The pagans who lived in Britain 200 years ago celebrated New Year on 1st November. Then the Christians came and celebrated “Hallowmas”, a festival between 31st October and 2nd November.
31st October slowly changed the name to HALLOWEEN.
In the past, people believed that bad spirits came in winter. They wanted bad spirits to go away, so they made fires outside and used pumpkins to make jack o’ lanterns.
To make a jack o’ lantern, people cut a hole in a large fruit. Then they put a candle in the hole, and cut a face in the side.
Another thing people do is to dress like witches and ghosts to make the bad spirits go away. People often put up decorations for Halloween parties, play games such as "bobbing apples", attend costume parties and bonfires, tell scary stories and watch horror films.
Children go “trick or treating”. They dress like witches and ghosts, and go to the houses in small groups.When someone answers the door, the children say: TRICK OR TREAT? and the person in the house must decide. They may give the children a treat ( chocolate, fruit, sweets…) or the children will play a trick on them . The children sometimes throw eggs at the house.
Island for Sale (Anne Collins, Penguin) is the book you will read this term. Here is the summary and some interesting things to know about it.
Summary
A young Scotsman, Duncan McTavish, lives in a bigcastle with his dog, Jock, on a small Scottish island calledLana. He likes it, but as he cannot afford to pay hiselectricity bills, he has to sell the island. Mr Moneybags,an estate agent in London, finds a buyer: Leaping Larry,an American rock star who visits the island with hisgirlfriend, Roxanne. Roxanne hates the cold, dark castle.She is very angry, so they go back to California. MrMoneybags doesn’t want to sell the castle now. Duncan is very unhappy. But then he meets Jean, a teacher who likespainting pictures of the island. Jean has an idea: touristscan stay at the castle and she can teach them to paintpictures. Duncan and Jean get married and live happily inthe castle, which is now full of tourists.
Did you know that...?
Scotland: In northwest Europe, Scotland forms part of the United Kingdom. Apart from the mainland, it consists of over 790 islands. It has its own laws, education system and traditions, but it is not a sovereign state. It is very popular with tourists.
Castles: Big ancient residences generally built in medieval times and owned by rich people. They are sometimes hired for special occasions (weddings, conferences) and are used by tourists interested in a different kind of holiday.
Islands for sale: In some countries islands are not sold as private property, as they are part of the national territory.
Lifestyles: Duncan leads a simple life, though he is the owner of the island. Larry and Roxanne have a different idea of what an interesting life is.
We will start reading Island for Salethe first week of November!!