So for Halloween I am going to teach a lesson plan on ZOMBIES to my upper levels. I just finished writing a speed read, so I thought I would share it with you. A speed read is when you give the students sheets of paper that have two sentences on them, one sentence begins with “when you hear” and one sentence begins with “you say.” There are maybe 30 or so slips of paper (one for every student) and together all the sheets create a story – BUT WAIT! The order is all mixed up! The only way that you can tell the story is to listen for the sentence before yours (i.e. “when you hear). The idea behind the speed read is to practice listening comprehension and speaking speed – because you have to say the story as fast as possible! Without further ado, my speed read, tenatively titled “Everyone at SGHS becomes a Zombie and Dies.”

You say: Emily Teacher was at SGHS on Halloween.

When you hear: Emily Teacher was at SGHS on Halloween.
You say: She was in her office preparing for the lesson.

When you hear: She was in her office preparing for the lesson.
You say: She heard the door slowly open.

When you hear: She heard the door slowly open.
You say: “Who is it?” She asked.

When you hear: “Who is it?” She asked.
You say: She heard someone say “braaaaaaaaiiiiiiinnnnnnnsssss”

When you hear: She heard someone say “braaaaaaaaiiiiiiinnnnnnnsssss”
You say: She looked at the door and saw a zombie!

When you hear: She looked at the door and saw a zombie!
You say: She was very scared.

When you hear: She was very scared.
You say: Zombies eat the brains of living people.

When you hear: Zombies eat the brains of living people.
You say: Also, if you are bitten by a zombie, you become a zombie.

When you hear: Also, if you are bitten by a zombie, you become a zombie.
You say: Emily Teacher does not want to be eaten by a zombie, or become a zombie!

When you hear: Emily Teacher does not want to be eaten by a zombie, or become a zombie!
You say: Emily Teacher quickly ran to the classroom.

When you hear: Emily Teacher quickly ran to the classroom.
You say: She locked the door and told the class to hide.

When you hear: She locked the door and told the class to hide.
You say: A zombie broke the door and came in!

When you hear: A zombie broke the door and came in!
You say: Isabella hit the zombie with a chair.

When you hear: Isabella hit the zombie with a chair.
You say: The zombie died.

When you hear: The zombie died.
You say: However first it bit Jacob!

When you hear: However first it bit Jacob!
You say: Jacob is now a zombie!

When you hear: Jacob is now a zombie!
You say: What do we do?

When you hear: What do we do?
You say: We need to kill Jacob.

When you hear: We need to kill Jacob.
You say: Emily took a chainsaw out of the desk and killed Jacob.

When you hear: Emily Teacher took a chainsaw out of the desk and killed Jacob.
You say: Jacob died, and Emily Teacher turned her back to the class.

When you hear: Jacob died, and Emily Teacher turned her back to the class.
You say: Rachel then fixed the door to stop the zombies from coming in.

When you hear: Rachel then fixed the door to stop the zombies from coming in.
You say: She said “look, now we are safe”

When you hear: She said “look, now we are safe”
You say: Irene said “what should we do now?”

When you hear: Irene said “what should we do now?”
You say: Emily Teacher said “braaaaaiiiiinnnnnnsssss”

When you hear: Emily Teacher said “braaaaiiiiinnnnnssss”
You say: Emily Teacher turned around and SHE WAS A ZOMBIE!

When you hear: Emily Teacher turned around and SHE WAS A ZOMBIE!
You say: The class screamed!

When you hear: The class screamed!
You say: Emily Zombie attacked the class!

When you hear: Emily Zombie attacked the class!
You say: Emily Zombie bit everyone!

When you hear: Emily Zombie bit everyone!
You say: The class then turned everyone at SGHS into zombies.

EDIT: Class 1.5 read this speed read in 59 seconds! WOW! MUCH faster than I was expecting… as there are 30 sentences that means that they spent an average of a  little less than 2 seconds on each sentence!  I pit them against class 2.1 and told them that whoever won would get stickers, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow…