1. Greet the students using your normal pattern, but with a mischievous gleam in your eye. There's clearly something going on here!

2. Note the date on your calendar. You're shocked: It's October 31st! Point to all the Halloween-related things in the room while repeating, "October 31st!" Then finally take note of your own costume and come to a realization: "It's October 31st ... Ahhh! It's Halloween!" How exciting! Get the kids to repeat, "It's Halloween!" several times at different paces, volumes and levels of excitement.

3. Building directly from your greeting, wave at a student. If he or she waves back, jump for joy! If not, just nod, smile and move on. After a few students catch on, say "Happy Halloween" to the next student after you wave. Again, jump for joy if you hear it back! If not, no worries! Keep going until you get a consistent and enthusiastic "Happy Halloween" back from a number of students. Then ecstatically greet the whole class! Do it a few more times with everyone, playing with volume and creepy voices. How wonderful!

4. But what a shock! Point to one of your decorations and exclaim, "Look!" Once all the students look, add, "There's a ghost!" Continue with a few other items, growing in speed. Then come to your copy of The Halloween Book and, changing to a more intimate tone, say, "Look!" Slowly reveal a flashcard of one of the same items from inside and get the class to say, "There's a ghost!" Then place it on the board.

5. Continue with the next three flashcards in the same way, then review all four with a few quick, fun drilling techniques. Be sure to associate a gesture with each item. Then introduce the next four flashcards in the same way.

6. Now level it up. Say, "Look, there's a (whatever)" for the first set of four Halloween items, then yell out, "I'm scared. Aaaaa!" and grab your face with your hands. Then do the next four and scream again. Kids love the scream!

7. Practice the "Happy Halloween" chorus. Clap at a high pace singing, "Happy Hal-lo-ween, happy Hal-lo-ween! Happy Hal-lo-ween, happy Hal-lo-ween!" When the kids are ready, sing the chorus, then go through four flashcards, saying for each, "Look, there's a (whatever)" and finishing with "I'm scared. Aaaaa!" Sing the chorus again, go through the next four cards, then finish with one last round of the chorus. Be sure to do the gestures for each item as you go!