STORIES

very good way of helping students learn language more

deeply and naturally
motivating and fun; they create a deep interest and a
desire to continue learning
shared social experience; it provokes a shared response
of laughter, sadness, excitement and anticipation
exercise the imagination; children can become personally
involved in a story as they identify with the characters and
try to interpret the narrative and illustrations.

1. Children, adolescent and adults all love

stories & this generate positive attitude
to the lesson for which the story acts as a
framework.
2. Stories provide a context for several
grammatical structures.
3. A story can provide contexts for real
use of English (variety of emotions and
issues).

Circle
Story

The class create stories word by word. You can begin by saying:
"One Monday morning I was" or whatever beginning you like. Then
go round the class in a circle [not randomly]. The first pupil must
repeat "One Monday morning I was" and then add a single word
that makes sense and fits in grammatically. The second pupil
repeats all the first pupil has said, adding one more word. The
third pupil repeats all and adds a word, and so on, until a story
develops around the class.
This technique can be fun, requires no preparation and focuses on
the accurate use of language. It can make a good warmer. With a
small class it's possible to go round the class twice. The teacher
can choose whether the story is to be told in present tense [if they
are beginners] or used to practice the simple past tense, or with
no restrictions on the language used.

Questio
n Story

Write 4 or 5 questions on the board. For a very low level class

these might be: "What's his/her name?" "Where is he/she?"
"What's he/she doing?" "What does he/she say?" Run through
a few possible answers orally with the class. Then give a piece
of paper to every pupil. Tell them you want them to write an
answer to the first question only. Encourage them to be
creative.
They then fold back their paper, so the answer they have
written is folded away from the page and not visible when the
paper is flat on the desk. All pupils then pass their paper to
the pupil on the left. They all then write the answer to the
second question, fold the paper again, then pass to the next
pupil on the left, and so on, until all the questions have been
answered. The pupils can then unfold the papers, correct
where possible, and then read aloud the slightly crazy stories
to the class.

RETELLIN
G
STORIES

Another

way

of

using

stories

which

requires minimal preparation, yet is a

very powerful learning tool, is to have
the pupils retell stories. The best stories
to begin with are interesting anecdotes
from your life, or interesting or unusual
news stories. Once this

activity is

familiar, the pupils can then contribute

with their own stories. This activity
works well as a warmer and as practice
or review of the simple past tense.