I really liked the ideas of my classmates. The material in this unit seemed incredible to me, since I still did not plan. It will really help me a lot. 

I came up with an activity that can be divided into two activities or into two lessons, since, as in my case, I will only have 30 minutes of class.

The first activity would be for them to draw and colour freely or for the teacher to designate what each one draws. For example, one can draw a dog, another a princess, a castle, a dragon, etc.

Without them knowing, the teacher puts all their already finished drawings, folded in a box. 

Then for the next class the children will sit in a circle and then the teacher is going to call each one of them to take a picture out of the box. The teacher is going to stick these drawings on the blackboard and that child will say or invent a phrase related to the drawing.The teacher can write the story on the blackboard too.

At the end we all create a story using our imagination. Ultimately, if someone does not know what to say, the teacher can help them with questions.

Couldn't agree more with you girls! Storytelling provides not only an engaging context for learning, but also other pre and after reading possibilities such as acting, playing, craft, guessing, etc.

Apart from the tips already mentioned, another one called my attention when choosing a story to work with:  look for stories that could engage with our class beyond selecting one that matches with the syllabus.

The activities are successful when learners can relate with the story and make it their own, they like to do things themselves.  That is a reason why, activities like making their puppet characters, guessing what comes next or even creating a different ending are some of the suggested activities.

Even though we might have a recording, always add something else so that children can use other senses.  Additional noises, acting, visual support, a puppet, etc.

Maybe invite another character they already know to participate in the story as well.

I look forward to reading your posts!

Regards, 

Eliana  

I hope you find these tips useful when selecting a storybook for our little students.

Hugs,
Corachan, María Eugenia.

 

Storytelling is an excellent tool to integrate with drama since both contribute to developing children’s capacity for fantasy and imaginary play. From the pedagogical perspective of “socio-constructivism”, it is an activity that gets children involved in interactions with pairs, helping them to develop an understanding not only of themselves but also of the world around them.

 

In connection with L2 learning, due to being a shared classroom event, it engages children’s interest, attention and imagination, becoming a multi-purpose tool as it enhances the use of multiple intelligences and learning styles and provides a framework for fostering social skills and attitudes, for instance, active listening, collaborating, and turn taking. With this in mind, we can include it in our lesson planning as an enriching way to teach L2 through a variety of abilities (listening, speaking, group reading).

 

* The story selected should be suitable for the children it is intended for.

* The language level of the story needs to be appropriate for children’s knowledge and fit in at least partially with the syllabus.

* If the story has a discourse pattern likely repetitive, accumulative or includes a rhythmic refrain helps the acquisition of specific language constructions.

* It is advisable to vary the kinds of stories over time.

 

* Practise how you’re going to tell the story: which actions you’ll use to convey meaning, the use of your voice and the places you are going to pause or ask questions to encourage children to show their understanding or predict what’s going to happen next.

* Be sure that every child can see them and hear you: hold and show illustrations slowly around the group.

* Try to maintain eye-contact with the children so as to keep them focused and attentive.

* Give children enough time to think, look, comment, ask or respond to questions.

* At the end, it is important to invite children to give a personal response to the story (if they liked, have had similar experiences or feelings to the characters, etc.).

 

Finally, I highly recommend this book by Carol Read, “500 Activities for the Primary Classroom” (2007), Macmillan, London. In my opinion, it is a valuable resource of concepts, hints and activities for teachers.

 
On the other hand, I find this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8k93ylkBPA) quite illustrative regarding the benefits of storytelling in a summarized way.

Tomlinson and Masuhara argue that pictures are crucial to producing and conveying meaning practically to see what is happening in a story. 

Finally, I would like to share with you a series of short stories that can be applied in our English classes. The book is called Pirucho, the cat and his friend Perico, The Mouse ( a creative cat an envious mouse)
The book was written by Stella Maris Gamba, from editorial Dunken. 
at the beginning of my post, there is an image of the book. I hope it helps.
Regards, Santiago

Stories have great potential to develop L2 in young students but it is important to be well developed and suitable for them.                 I will add to MArco ́s tips  for storytelling that they must have short sentences and pictures must be colourful and appealing to young learners. 

Regards, 

KAren 

Cheers, 

Sofi

After reading the material, storytelling is an effective strategy to help students construct language and literacy skills. Storytelling requires not only telling a story but also being able to connect with the content and do it enthusiastically. Doing this will help children to develop their understanding of the content and engage them in the activity by listening. What’s more, this strategy allows children to participate actively as well as develop their critical thinking by asking them questions and letting them make connections with their personal experiences.  

In the end, after retelling the same story several times, children will be able to make their own stories by drawing first. This experience can be meaningful to them because they are involved in the process. However, if they struggle with how to continue with their story, teachers need to encourage them by asking questions to expand their ideas. In my practicum, I distributed to the children stick animals and then I started telling the story “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see?” and asked the children to lift the stick animal whenever they heard the animal. In this sense, active listening was being promoted as well as their participation. 

Kind regards, 

Ayelén Paolucci