Footsteps

Te a c h e r ’ sM a t e r i a l

by Simon Betterton

2

C O N T E N T S

To the Teacher ...................................................................................................................... 3

Before Reading .................................................................................................................... 4

After Reading ....................................................................................................................... 6

Worksheet 1: Chapters 1-3 ................................................................................................... 7

Answers to Worksheet 1 ...................................................................................................... 8

Worksheet 2: Chapters 4-6 ................................................................................................. 9

Answers to Worksheet 2 ................................................................................................... 10

Worksheet 3: Chapters 7-10 ............................................................................................... 11

Answers to Worksheet 3 .................................................................................................... 12

Final Test ............................................................................................................................. 13

Answers to Final Test ......................................................................................................... 14

Answers to Activities in the Reader .................................................................................. 15

Before using the following teacher’s material, we recommend thatyou read the Burlington Reader Series general information leaflet.

Copyright © 2000 Burlington Books

F o o t s t e p s

T O T H E T E A C H E RT O T H E T E A C H E R

LI S T O F MA I N CH A R A C T E R S

John: the security guard at the school.

Mary: a teacher at the school.

Anna: one of Mary’s pupils.

Tony: the new security guard at the school.

Roger Clarke: the impostor headmaster (Alan Clarke’s twin).

Alan Clarke: the real headmaster.

PL O T SU M M A RY

John is a security guard and he works nights in a big school. He discovers that his footsteps make an echoin one of the corridors and asks the headmaster about it. The headmaster says that he knows nothing, but heseems nervous and calls John by another name.

Mary is a teacher at the school and she is also John’s friend. One day she disappears. John asks theheadmaster about Mary, and the next day he loses his job. A new security guard called Tony replaces him.John decides to look for Mary and goes back to the school to try and get her address. Tony doesn’t allowJohn into the school, but one of Mary’s pupils, Anna, tells him Mary’s address.

John goes to Mary’s house, but she isn’t there. He climbs through a window and investigates. He findsMary’s address book and puts it in his pocket. John is almost discovered by a stranger in the house butmanages to escape. John finds Mary’s mother’s address in the book and thinks that Mary might be there.He goes there and rings the doorbell, but there’s no answer. He decides to wait for Mary. While he’swaiting, he reads a newspaper story about a bank robbery. He then finds Mary, who is very scared. Johnand Mary think that the echo in the school corridor is significant and decide to investigate.

One night, with the help of Anna and some other students, John and Mary get into the school. Theydiscover that the corridor has now got a new carpet and they can’t hear the echo. Luckily, John rememberswhere the echo was because he always counted his footsteps along the corridor. The echo is next to theventilation grille. They open the grille and find a space. Anna gets inside to have a look. John and Mary arecaught by Tony and the headmaster, who tie them up. Tony and the headmaster then replace the ventilationgrille, and Anna is trapped in the space all night.

Tony and the headmaster take John and Mary to the headmaster’s house. There, John and Mary find AlanClarke, the real headmaster, who is tied to a chair. His twin brother, Roger, has been pretending to be theheadmaster because he wants to protect his son, Tony. Tony is the bank robber in the newspaper article. Hewas also the stranger in Mary’s house.

The next morning, Anna shouts for help and a teacher rescues her. Anna mentions two cases that she saw inthe space. The cases contain the money from the bank robbery. The police arrive at Roger Clarke’s houseand arrest Tony and his father. The police then free Mary, John and Alan Clarke. John, Mary and Anna areheroes, and the school receives a reward for the return of the money. Alan Clarke, John and Mary return towork, and John is very happy. He decides to write a book called Footsteps.

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SU G G E S T I O N S F O R LE A D-I N AC T I V I T I E S

These activities are designed to help the students’ reading comprehension. They help to activate thestudents’ background knowledge, expectations and ability to predict. At this level, these activities willusually be conducted in the students’ mother tongue. Students with a strong vocabulary can do some ofthese activities in English.

Ask the questions and elicit the answers from the whole class. (Some possible answers are provided initalics.) If you prefer, students can work in pairs or small groups.

1. What does a school security guard do? (looks for intruders; walks around inside the school; walksaround outside the building; watches video monitors)

2. In pairs, make a list of the different places that security guards work apart from in a school. (factory;hospital; office block; bank; shopping centre; airport)

3. Why do people lose their jobs? (not working well; making big mistakes; being dishonest; asking toomany awkward questions; the company has got financial problems)

4. Imagine your friend disappears. What do you do? (telephone the police; look for your friend; go to yourfriend’s house; ask people if they know where your friend is)

BE F O R E RE A D I N G AC T I V I T I E S

The Before Reading activities in the Burlington Reader Series general information leaflet, page 3, canbe applied to Footsteps.

In addition to the activities in the general leaflet, the students can do the following activities.

1. Look at the picture on the front cover of the reader. Describe the man and what he’s doing. (young;looks a little scared; wearing a cap with ‘security’ on it; holding a torch; walking along a corridor)

2. Look at the pictures in the book. On which page do you first see the following people?

a. John, the security guard (page 2)b. the headmaster (page 4)c. Mary, a teacher (page 5)d. Tony, another security guard (page 8)e. Anna, a student (page 10)

3. In the story, some crimes are committed. Look in the newspaper or watch the news on television andmake a list of the crimes you read about or see.

4. Security guards have to wear a uniform. Teachers don’t have to wear a uniform. Think of different jobsand put them into two groups: jobs where you have to wear a uniform and jobs where you don’t. Try tofind at least four jobs for each group. Which do you prefer? Why?(Uniform: nurse, postman, bus driver, policeman, soldierNo uniform: secretary, shop assistant, lawyer, businessman, journalist)

5. Work in groups. Choose a corridor of your school. Estimate how many steps a particular door /window, etc., is from the start of the corridor. The other groups try to guess the answer. Then go to thecorridor and count your steps. The nearest to the correct number is the winner.

B E F O R E R E A D I N G

KE Y VO C A B U L A RY

1. Pre-teach the word footsteps. Demonstrate by walking around the class, making sure the students canhear the sound your feet make. Ask them what they can hear.

2. Pre-teach the following key vocabulary on the theme of people / things in schools.

People in schools Things in schools1. teacher 3. student 5. door 8. window2. headmaster 4. security guard 6. corridor 9. ventilation grille

7. classroom 10. front entrance

Photocopy the picture below and hand it out to pairs of students. Ask the students to put the number ofeach word or phrase in the correct place in the picture.

3. Pre-teach the following key vocabulary. You may like to compare these words with their translations inthe students’ mother tongue.

nobody somebody everybody

You can draw simple pictures on the blackboard to illustrate these words. For example,five happy faces: Everybody is happy. Nobody is sad.four happy faces, one sad: Somebody isn’t happy.For further practice, tell the students to stand up: Everybody is standing up. Nobody is sitting down.Tell one student to sit down: Somebody is sitting down.

4. Pre-teach the following prepositions of place.

in on under behind

You can demonstrate and practise these prepositions using a book and a bag. For example,Put the book in the bag. / Is the book under the bag?

IR R E G U L A R VE R B S

The following is a list of irregular verbs (Past Simple) which appear in the story. The page number refers tothe page where the verb first appears. Go over the list with your students. Being able to recognise theseverbs will help them to understand the story.

buy - bought (page 19) have - had (page 8) put - put (page 13) speak - spoke (page 10)come - came (page 6) hear - heard (page 14) read - read (page 9) spend - spent (page 35)fall - fell (page 16) hide - hid (page 34) ring - rang (page 12) stand - stood (page 15)find - found (page 8) know - knew (page 9) run - ran (page 15) tell - told (page 24)get - got (page 8) leave - left (page 14) say - said (page 10) think - thought (page 7)give - gave (page 35) lose - lost (page 21) see - saw (page 9) understand - understood (page 31)go - went (page 8) meet - met (page 26) sit - sat (page 9) wake up - woke up (page 32)

Suggestion: Say one of the above infinitives to the class and ask the students to tell you the Past Simple.Then say the Past Simple and students say the infinitive.

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A F T E R R E A D I N G

DR A M A AC T I V I T I E S

With a partner, learn one of the following dialogues. Act it out in front of the class. The rest of the classhave to identify which character you are from the story.

1. Student A (Mary): Did you finish the book?

Student B (John): Yes, I finished it last night. It was very good.

Student A: I liked it, too. I have to go to class now.

Student B: Have a nice day with your students.

Student A: Thank you. Goodbye.

2. Student A (Tony): You can’t come in.

Student B (John): Why not?

Student A: Because I work here now.

Student B: But what about my job?

Student A: Talk to the headmaster about that.

3. Student A (Anna): I can help you.

Student B (John): How can you help me?

Student A: I know Mary’s address.

Student B: Good. Where does Mary live?

Student A: She lives in Bridge Street.

Student B: Thank you very much. I’m going there now.

4. Student A (Tony): We can’t leave Mary and John in the small room.

Student B (Roger): You’re right.

Student A: What can we do with them?

Student B: I know. Let’s take them to my brother’s house.

Student A: Good idea, Dad.

PR O J E C T SU G G E S T I O N S

You may want to present some of these activities in the students’ own language.

1. Think about all the people in the story. Who do you like the most? Who do you like the least? Why?Write a paragraph to explain your reasons.

2. Draw a map from your school to your house and describe how to get there.

3. Imagine you are a police artist. Draw the ‘Wanted’ poster for the bank robber. Include: reward forinformation and a police telephone number. Try to use some English words in your poster.

4. In the story, John draws a plan of the school. Draw a plan of your school and put the names of thedifferent places on it in English.

5. John takes Mary’s address book. Make your own address book with the names of your classmates.Ask for everybody’s addresses and telephone numbers in English.

6. Make an advert for your own security firm. Design a picture and use some words in English.

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T O T H E T E A C H E RW O R K S H E E T 1 : C H A P T E R S 1 - 3

A. Match words from column A and B to make a sentence from the story. Write yoursentences in the space.

A B

John wears the problem 1. .............................................................................

John listens to a uniform 2. .............................................................................

John telephones down the corridors 3. .............................................................................

John walks his footsteps 4. .............................................................................

John reads the school 5. .............................................................................

John thinks about the letter 6. .............................................................................

B. Write (T) True or (F) False next to each sentence.

..... 1. John was a security guard in a school.

..... 2. John worked at night.

..... 3. Mary was John’s sister.

..... 4. John was worried about Mary.

..... 5. Mary wasn’t a popular teacher.

..... 6. John decided to leave his job.

..... 7. The headmaster’s name was Alan Clarke.

..... 8. The new security guard was John’s friend.

C. Match the sentences with the pictures. Write the letter of the picture in the space.

..... 1. John watched video monitors in his office.

..... 2. John counted his footsteps.

..... 3. Mary gave John a new book to read.

..... 4. John heard an echo.

..... 5. John asked the headmaster about Mary.

..... 6. John received a letter from the headmaster.

F o o t s t e p s

a

d

b

e

c

f

W o r k s h e e t 1 : C h a p t e r s 1 - 3

8

A. 1. John wears a uniform.

2. John listens to his footsteps.

3. John telephones the school.

4. John walks down the corridors.

5. John reads the letter.

6. John thinks about the problem.

B. 1. True

2. True

3. False

4. True

5. False

6. False

7. True

8. False

C. 1. b

2. f

3. e

4. c

5. d

6. a

A N S W E R SW o r k s h e e t 1 : C h a p t e r s 1 - 3

Very good, Tony.

A. Complete each sentence with a word from the box.

address behind hid street newspaper surname careful climbed bank bell

1. The man ran along the ........................ after John.

2. John rang the ........................ and waited.

3. John ........................ into Mary’s house through the window.

4. John looked at the telephone numbers in Mary’s ......................... book.

5. Mary’s ........................ was Tucker.

6. John was lucky. The man didn’t look ........................ the sofa.

7. John went home by a different route because he had to be ........................ now.

8. John ran along the road and ...................... behind a car.

9. John sat down and read the ............................. .

10. John read a story about a ...................... robbery.

B. Match the speech / thought bubble with the correct picture.

C. Put the sentences from the story in the correct order.

o John rang the bell, but nobody opened the door.

o John climbed through the window of Mary’s house.

o Anna talked to John.

o John read the newspaper.

o The stranger in Mary’s house shouted at John.

o John found Mary’s address book.

o John walked to Mary’s mother’s house.

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T O T H E T E A C H E RW O R K S H E E T 2 : C H A P T E R S 4 - 6F o o t s t e p s

I know where Mary lives. Oh, John. I’m so sorry!

Hey! What are you doing here? Nobody is answering the door.

b.a. c.

d. e.

1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

A. 1. street

2. bell

3. climbed

4. address

5. surname

6. behind

7. careful

8. hid

9. newspaper

10. bank

B. 1. c

2. a

3. e

4. b

5. d

C. 1. Anna talked to John.

2. John climbed through the window of Mary’s house.

3. John found Mary’s address book.

4. The stranger in Mary’s house shouted at John.

5. John walked to Mary’s mother’s house.

6. John rang the bell, but nobody opened the door.

7. John read the newspaper.

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W o r k s h e e t 2 : C h a p t e r s 4 - 6

A N S W E R S

f

A. Write the correct word from the box under each picture.

advert carpet case chair keys party policeman torch scared twin

B. Complete each sentence with the Past Simple of a regular verb from the box.

climb escape walk ask decide look

1. John ......................... quickly across the street.

2. Mary ......................... out through the open door.

3. Mary lost her job because she ......................... questions.

4. John and Mary ......................... to go back to the school.

5. Anna ......................... into the space behind the ventilation grille.

6. Roger Clarke ......................... from the school.

C. Match a sentence from the story with each picture. Write the letter of the picture inthe space.

..... 1. A teacher helped Anna out of the space.

..... 2. Tony tied John’s hands together.

..... 3. The school received a reward.

..... 4. The headmaster locked Mary in the small room with John.

..... 5. John showed the students a plan of the school.

..... 6. They removed the ventilation grille.

..... 7. John opened the door with his key.

..... 8. A teacher opened the cases.

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T O T H E T E A C H E R

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W O R K S H E E T 3 : C H A P T E R S 7 - 1 0F o o t s t e p s

a

e

b c

g

d

h

1. .................... 2. .................... 3. .................... 4. .................... 5. ....................

6. .................... 7. .................... 8. .................... 9. .................... 10. ...................

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W o r k s h e e t 3 : C h a p t e r s 7 - 1 0

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A N S W E R S

A. 1. twin

2. keys

3. policeman

4. chair

5. advert

6. case

7. carpet

8. scared

9. torch

10. party

B. 1. walked

2. looked

3. asked

4. decided

5. climbed

6. escaped

C. 1. b

2. e

3. g

4. f

5. a

6. d

7. c

8. h

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F I N A L T E S TF o o t s t e p s

20 points (2 points each)

12 points (2 points each)

12 points (2 points each)

6 points (1 point each)

A. Complete the sentences with a word from the box.

footsteps headmaster security cases bankwindow impostor office popular key

1. There were video monitors in the security guard’s ......................... .

2. There was 100,000 pounds in the ......................... .

3. John counted his ......................... in the corridors of the school.

4. Roger Clarke wasn’t the real headmaster. He was an ......................... .

5. Mary is very ......................... . Everybody likes her.

6. John was a ......................... guard.

7. The door was locked, but John had the ......................... .

8. John climbed into Mary’s house through the ......................... .

9. Tony and his father tied the real ......................... to a chair.

10. The school received a reward from the ......................... .

B. Put the words in the correct order.

1. walked / house / Mary’s / John / to .................................................................................. .

2. cases / opened / teacher / the / a ....................................................................................... .

3. address / Anna / Mary’s / knew ........................................................................................ .

4. of / bank robbers / Tony / one / was / the ......................................................................... .

5. big / school / party / was / a / there / the / at .................................................................... .

6. John’s / headmaster / know / the / name / didn’t .............................................................. .

C. Complete each sentence with the correct verb in the box.

ran arrested gave talked looked read

1. Mary ......................... John a new book.

2. John ......................... at Mary’s address book.

3. The police ......................... Tony and Roger Clarke.

4. John ......................... the newspaper.

5. John ......................... along the street to escape.

6. Anna ......................... to John outside the school.

D. Match each sentence from exercise C with one of the pictures below. Write the sentencenumber in the box in each picture.

b. c.

e. f.

a. d.

JohnAAnna

TonyThere

The

F i n a l T e s t

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A N S W E R S

A. 1. office

2. cases

3. footsteps

4. impostor

5. popular

6. security

7. key

8. window

9. headmaster

10. bank

B. 1. John walked to Mary’s house.

2. A teacher opened the cases.

3. Anna knew Mary’s address.

4. Tony was one of the bank robbers. / One of the bank robbers was Tony.

5. There was a big party at the school.

6. The headmaster didn’t know John’s name.

C. 1. gave

2. looked

3. arrested

4. read

5. ran

6. talked

D. 1. a

2. b

3. f

4. e

5. d

6. c

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A N S W E R S T O A C T I V I T I E S I N T H E R E A D E RF o o t s t e p s

page 3: The special place is B, next to the ventilation grille (students count 14 steps).

page 6: Picture 2: When Mary works late, there is no book on the table.

page 10: Anna is the student who’s looking at John.

page 12: John walked down Main Street to James Street. On James Street, he turned right and crossed theTown Square to High Street. On High Street, he turned left onto Bridge Street, Mary’s street.

page 15: a, d, b, c

page 17: Mary’s surname is Tucker because five of the people in her address book have got the surnameTucker.

page 19: John read the article ‘Criminals Steal Money From Bank’.

page 22: Mary is talking about picture 3.

page 25: John tells Mary’s students to make a noise at point A.

page 27: John is talking about the number of footsteps he took before he heard ‘twang’.

page 28: John heard the voice when he was in Mary’s house.

page 29: The man in Mary’s house was Tony, the new security guard and the headmaster’s son.

page 31: The man tied to a chair is the real headmaster.

page 32: There is 100,000 pounds in the cases – the money that was stolen from the bank.

page 34: The real headmaster: 5The bank robber: 3The bank robber’s father: 2