Halloween is a crazy time for students, so here’s a way to make it fun and educational.  While we have witches, black cats, bats and skeletons, jack-o-lanterns and chocolate, Greece and Rome didn’t use those as emblems (especially since chocolate is from the Americas!).  However, they had similar ideas to ours: ghosts are bad and we need to ward them off.  While the Romans used beans to propitiate the ghosts, modern day candy such as gum drops or jelly beans are good; the Greeks made a meal for the ghosts, but Rice Krispie treats can substitute.  

In this folder of resources is a description of the 2 holidays, as well as several readings for all levels of Latin.  This is a real crowd pleaser!

By Ruth Breindel, who taught Latin, Greek, Linguistics and Mythology at Moses Brown School for 30 years.