Celebrating Halloween? (School Assignment)

1) Read the entire article.
2) Choose 2 of these 7 points and write a journal entry explaining why you do OR do not agree.
3) How well do you know your Mom?  When you are finished with your assignment tell me which point you think I agree with the most!  :-)

Why We Don't Celebrate Halloween   by Milehimama / edited by Soutenus
Additional WONDERFUL link: Halloween - This Rock

This post is for all of those people out there who simply cannot believe we don’t pay $20 for a cheap costume, then let our small children browbeat our neighbors into giving them candy, so they can gorge themselves and end up grounded for a week due to their poor behavior.
Our family does not celebrate Halloween. We usually celebrate All Saint’s Day, a Catholic holiday that occurs on November 1.

1. We are not pagans. I know it sounds flippant, but Halloween did originate as a Gaelic pagan festival, and that’s why All Saint’s Day is on Nov. 1. The Church, in her wisdom, recognized that the culture was used to having a big celebration around that time of year, and decided to give the new Christians something good to actually celebrate. Originally called Samhain, the name Halloween, I’m sure you’ve heard, has derived from All Hallow’s Eve – the night before All Hallow’s day, aka All Saint’s Day.

2. Sure, you say, but it’s no longer a pagan holiday, but a secular American tradition. Well, it is and it isn’t.  No matter how you try to deny it, witches, ghosts, vampires, and being scared all pervade the Halloween celebration. Women’s magazines post elaborate recipes to make candied witch’s brooms  and ghost lollipops. Fake vampire teeth and blood are sold by the bagful to give to trick-or-treaters. You can buy chocolates in the shape of dismembered body parts. Superstitions are dragged out and celebrated, with black cats taking the center stage.
Not only is superstition wrong and specifically forbidden by God, the underlying, subtle message is that some of God’s creation is intrinsically bad or unlucky. (Poor cat. Too bad God didn’t like you and made you black!) Adults can see past this (usually), but children are much more literal.

For example:
My middle son has problems discerning reality & fantasy. It is difficult for him to understand that ghosts and vampires aren’t real.  Every family, every parent must discern for themselves how best to protect their children and form their consciences, and this plays a part in our family’s decision not to celebrate Halloween.

3. The atmosphere that pervades Halloween is not one of “family values”. There is no denying that many feel freed by social constraints on this night, free to be daring, wild, different. In this sense, it is much like Mardi Gras. You can do things on Halloween that you would never do in real life, whether it is participate in Fear Factor type dares at a party or TPing the neighbor’s tree.


4. The costumes are often inappropriate. Young girls dress in bras and pantaloons or strapless gowns to be Disney Princesses. French maids abound, frolicking in the street. Bratz dolls appear on your doorstep, complete with glittery lip gloss to compliment their diapers. The most basic costumes, whether they be fairies or pirates, are ‘sexed’ up for the girls. The boys generally appear as serial killers, rubber weapons dripping in blood, ghosts, zombies, ghouls. Or maybe they dress up like their favorite sports hero, the one who beats his wife or evades taxes. Children imitate and fantasize about being Christina Aguilera, witches, or psychotic individuals. Is this good character training?

5. Halloween is not respectful of the dead. A corporal work of mercy is to bury the dead, and a spiritual work of mercy is to pray for them. Respect for the dead is very, very important in Catholic culture, as the body was once the temple of the Holy Spirit and often contained Christ himself in the form of the Eucharist. Mocking the dead has no place in Christianity, whether it be dancing skeletons, zombies, or fake dismembered body parts hanging from a car trunk. What are we teaching our children – that it’s fun to make fun of corpses?

6. “Trick or Treat” is not a good thing for children to say. Sure, it seems harmless, but underneath, it is blackmail. Give me candy, or I’ll do something you don’t like. I don’t think it is a good idea to tell our kids it’s okay to speak to adults that way, even if it is only one day a year. (Remember, Honor thy Father and Mother? Means every day, all the time. Not 364 days a year with one day off.) Also, there is the additional problem of slightly older children actually performing tricks, egging mailboxes, tp-ing cars, ringing doorbells and running. Authorities, whether parental or official, often turn a blind eye to such harmless pranks on this night. The fact remains, though, that these are sinful activities and parents are responsible for helping their children avoid sin.
Again, older children may be able to understand that adults joke and tease, and realize that “trick or treat” is not real.  But only after their consciences have been formed.

7. The candy. Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. Gorging on candy, fighting over MINE MINE MINE, selfishness, and self-entitlement abound on this night. The alternative is worse – parcel out one or two pieces until you run out around Christmastime, for that extra fun time at the dentist next year.  Sometimes, the best policy is to avoid the occasion of sin. 
Also, Mr R is still on a special diet.  I would have to keep him home, or severely curtail his loot. It would be one more thing that would make him different from the other kids.

So what do we do?

We don’t live under a rock.  The kids know what Halloween is.  We give out candy, and the kids love answering the door and seeing their friends.  We have some Mr R safe goodies at home too.  We might watch the Great Pumpkin or something else.  We’ve watched scary movies before.  We just don’t make it into a focus of our month or week.
I have no problem with scarecrows, Indian corn, harvest themes, or even jack-o-lanterns (provided they are carved with a cheerful grin to welcome guests and not mutilated with fangs and a 666 on the head). I have a problem with the evil atmosphere that pervades our culture in October, that is so encompassing and pervasive I can’t even take the children to Burger King playland because they have Freddie Krueger placemats.
Yes, my children are horribly deprived.  And perhaps our perspectives will change in the future, especially as the children mature and we can have discussions about things.  I’ll probably let them go to a Halloween party at their friend’s house someday, when we can have a discussion about all of the things in this post.
And, by the way, the day after Halloween is a great time to stock up on clearanced costumes for a Christmas Dress Up present!  Pumpkins prices are often slashed after Halloween, too, making your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie more economical than ever if you take advantage of the sale.

Lesson 1 Figurative Language - Simile and Metaphor

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Lesson 1

Simile and Metaphor

Figurative language is a tool that an author employs (or uses) to help the reader visualize (or see) what is happening in a story or poem. Some common types of figurative language are: simile, metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, idiom, puns, and sensory language. Below are some ways to introduce these concepts to your class and some activities. There are also links to other sites for more help.

THE SIMILE

A simile is a comparison using like or as. It usually compares two dissimilar objects.

For example: His feet were as big as boats. We are comparing the size of feet to boats.

Using the poem below underline all of the similes. Decide which items are being compared.

(Simile)

Willow and Ginkgo

Eve Merriam

The willow is like an etching,

Fine-lined against the sky.

The ginkgo is like a crude sketch,

Hardly worthy to be signed.

The willow’s music is like a soprano,

Delicate and thin.

The ginkgo’s tune is like a chorus

With everyone joining in.

The willow is sleek as a velvet-nosed calf;

The ginkgo is leathery as an old bull.

The willow’s branches are like silken thread;

The ginkgo’s like stubby rough wool.

The willow is like a nymph with streaming hair;

Wherever it grows, there is green and gold and fair.

The willow dips to the water,

Protected and precious, like the king’s favorite daughter.

The ginkgo forces its way through gray concrete;

Like a city child, it grows up in the street.

Thrust against the metal sky,

Somehow it survives and even thrives.

My eyes feast upon the willow,

But my heart goes to the ginkgo.

THE METAPHOR

A metaphor states that one thing is something else. It is a comparison, but it does NOT use like or as to make the comparison.

For example: Her hair is silk. The sentence is comparing (or stating) that hair is silk.

Take a piece of blank white paper and fold it into fourths. In one block, write a simile and illustrate it. In the block immediately to the right, write the same sentence as a metaphor. Do the same for the other two blocks.

Identifying Similes and Metaphors

Poetry Worksheet #1

Decide whether each sentence contains a simile or a metaphor. Write the word SIMILE if the sentence contains a simile. Write the word METAPHOR if the sentence contains a metaphor.

1. The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the grocery store shelves.

2. As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her breath, "This class is like a three-ring circus!"

3. The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.

4. The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long day.

5. I feel like a limp dishrag.

6. Those girls are like two peas in a pod.

7. The fluorescent light was the sun during our test.

8. No one invites Harold to parties because he’s a wet blanket.

9. The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.

10. Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs.

 

Identifying The Words and Meaning of Metaphors and Simile

Poetry Worksheet #2

On your own paper or the computer's word processor, find the metaphor and write it down, and write the words being compared on your paper. Write the meaning of the simile or metaphor based on the context of the sentence.

1. The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the grocery store shelves.

2. As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her breath, "This class is like a three-ring circus!"

3. The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.

4. The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long day.

5. I feel like a limp dishrag.

6. Those girls are like two peas in a pod.

7. The fluorescent light was the sun during our test.

8. No one invites Harold to parties because he’s a wet blanket.

9. The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.

10. Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs.

SOURCE: http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/1poe.htm 

Answers

Teacher's Lesson Plan using this student lesson

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Giving Thanks

This was an asignment I gave to my 6th graders. They had 1/2 hour to complete it -- computers froze, kids had to team up and most of them still completed it. The biggest problems were:
1) NOT following formatting directions &
2) NOT reading the source material -- just searching for answers.

I believe that in a homeschool situation this could easily be molded into an assignment appropriate for a much wider age range. I am going to work through it with my 8 year old this weekend.

_____________________________________________________________

6th Grade .... Today's lesson helps us improve research and formatting skills.
Here is your assignment:

1. Copy and paste the questions below into a document.
2. Answer the questions and fill in the blanks using the 2 approved sources listed below (they are links)
3. Read the primary source information in full - do not just "search for answers"
   
4. You name and grade should be at the top.
5. Use verdana, 14 pt and double space
6. Use complete sentences to answer questions.
   
7. When "filling in the blank" please underline your answer. Format your document so that there are no extra lines between words.
   
8. The last question is an extra credit question. The answer cannot be found in the sources.
9. Print out your completed assignment.

1. What does eucharistic mean?
2. What does doxological mean?
3. Fr. Alexander Schmemann's says that, "Everyone capable of giving thanks is capable of ____________________." (fill in the blank)
4. We are “eucharistic, doxological beings.” That means we are beings who are created to give ___________ (”eucharistic”) and __________ (”doxological”) to God. (fill in the blanks)
   
5. In Romans 1:21 St. Paul scolds us because the Romans (and we) fail to ______________.
6. According to Romans 1:21; "because they failed to _________________ they became ____________ in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were ____________ ."
7. What books of the Bible come before and after Romans?
8. H/T means "hat tip". Authors use this abbreviation when crediting someone else for an idea or post. Who received a H/T in this post?
9. When was this information posted at Catholic Notebook?
10. Extra Credit: What is the greatest thanksgiving prayer?
    

Primary source
The Book of Romans in the New Testament (NAB)