Ghost stories

Objectives:

1. To give students practice in listening for specific information and for

gist.
2. To give students practice in a variety of reading skills: predicting,
scanning, reading for inference and reading for the main ideas.
3. To give students practice in planning and writing a short narrative.

Activities:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Level:

S1 - S2

Materials:

Pictures
Stories
Worksheet
Framework

Predicting - Pair work

Listening - Individual work
Reading - Individual work
Writing - Individual and pair work

Ghost stories: Steps

1.

Start the lesson by writing the following on the board:

Do you believe in ghosts?
Have you ever seen one?
Do you know any good ghost stories?
Put students into pairs and ask them to discuss these questions.

2.

After a few minutes, get one or two pairs to tell the class their thoughts and ideas.
Predicting - Pair work

3.

Tell the class that they are going to listen to two ghost stories. Give each student the Pictures.
Explain that the pictures come from both stories although they are not in the correct order.
Ask them to look at each picture and write down any words and phrases they think they will
hear when the stories are read aloud.

4.

Elicit from class the words and phrases they predict might appear in the stories and write
these on the board.
Listening - Individual work

5.

Explain to the class that you would like them to listen to the stories and look at the list of
words and phrases on the board. Ask them to note down any of the listed words and phrases
they hear. Read out the Stories.

6.

Let students compare the words and phrases they think they heard in pairs.

7.

Go through the words on the board and get the class to call out whether they heard the words
and phrases or not.

8.

Focus the students' attention on the instructions at the top of the Pictures and make sure they
understand what they need to do. Read out the stories for a second time.

9.

Give students one or two minutes to decide on the order of the pictures then let them
compare their answers in pairs.

10.

Check that the class have the correct answers by getting them to call out the order of the
pictures.

Reading activities - Individual work

11.

Give each student the Stories and the Worksheet. Go through the instructions for each
exercise and make sure everyone understands what they are required to do.

12.

Go around the class giving students help where needed.

13.

Get students to check their answers in pairs and look again at questions where they have
different answers.

14.

Check all the answers with the class and give further explanations where necessary.
Writing - Individual and pair work

15.

Tell students that they are going to write a short ghost story. Give everyone a copy of
the Framework. Ask students to work together in pairs to make notes for their story using the
table.

16.

Go around the class giving help with vocabulary and ideas.

17.

Elicit the tenses they should use to describe the ghost and what happened to the person
before he/she became a ghost. Tell students that they can find the answers by looking at the
stories. Remind them that they should use these tenses in their stories.

18.

Explain to the class that they do not have to write the story in the same order as the questions
on the table. Tell them that if they prefer, they can narrate the background first.

19.

When everyone has finished their first drafts, get students to swap them with their partner.
Tell them to read the stories and check that all the questions from the Framework have been
answered.

20.

Students should hand back the stories and add any information they have missed.

21.

Collect in all the drafts for marking.

Pop-up screen
notes
Objectives
Glossary:

Glossary:

Glossary:

Glossary:

Steps
1. Theory:
3. Note:

This prediction activity aims to arouse students' interest

and their expectations. The aim is also to prepare students
so that when they read, they can see how much their
expectations match the actual content. This can help the
reader work towards an understanding of the text(s). To
read without any such expectations can make the reading
process difficult.
We often approach a reading passage with an idea of what
we want to find in it. As students search for certain pieces
of information, they should scan the text, skip over any
parts of it that are irrelevant to their purpose for reading,
and not read it in detail.
Inferencing refers to when we go beyond what is actually
printed, or spoken, to understand the deeper message
being conveyed by the writer or speaker. We can draw on
our knowledge of the world to help us make inferences.
Reading for the main ideas in a text requires the reader
to study a particular passage in some depth, summarising
in their mind the main idea in each paragraph. Whereas
skimming involves getting a general understanding of the
whole text, reading for main ideas involves getting a
general understanding of each paragraph.
This activity acts as a warm-up exercise and should help
generate interest in the topic.
If your students seem hesitant about starting this activity,

4. Example:

go through the first picture with the whole class as an

example of what they are expected to do.
Picture A
Picture B
young girl
falling
pool or
moving train
pond
crying or
sitting
shouting
waiting
hair in the
sad
door
young
Chinese girl
Picture C
moving train
lots of people
crowded
reading
newspapers
long hair

9. Note:
10. Key:

If you feel it would benefit your students, repeat Step 8.

Key - Pictures
Story 1

Picture

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Story 2

Picture

11. Note:

It is sometimes better to explain the activity orally before

handing out worksheets. The reason for this is that if the
teacher is explaining and handing paper out, students'
attention may be diverted away from the teacher's
instructions. An alternative approach is to wait until the
students have the worksheet and then give the
instructions, so the students have the worksheet in front of

13. Theory:

14. Key:

them to refer to.

Having students check their answers with each other can
generate a lot of useful discussion and can give them an
opportunity to see that they can learn from one
another. Peer-checking not only promotes a positive
relationship between the students, it also helps them to
become less teacher-dependent. It can also increase their
confidence and make them more willing to voice their
opinions during feedback.
Key - Worksheet
1.
The girl with the The lotus pool
braids
ghost
Did she die
accidentally?
Was she alone
when she died?
Does her ghost
speak to people?
Can her ghost harm
people?
2.
The girl with the braids
Why did she jump off the
train at The Chinese
University?

She thought the lights of The

Chinese University were the
lights of Hong Kong.

What time of day did she

jump off the train?

Night-time.

The lotus pool ghost

Why did the young couple
Probably because their
decide to run away together? parents didn't approve of
their relationship.
Why did she jump into the
pool?
3.

She was heartbroken.

The girl with the braids

Sad ghost has a beautiful face.
Sad ghost often travelled to Hong Kong.
Sad ghost never reached her destination.
The lotus pool ghost
The Lotus pool ghost is seen only by young
men.
The Lotus pool ghost died for love.
The Lotus pool ghost waited for her lover.

15. Theory:

Brainstorming is an important part of the writing process.

It gives students time to gather together ideas which they
can select from and organise before they start writing. If
students begin writing straight away, it is likely that their
writing will not be as interesting and will require more work
on organisation.
The present simple tense is used to describe the ghost. The
past simple and past perfect are used to narrate the events
that happened before the person became a ghost.

17. Key:

Pictures

Ghost stories

Listen to the two ghost stories your teacher tells you. Put the pictures in the order in which you
hear them being described to you.
Story 1

Story 2
1.

Picture

2.

3.

4.
Picture

5.

6.

Ghost stories

Stories

The girl with the braids

At the back of the Chung Chi canteen at The Chinese University, students have reported

seeing a young girl with braids wandering in the dark. Apparently, if you approach her
from behind and she turns around, you see nothing. She has no face. She never touches
anyone and seems to want to be alone. Who is this strange, silent woman? Here is one
explanation:
Several years ago, no one noticed an illegal immigrant boarding a crowded train in
China. She had decided to travel to Hong Kong for a better life. She was a young
woman, alone, with beautiful long braids. It was the first time she had ever left her home
village. No one noticed her get up, leave her seat and stand by the train door. Out of the
window she had seen the lights of The Chinese University. No one saw her jump off the
train.
Unfortunately, as she jumped, one of her braids got trapped in the train door and was
torn off. She suffered serious injuries to her scalp and face, so serious in fact, she died.
Her sad ghost now haunts the university campus.

The lotus pool ghost

Many years ago, there was a young couple who were very much in love. Sadly, they
always had to meet in secret. One day, they decided to run away and get married. They
arranged to meet at ten o'clock one night by the Lotus pool in the Chung Chi campus at
The Chinese University.
The girl arrived at the pool at ten o'clock and waited for her lover. After waiting for
several hours, she realised that he was not coming. She cried and cried. She jumped into
the pool and drowned.
Sometimes her ghost can be seen walking near the lotus pool late at night. People say
that she comes up to young men to ask them the time. If they answer "ten o'clock", then
the lotus pool ghost pulls them into the pool with her.

Ghost stories
Read the stories and do the following exercises.

Worksheet

1.

Answer the questions below by putting a tick or a cross in each box.

The girl with the braids

The lotus pool ghost

Did she die accidentally?

Was she alone when she died?
Does her ghost speak to people?
Can her ghost harm people?
2.

Read between the lines and answer the following questions.

The girl with the braids

Why did she jump off the train at The Chinese

University?
What time of day did she jump off the train?

The lotus pool ghost

Why did the young couple decide to run away
together?
Why did she jump into the pool?

3.

Read the sentences below and decide which one best expresses the main idea of each story.
The girl with the braids

Sad ghost has a beautiful face

Sad ghost often travelled to Hong Kong
Sad ghost never reached her destination
The lotus pool ghost
The lotus pool ghost is seen only by young men
The lotus pool ghost died for love

The lotus pool ghost waited for her lover

Framework

Ghost stories

Work on your own or in pairs and invent a ghost story. Use the table below to help you.
Questions
Who is the ghost?

Where is he/she seen?

What does he/she look like?

What does he/she say or

do?

What happened to the

person before he/she
became a ghost?

Your notes