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MYSTERIES IN NATURE
READING
WARMER
Introduce the topic of strange stories by saying to the
class: ‘Something very strange happened at the weekend.’
Wait for the students to respond, e.g.
What happened? Tell
us more!
before you continue with your strange story. If
appropriate, use this one:
I was watching a film, when I heard a strange noise outside.
I opened the door and saw a large, white dog. It looked
hungry, so I gave it some meat. It ate the meat quickly
and disappeared. On Sunday, I told my neighbour about
the dog. He said, ‘That’s strange! A large, white dog lived
in your house many years ago but it died just before the
owner moved house.’
Invite a class discussion on this story by asking questions:
‘Who is the dog?’ ‘Is it the same dog that lived in the
house before?’ ‘Where is the dog now?’ Then, tell the
students that they are going to read and listen to some
strange stories and at the end of the lesson, they are
going to tell their own story about an animal. Encourage
them to start thinking of ideas for it.
1
Ask the students to describe the photos and as a class,
say what they know about Loch Ness and its monster.
Encourage the students to say more by asking ‘What is
a loch?’ ‘Where is Loch Ness?’ ‘What do you think the
weather is like there?’ ‘How deep do you think the loch
is?’ ‘What lives there?’ ‘When did people first see it?’
Answers
Students’ own answers
2
Encourage the students to read the article quickly and
check their ideas in Exercise 1. Then, ask them to match
the paragraphs (1–3) to the photos (A–C).
MIXED ABILITY
With a
mixed ability class, divide the class into three
groups for Exercises 2 and 3. Put the stronger students
in Group B and the weaker ones in Group A or C. Group A
reads part 1, matches it to its photo and answers question
1 in Exercise 3. Group B reads part 2, matches it to its
photo and answers questions 2, 3 and 4. Group C reads
