Today is Halloween.

The modern celebration of Halloween traces its origins back two millennia, to the Celtic observance of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). In the Celtic calendar, Samhain fell on November 1st, marking the end of summer and the harvest and the start of a new year. It was believed that on the night before Samhain, the line between the land of the living and the land of the dead became blurred, allowing the dead to walk the earth for that one night. By the seventh century, Christianity had become the dominant religion in Celtic lands and Pope Boniface IV designated that November 1st become All Saints’ Day. This is believed to have been an attempt to Christianize the Celtic holiday, rather than simply doing away with it. The origins of the word Halloween trace back to the Middle English word alholowmesse, which means All Saint’s Day. The night before became All-Hallows Eve, which was eventually contracted to "Halloween." There are numerous possible explanations for the modern practice of dressing in costumes and wearing masks on Halloween. The most common suggests that on the night during which the dead are allowed to walk the earth, the best way to avoid being noticed by the dead is to look like one of them. 

ARTSEDGE 
Ghosts and ghouls, monsters and madmen and haunting music that sends a shiver through your soul. The Spotlight collection Things That Go Bump in the Night (5–12) features images, audio and text guaranteed to bewitch and beguile your students and keep your classroom spellbound.

Halloween abounds with ghosts, witches and monsters—so why do we like it so much? In Monsters (9–12), students investigate the idea of "monsters" in society. How have monsters been viewed, what purpose do they serve, why are they necessary?

In Tolerance: Comparing Cultural Holidays (K–4), students compare the holiday of Halloween, as celebrated in the United States, to the Mexican holiday of El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, November 1–2).

In Haunting Music (5–8), students learn about orchestra "program music" by exploring the works of Hector Berlioz and Camille Saint-Saëns.

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In The Meaning Behind the Mask (K–2), students explore the cultural significance of masks, discuss the use of masks in stories and then investigate the role masks play in ceremonies and on special occasions in various African cultures. After students have studied these masks, they are then given an opportunity to choose a familiar story and make simple masks to perform the story.

Washington Irving's tale of the Headless Horseman has become a Halloween classic, although few Americans celebrated that holiday when the story was new. In the lesson The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (6–8), students explore the artistry that helped make Irving our nation's first literary master and ponder the mystery that now haunts every Halloween—what happened to Ichabod Crane?

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Paraffin-alia (3–5) introduces students to the concept of opportunity cost. There are opportunity costs in making decisions about which movie you'd like to see at a certain time, how to spend your allowance or deciding how to dress for Halloween.

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Ghosts and Fear in Language Arts: Exploring the Ways Writers Scare Readers (9–12) invites students to investigate why scary stories are so fascinating. After exploring scary short stories and books, students hold a "Fright Fair," in which they share scary projects that they have created, including posters, multimedia projects and creative writing.

For most, jack-o-lanterns are an important symbol of Halloween. In Collaborating on a Class Book: Exploring Before-During-After Sequences (K–2), students and the teacher produce a class book through a group-writing activity, focusing on a basic before-during-after sequence of carving a pumpkin.