Middle Ages 4 - "Ghost Stories" - Around the Campfire
"Johnny - I'm on the first step....Johnnnnyyyy - I'm on the second step"
Ghost Stories - Around the Campfire: Come Halloween, in my classroom, we tell Ghost Stories. Every student gets a chance to share a story - and I share 2 or 3. This usually happens as we are finishing up the Middle Ages - but more importantly it hearkens back to the Oral Story of Beowulf.
Lesson Overview
The first step for this lesson is to make sure that the students all bring in a Ghost Story (if you look at some of the handouts that directly precede this lesson you will see a mention of that part of the assignment). Here are some of the parameters:
It has to be oral - from memory - no reading from anything.
The preferred story - is an old one that has been passed down - I tell them to ask their parents, ask their grandparents (this often leads to wonderful discoveries)
They need to keep it under 5 minutes.
The seats are arranged in a circle. The lights are turned off - my fake campfire started (last used when we began Beowulf) and the spooky music starts playing on my speakers. I usually point out the connection to Beowulf - I ask them: "What was Beowulf?" - the answer - "An oral story." - Ahhhhh --- "What are our last Oral Stories?". "Ghost Stories". And it's true - it is a wonderful connection to the Anglo-Saxon tales we read about a month previous - and gives students a real feel for the concept of how Beowulf was passed down - and the power of oral tales.
I ask for a brave volunteer. I pass around a skull flashlight that glows in the student's face - as they tell their tale. We get as many volunteers as we can fit in - and I usually tell three tales: 1) The story of the dog who kept his owner safe 2) Johnnny, I'm on the first step 3) And the boy who kissed a ghost.... It's good to spread the teacher tales out - I never want to dominate the class - and boy do the students come up with some great Ghost Stories. I will include at least one audio of the lesson below - and a video too if I can find one that focuses on me (rather than the students).
We used to end the class with the recording of a comedien's Ghost Story - the hilarious "Chicken Heart" as told by Bill Cosby. However, when the revelations about Cosby's criminal conduct came to light - we didn't do that anymore. I searched in vain for another funny Ghost Story - but none was found (other than my own "The Boy who Kissed a Ghost" - though I can't really call that my own - as it was originally told by a student during this lesson - many years ago.
Remote Enhancements
This lesson is almost ideal for Remote Learning - going around the Digital Meeting Gallery - telling stories and listening.
ghoststories2009_01.mp3Ghost Stories from our class
So here is in all its horror! Ghost Stories from my classroom - from 2009. The students here are incredible and really got the mood right!
The three stories that I tell are
"Johnnnnny"
"Prince, is that you, prince"
And the boy who kissed a ghost.
You will quickly notice that every ghost story end or begins with the warning that "this is a true story".
I did try to make my students jump - it is Halloween after all.
Le Morte d'Arthur - Day of Destiny - Group Work & Two Discussions: For all but wo years this was done as a Group Work - and I think that assignment is highly evolved. For one year we did it as a Row Reading Discussion, having the students do their reading and prep for the discussion in class. For another year - I used a Power Point presentation to help focus a Teacher Led discussion on the reading.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Middle Ages 3 - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Thoughts on the Lesson
In the 32 years that I taught - we always did Ghost Stories (when I was teaching British Literature) which was about 27 of those 32 years. Very rarely I would have a parent wonder why we were telling Ghost Stories in an English Class - but far more often, I had happy parents whe recounted their children (my students) doing research on old family stories. Ah - exactly!