by Carys Shannon
Children love stories. Stories are magic, they can create other worlds, emotions, ideas and make the everyday seem incredible. They can teach us empathy and take us on terrific journeys. They can make us laugh, cry, jump with frightย and then comfort us with a happy ending.ย From a very young age we learn how to enjoy a story both for pleasure and to help us make sense of the world and ourselves.ย In this article Iโll look at why stories are important for ESL students and Iโll share some simple story-based activities that can be adapted for different ages and abilities.ย ย
Stories in Classย
In the ESL classroom stories have a special place andย value. Students can listen to the sounds and rhythms of English just asย native speakers will have doneย to acquireย theirย first language.ย Studentsย can identify vocabulary and expressions that they have learnt or heard regularly and see them in use. Frequent telling can help them to learn new phrases and expressions with the correct emotional resonance.ย Storytelling with participation uses experiential learning to ask about what is happening to the characters and what they should do next, or offers a student the chance to be that character and hear/say their words in a true context.ย ย
Storytelling brings language learning alive and creates a participatory and immersive experience that allowsย Young Learners to enjoyย hearingย the language in a dynamic, sometimes stylisticย and entertaining way.ย ย Participation using key vocabulary and phrases can create an awareness of rhythm and structure.ย This atmosphere of play and creative expression creates an appetiteย for more similar experiences. Students who have enjoyed storytelling in class often ask for more stories and alsoย feel motivated and encouragedย to createย and tell, act out or illustrateย their own stories in a variety of ways.ย ย
The act of storytellingย appeals to different learningย preferencesย and personalities ensuring that from the shyestย to the most active of students,ย everyone has a chanceย to participate in a way that they can enjoy. This rangesย from listeningย quietlyย to taking partย as an actor.ย ย
Storytellingย alsoย helps students to enjoy and be aware ofย intonation and tone of voice, natural sounding expressions and phrases as well asย interaction between native speakers.ย For olderย YLsย they offer the opportunity to retell, rephrase, enactย or summarise what theyโve heard, to rewrite the story or to create their own as a group or individual.ย ย
Storiesย alsoย offer a link between the classroom and home. Students may have the same books in their own language at home;ย they may read with a parent or family member and be able toย identify vocabulary in English;ย simple stories in English can be read again by a parent at home. Many storiesย alsoย have talking books,ย YouTubeย videos, animations or films in VOSE that could be enjoyed after the session.ย ย ย
Stories offerย everyoneย a chance to enjoy language and discover new worlds, new wordsย and new things about themselves.ย
ย In Summary:ย
Stories canโฆย
- Enable children to empathise with unfamiliar people/places/situations.ย
- Offer insights into different traditions and values.ย
- Offer insights into universal life experiences.ย
- Help children consider new ideas.ย
- Reveal differences and commonalties of cultures around the world.ย
- Promote a feeling of well-being, fun and relaxation.ย
- Increase childrenโs willingness to communicate thoughts and feelings.ย
- Encourage active participation.ย
- Increase verbal proficiency.ย
- Encourage use of imagination and creativity.ย
- Encourage cooperation between students.ย
- Enhance listening skills.ย
(Source: British Council Teach English Website)ย
Activities to Tryย
Story Diceย
Make your own based on the vocabulary youโre studying in class or choose from aย whole range of templates onlineย (try this online generator fromย ReadWriteThink:ย http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/cube_creator/).ย Story dice offer input from basic vocabulary nouns to action verbs or adverbs. Use them to construct a story in groups or for fast finishers as a speaking activityย in pairs.ย ย
Story Gridsย
Story grids are so flexible โย all you need is to be able to draw lines! Elicit current vocabulary from your students forย a whole class activity or letย individual imaginations run wild. Story grids are great for recalling and classifying vocabulary into word groups (e.g. write three nouns, two adverbs, a collocation and an idiom from the current set).ย Once inputted into the grid the options are varied:ย you can ask students to swap grids for an extra challenge, create stories in groups or set the story writing for homework after eliciting possibilities and combinations in class. You can even use a โheads upโ board grid to playย Whispers with invented stories.ย ย
Story Generatorsย
The online world makes story generation easy. Use the Story Maker from the British Council Kids websiteย (http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/games/story-maker)ย to create a horror or fairy story with your class. Chooseย from picture-based optionsย and read or act out the final text together.ย Great for a further comic strip activity or use it as pure creativeย imaginationย time.ย ย
Story Book Creationย
Online websites such asย Story Birdย make creating beautiful and professional storybooks with your class easy. The artwork can be used as stimulus or as an accompaniment to your own story. Hugely motivating.ย
Authorโs Bio: Carys Shannon is an experienced ESL teacher and cultural facilitator with professional credits in theatre production and writing. Currently teaching at IH Academia Britannica Sierra in Cรณrdoba, where she has been based for the last five years, Carys also carries out teacher training workshops and storytelling sessions for Macmillan Iberia. Her interests lie in utilising drama and theatre skills within the ESL classroom for all ages and levels as well as working with storytelling as a vehicle for language learning and production.
