Dancing with a Ghost - tcall

Dancing with a Ghost
Group size: 2 or more Time:__ approx. 30 min.___
PURPOSE: This activity takes the students through the reading
process and into writing by drawing on prior knowledge through
graphic representation. The importance of silent reading is stressed, and students
create their own text for presentation.
FOCUS: Pre-reading activities, silent reading, and collaborative writing
OBJECTIVE: To create a situation in which learners interact with a text through
reading and writing. To tap learners’ prior knowledge in preparation for reading
through pre-reading activities.
Materials needed:
• Blank paper
• “Dancing with a Ghost “ handout 1
• Soft music (optional)
Procedure:
1. Prepare learners by having them imagine an encounter with a ghost.
2. Learners then draw a representation of their imaginary ghost.
3. Learners then share their drawings with the groups.
4. Learners then silently read “Dancing with a Ghost”. Low soft music can be
played in the background while participants are reading.
5. Pair participants and have them write a scenario in which two characters in the
story meet again in a year.
6. Have volunteers do a dramatic presentation of the new scenario.
7. Elicit discussion on the how imagining and drawing a ghost helped the learners
in understanding the story. Discuss the pros and cons of silent reading vs.
reading out loud and which they prefer.
1
Sauvageau, J. (1987). Stories that Must Not Die.
ESL Professional Development Center, The University of Texas at San Antonio (1991 – 2002)
Funded by Texas Education Agency, Division of Adult and Community Education

The old folks tell this story as if it were the
gospel truth. After so many generations,
after so many story tellers, myth and facts
become all entangled.
One Saturday evening, Manuel left his home
to go to a dance. Halfway to Benavides, he
spotted a girl standing by the road. Although
he did not know the girl, he stopped and
asked if he could do something for her. She
answered that she needed a ride. Manuel
told her he was on his way to a fiesta and
she was welcome to come along with him.
She accepted gladly and climbed into the
pickup.
Manuel was very happy over his unexpected
date. She was very pretty although the oldfashioned
dress she was wearing did not do
her justice. Her name was Maria and she
told him she was not known around because
she bad been away for ten years.
They had a great time at the dance. She did
not do too well with the new rhythms like
the cumbia but she was one of the best polka
dancers they had ever seen.
After midnight, the musicians stopped
playing. Maria sighed, like she wished they
would never have stopped. The couples left
one by one. The night was cold and as
Manuel and Maria walked back to the
pickup, he put his coat over her shoulders.
She asked to be left at the exact spot where
she had been picked up. As Manuel did not
see any light anywhere around, he wanted to
accompany her, thinking she would have a
long walk in the dark. She thanked him for a
wonderful evening but insisted in her being
left alone.
He begged her to keep his coat and promised
to come back in the morning for it. Manuel
was very anxious to see Maria again. He
drove back to the same spot and saw a little
white house about a quarter of a mile away.
He took the little dirt road and stopped in
front of the porch. A lady opened the screen
Dancing with a Ghost
door and Manuel asked if he could see
Maria. The lady turned pale; she finally said,
“Maria…Maria! My dear Maria died ten
years ago!”
“But señora, this is impossible! I took her to
a dance last night! We had a good time. She
is a great dancer. She was wearing a pink
dress.”
The lady was in tears. “My daughter was
buried in a pretty pink dress and she was a
very good dancer, especially when they
played polkas and corridos, but I’m telling
you, she died in an accident, ten years ago.”
Manuel insisted, “I even loaned her my coat,
and I told her I would be back for it today.”
“Come with me, young man,” answered the
lady, “I know what will convince you. Our
family cemetery is over there by the road.
You will see where Maria was buried.”
They walked in silence to the cemetery. It
was true, there was a stone with the
inscription: Maria Lozano, 1920-1940,
RIP… and upon the grave Manuel’s coat!
Manuel had danced the whole evening with
a pretty ghost.
Sauvageau, J. (1978). Stories That Must Not
Die (Vol. 4). Central Point, OR: Oasis Press.