Halloween+Lecture



**//“Spooktacular Statistics”: Halloween Lecture Outline//**

**//Enduring Understanding://** Students will understand the transformation of the holiday of Halloween through history. Students will have an understanding of how the Celtic rituals from thousands of years ago have changed to become a moneymaking tradition for businesses. Students will apply their knowledge of how American society has transformed from the colonial period to modern day; through social, economic, cultural, religious and other aspects of society. Students will have an understanding of how profitable and large the Halloween market has become for the American economy.

**//Essential Question://** How has Halloween changed since its origins of the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain to the modern money making traditions of Halloween (such as; trick-or treating, costumes, carving jack-o’-lanterns, haunted houses, etc.) in America?

**//Rationale://** The goal of this lesson is to allow students to analyze and compare how Halloween has transformed from a Celtic ritual to an expanding business. Students will become familiar with the origins of Halloween, with a brief summary of how Halloween has been influenced and changed to be the holiday that we know today. Following the overview of the history, students will mainly focus on how recently Halloween has become a big money maker for those businesses’ involved in the holiday. Students will compare recent statistics to understand just large of a commercial holiday that Halloween is. The goal of this assignment is for students to understand how Halloween began as a ritual and transformed into a commercial holiday. In addition to students learning skills of critical thinking and analyzing, the lesson at the same time is an engaging activity for students to be able to see the reality and how shocking amount of profit Halloween brings to businesses.

**//Resources://** Handout that contains U.S Census Bureau Statistics. Guided Question/Note taking sheet that goes along with Halloween Facts Handout.

**//Lesson Outline://**

**//-The Origins://** Ireland. For the Celtic people, the festival known as Samhain, was a very important holiday. Samhain was celebrated for the Celtic people on the night of the last day of summer. The first day of winter and their new year began on November 1st. This medieval holiday for the Celtic people was very important for at the time of the Samhain, the souls of those who had died during the past year were most likely to come back and communicate with them. The Celtic people, during the festival of Samhain would build bonfires, and would burn crops and animals to sacrifice to the ghost of those who had died. They hoped that in making sacrifices the ghost of the dead would not ruin their crops for the winter or cause other trouble for the people. The people would often dress up in costumes and attempt to tell each other’s fortunes for the coming year. Image: []
 * **//5 Minutes://** Discussing/lecture of the origins of Halloween & the first American celebrations of the holiday. (This brief lecture will be provided in more detail on a handout as a resource for students. It will provide more information than we discussed in the lecture due to limited time for going over this material.

**//-Colonial American Halloween//**: How Halloween began and became a traditional celebration in America. Brief summary on, those who those celebrated Halloween in colonial America, what their beliefs and values were. The reasons and meaning for why these people participated in the holiday. Following, this brief overview of Halloween coming to America, students will be given the information on what major influences were for Halloween to became a popular tradition for American society.


 * **//10 Minutes://** Reading over handout. Working in groups, students will discuss the statistics provided on the handout. Students will share in their groups what their own thoughts and ideas about the information on the handout with each other. While participating in the small group discussion, students will use the think about questions on the worksheet to guide them in their group discussion.


 * **//10 Minutes://** Re-group as a class and the different groups will present what their conclusions after analyzing the handout.

**//“Thinking About Handout”//** -Students are expected to discuss with group members the following questions but are not limited to these. Students are encouraged to expand their thinking and share other ideas/issues that are not on handout. Write down your concluding thoughts to the questions or other opinions. **//This hand out is your ticket out the door!//**

**//“The Halloween market is growing in two ways that make it very attractive for business opportunities. First, Halloween is becoming an increasingly universal celebration. According to a survey by the National Retail Federation,//** **// [|nearly two-thirds (63.8%) of American consumers were planning to celebrate Halloween in 2006] //** **//, up from 52.5 percent in 2005. Canadians are even keener Halloween celebrants; 68% of Canadians planned to participate in at least one Halloween-related activity in 2007, according to a survey conducted for the Retail Council of Canada. Second, individual consumers are spending increasing amounts of money on celebrating Halloween. The average American consumer planned to spend $66.28 on costumes, candy and decorations in 2010, up from $59.06 on Halloween in 2006, says the National Retail Federation. Canadians planned to spend $60 on Halloween in 2006 according to a similar survey by the Retail Council of Canada.”[1]//**
 * What do you think is the most interesting statistic?
 * What was the least surprising statistic?
 * What role does this celebration have in society economically?
 * From the following reading below; what impact do you think this will have in the future not only for the U.S but globally as well? Do you think the market will continue to expand globally? What are some of the negative and positive issues to consider from this statement?
 * When looking over the statistics provided by the U.S Census Bureau and thinking about how the U.S economy has been over the past few years, what are your personal feelings about the Halloween market figures and the economic conditions of the country?
 * In making comparisons of the statistics, reading over the facts and in thinking about your own experiences what do you think the advantages and disadvantages are of Halloween for society?

[1] “Halloween – A really Sweet Business Opportunity” []