The Ancient Roots of Halloween: Reading Comprehension KS3

This reading comprehension text delves into the fascinating history of Halloween, tracing its origins back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain and its evolution through Roman and Christian influences. Unlike traditional Halloween comprehension exercises that tend to focus solely on modern customs, this text provides a rich historical context, making it both cross curricular and engaging.
Purpose:
Educational Enrichment: To provide students with a deeper understanding of Halloween’s historical and cultural significance.
Skill Development: To enhance reading comprehension, critical thinking, and inferencing skills.
There are a variety of questions to challenge all abilities, from basic comprehension to more complex inference questions. Questions are presented on either a single page, making it easy for students to answer in their books, or printable worksheets are provided for students to complete their answers on paper. One worksheet come with allocated marks to guide students on the depth of their answers, while the other has no marks allocated.
Teachers notes, and detailed exemplar answers are provided to help teachers guide discussions and assess student understanding. Three engaging extension activities suitable for library or computer suite lessons are also suggested.