Ghost Stories and Urban Legends

Tick the facts about spiders that are actually true. (The others are urban legends.)

• Female spiders can lay up to 3000 eggs at a time.

• The average person swallows eight spiders per year.

• Some spiders can jump up to fifty times their own length.

• You are never more than three feet from a spider.

• Spiders can lay eggs under human skin.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

When did the legends about alligators in New York's sewer system first begin?

• 1880s

• 1900s

• 1930s

• 1970s

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.8.9

An urban legend is a made-up story that is told as if it's ____________.

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.8.9

Which of these are common features of urban legends?

• Familiarity (e.g. a setting you know, a common object, a link to someone you know)

• Factual (sometimes scientific) language.

• Vague references to authorities (e.g. the police).

• Terrifying, descriptive metaphors and similes.

• Direct speech.

Which of these is an example of a supernatural being?

• Your English teacher

• The person sitting next to you

• A ghost

• A person with hooks for hands

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Give one example of a time connective (one word) implying that not much time has passed between the previous event and the next.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.3

CCSS.RI.7.3

CCSS.RI.8.3

CCSS.RI.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.5.3

Explain, in your own words, how urban legends often end, and what effect this has on the reader/listener.

Which types of sentence structures work best when you're telling an urban legend?

• Mostly very short sentences to make it sound factual.

• Consistently mid-length sentences to add detail but not bore the reader.

• All very long sentences to develop descriptions.

• A mix of different sentence lengths to build tension by varying the pace.

How well have you understood the topic so far?

• Very well

• Quite well

• I need to revise a little

• I need to revise a lot

• I need some help from the teacher

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10