Its Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus

My birthday this year landed on a holiday this year, Columbus Day! Since it was a Monday, we had a long three-day weekend and we chose to take advantage and took a road trip down to Massachusetts for a couple of days. We decided to leave the house really early and get there early enough to have breakfast and enjoy the whole day. Since my fiancé is a big fan of Hocus Pocus, Salem was our destination. As we drove through we visited various houses that were shown in the movie. When we first got to Salem, we parked along side of the street and we visited the Witch Museum, which is supposedly the oldest house that’s still standing in the town full of original furniture and structure. The inside was made to look like a museum and it showed some original artifacts and how the people from back in the day used to live. 

After we left the house, we took a walk through Salem and went into multiple shops, which promotes witchcraft and they sell souvenirs from the town of Salem. October is one of the best times to visit Salem because of the history behind it. We were lucky to get a clear night although it was a bit cold. Since we had to go on a two-hour walking tour through the town, we made sure we went to Starbucks and got our Mocha Pumpkin Spice Lattes to keep us warm for the walk ahead of us. As we were on the walk, our tour guide showed us around town and told us the history of the Salem Witch Trials, which believe it or not, a lot of the history we learned about it in school is false. Once the tour guide was over, we decided to go to the hotel and rest to experience the town of Boston the next day. A lot was learned that night, but at least I can say that I can check off Salem off of my bucket list!

Vocabulary Words:

1.    Birthday (noun)-the anniversary of the day on which a person was born, typically treated as an occasion for celebration and the giving of gifts.

2.    Museum (noun)-building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited

3.    Artifact (noun)-an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.

4.    Witchcraft (noun)-the practice of magic, especially black magic; the use of spells

5.    Although (conjunction)-in spite of the fact that; even though

6.    Tour Guide (noun)–a person employed to show tourists around places of interest.

7.    Columbus Day (noun)-a legal holiday commemorating the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492. It is observed by most states on the second Monday of October.

8.    Salem Witch Trials (noun)- The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused, 19 of whom were found guilty and executed by hanging.

Vocabulary Exercises

Fill in the blanks with the correct word from the list given.

1.    This year my                           , landed on                               .

2.    The Witch                                we visited was full of old and ancient                                     .

3.    Our                               showed us around the town of Salem and told us the history of the                           .

4.    Back in the day, the witches from Salem used to practice different spells. This is known as                           .

5.                                         It was a bit cold; we got our Latte’s and enjoyed the walking tour.

Grammar Point

Nouns

A noun is a kind of word that is usually the name of something such as a person, place or thing. In English, nouns can be singular or plural.

Grammar Activity

From the list of words below, identify the nouns within the bunch and then find them in the puzzle.

Boston     Floor     City     Cold     Fiance     Scared     Halloween     Walking     Salem     Books     School     Magic     Witch     Tired     Happy