Halloween

October 31st is a well-known date in the United States of America. It is Halloween. This is a holiday that many kids throughout the nation love. It is a day where children and adults get dressed up in costume of their favorite character, food, concept, and walk from house to house, apartment to apartment, or building to building. The drill: Knock on the front door or ring the door bell, say "Trick-or-Treat", and hold open your bag for the candy. Don't forget to say, "Thank you!" Many kids carry a decorated plastic or plush container. Some prefer to carry an empty pillowcase in preparation for the several pounds of candy to be collected. As kids, all we wanted to do was eat and try out the candy that we just received. Please, please, please, make sure that you have a parent, relative, or friend, look over your candy before you eat it. Why? You want to make sure that your candy hasn't been tampered with and that you stay safe on a fun holiday. Most of the trick-or-treating happens at night or for the younger kids, during the day or early evening when there is daylight. Some older kids have been known to throw raw eggs or spray people with shaving cream. This is another reason why you should travel with friends and adults. I remember getting home with all of my candy and dumping my trick-or-treat bag upside down, so that all of my candy made a huge pile on our living room rug. The cool thing was that my brother and our friends would trade our goodies. The hardest candies to try to trade were the bigger items, like a full-size Hershey bar or Snickers bar. This is a holiday for all ages. You are never too young to still have some fun. I still dress up on Halloween and enjoy the candy. My children are young adults and tend to go out with their friends, so I enjoy handing out the candy at my front door and see all the creative costumes that come to visit. A couple of suggestions if you plan on trick-or-treating at night are to wear warmer clothing under your costume, bring a flashlight or a glow stick, eat a good meal to fill you up before going out, and have an agreed time and place to meet up with your group if you get separated. Be safe, Be aware, Be smart, have fun and most of all......HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Imagine that you are standing in a Halloween costume store. What costume would you pick out to wear for Halloween? Why?

VOCABULARY
plush (adjective) -- a thick, soft fabric
relative (noun) -- a member of your family
tampered (verb) -- to change the structure or arrangement of something
goodies (noun) -- sweets, candy, desserts
tend (verb) -- to go in a particular direction
*boogeyman (noun) -- a scary character that is not real
*creepy (adjective) -- scary
*ghastly (adjective) -- very shocking or horrible
*mysterious (adjective) -- unknown; strange
*supernatural (adjective) -- relating or coming from magic; the unexplainable
*zombie (noun) --  a dead person who is able to move because of magic according to some religions and stories, movies, etc.

* = word from the above video

VOCABULARY EXERCISE
Please "put the pieces back together." Using the clues, given below, try to identify the vocabulary word that is being described in each clue. After identifying the vocabulary word, piece together your crossword puzzle. Which words can intersect? Have fun with this challenge!:-)
Across
5. relating or coming from magic; the unexplainable
7. unknown; strange
10. a scary character that is not real
11. to go in a particular direction
Down
1. scary
2. a thick, soft fabric
3. very shocking or horrible
4. sweets, candy, desserts
6. a dead person who is able to move because of magic according to some religions and stories, movies, etc.
8. to change the structure or arrangement of something
9. a member of your family






GRAMMAR POINT
An adjective is a word that describes a person, place, or thing. In my above post, I use many adjectives to "paint a picture" and help my readers understand what children in the United States of America do on Halloween. Please tell me about a holiday or special event that is tradition in your family or your culture by writing a 10 sentence paragraph that includes at least 5 adjectives. Underline the adjectives in your paragraph and add an illustration once you are done with your paragraph. The illustration must relate to your paragraph.