estimate - an approximate number or
quantity of something
• An estimate is not exact, it is a guess.
• Phrases for guessing:
– I think that …
– There are about…
– My guess is…
– Maybe there are…
– There are approximately…

3. Introductions
• Name
• Guess the number of sunflower seeds in the jar.
– I think that …
– There are about…
– My guess is…
– Maybe there are…
– There are approximately…
• Which is scarier vampires or witches?

4. There are 1066
sunflower seeds
in the jar.

5. Halloween History
• Halloween dates back to the Celtic festival of
Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
• The Celts lived 2,000 years ago in Ireland and
England, celebrated the new year on November
1.
• November 1st was the end of summer and the
beginning of the winter.
• Celts believed that on the night before the new
year that ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

6. Halloween History
• Celts built huge fires and made sacrifices
to their gods.
• The Celts would wear costumes made of
animal heads and skins.
• In the eighth century, the Pope made
November 1 a day to honor saints. The
evening before was known as All Hallows’
Eve and later Halloween.

7. Pumpkins and Halloween
• Making jack-o'-lanterns - carved pumpkins - comes
from the custom of carving turnips into lanterns as
a way of remembering the dead.
• The turnip was used in Ireland and Scotland during
Halloween.
• Immigrants to North America used pumpkins
because they were bigger and easier to carve into
jack-o’-lanterns.
• Now carved pumpkins are a symbol of Halloween.

8. Trick-or-treating
• Trick-or-treating is when children go in costume
from house to house, asking for treats.
• The custom started in Scotland where children
perform “trick” to earn threat treat.
• They would sing songs or tell a ghost stories to
earn treats.
• Shakespeare mentions the trick-or-treating in one
of his plays - “…whimpering or whining like a
beggar at Hallowmas.”

9. Costumes - Disguises
• Dressing up in costumes was common in Scotland
at Halloween by the late 19th century.
• Costuming became popular for Halloween parties
in the US in the early 20th century - for adults and
children.
• Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the
1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming
popular in the United States.

10. Halloween Superstitions
• Superstitions - The belief in something not
proven to be true.
• Most Halloween superstitions are about
marriage and finding love.
• In 18th-century Ireland, a cook would bury a
ring in mashed potatoes on Halloween night.
The person who found the ring would find
true love.

11. US and Halloween
• Today, Americans spend an estimated
$6 billion (48 billion Ukrainian $)
annually on Halloween, making it the
US’s second largest holiday.