Ghost by Jason Reynolds – Discussion Questions

Chapter-by-chapter discussion questions for the novel Ghost by Jason Reynolds are organised under RTFO, Respond, Discuss, and Reflect labels, with teacher answers embedded in parentheses.
Year groups
Years 7–9 (Key Stage 3)
File type
Microsoft Word
Editable
Yes

Updated Sep 27, 2026

Subject
Reading, English
Topic
Ghost, Jason Reynolds
Resource types
Novel Studies
Editable
Yes

From the author

About this resource

This resource is a set of Ghost by Jason Reynolds Discussion Questions.

Chapters include a variation of:

  • Vocabulary

  • Read to find out

  • Discuss

  • Respond

  • Predict

  • Answers to questions included.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Recall and summarise key plot events from each chapter of Ghost

  • Analyse a character's motivations and choices, such as Ghost's reasons for fighting or stealing

  • Make personal connections between events in the novel and students' own experiences

  • Predict and infer meaning from character behaviour, such as Ghost's mother's procrastination

Teaching tips

  • Use the RTFO-labelled questions as short comprehension checks before opening the Discuss-labelled questions to the whole class

  • Since answers are embedded in the document, project or read from a separate copy so students do not see the answers while discussing

  • Split longer chapters (3, 4, 5, 9) into their two listed page-range sections across two class sessions

  • Use the Reflect-labelled prompts as short written responses or exit tickets after each chapter's discussion

Skills covered

  • Literary comprehension — students answer recall questions tied to specific plot events across all ten chapters of Ghost.

  • Character analysis — students discuss Ghost's motivations for behaviours like fighting and stealing shoes.

  • Personal connection and reflection — students relate events like Ghost's neighbourhood or Coach's backstory to their own lives.

  • Inference — students predict meaning from indirect textual cues, such as what Ghost's mother's procrastination suggests.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Why are some chapters split into two separate question sections instead of one set per chapter?

Longer chapters (3, 4, 5, and 9) are broken into two page-range sections so discussion can pause partway through a chapter rather than waiting until the whole chapter is finished.

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

  • Reading comprehension

  • Character analysis

  • Novel study

  • Class discussion

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