Using Stories
in the ESL Classroom
by Shelley Vernon
Do
you want to use stories in the preschool ESL classroom
but don't know where to start?
There are many great pre-k activities for ESL
classrooms, including games, but don’t discount
the power of stories. Whether you're reading a classic
book, making up a story as you go along or designing a
story for a particular lesson, you can include stories
in the preschool ESL class every day.
Motivation
One of the reasons why
stories work so well in the ESL preschool classroom has
to do with intrinsic motivation: the theory that people
are motivated by internal factors. Young children do
not understand the external factors that might motivate
an adult to decide to learn a second language. So as a
teacher it's up to you to create a classroom that
internally motivates them to participate in the
activities and, ultimately, learn the language you are
teaching.
Stories are perfect for teaching young ESL students
because children already love stories and are already
motivated at the thought of listening to one. And when
children listen to stories, they’re able to
internalise the language structure.
Eventually they will begin recognize words and phrases
they hear in the stories. Besides, there are endless
ways to use them in the classroom. Here are some
possibilities
Teach
Vocabulary
Before you use a story in
the ESL preschool classroom, you'll need to teach the
students the key vocabulary needed to follow the story.
The students will both "learn" the words, and
immediately see how they are used. They will also hear
them in context of the language. This is much more
beneficial than simply memorizing a list of words.
Varying Classroom Activities
Telling a story adds variety to your lessons in terms
of content and pace. Preschoolers don't have a terribly
long attention span, so you'll want to change your
activities every five to ten minutes. That's a great
length of time to spend telling a story.
You'll also want some activities to burn all that
preschool energy. To keep the class from getting out of
control, use a story after a boisterous activity. This
allows everyone enough time to settle down before
moving onto something else.
And remember that you’re young students will
enjoy you telling the same stories over and over again.
Be Creative
Have fun with your story and go with the flow. Make
animal sounds, change your voice, and sing little songs
– perhaps some of your students will join in.
Most important of all, use gestures.
Introduce Other Activities
Stories are a great jumping board for other activities.
While following a story you could:
*
Give each student a picture that depicts the events of
the story and have them line up in order of the events.
* Have the students come up with different titles for
the story.
*
Repeat quotes from the story and ask the students "Who
said it?"
* Leave off the ending of the story. Let the students
predict what they think will happen. Compare with the
‘real’ ending
* Encourage the children to look for patterns in the
story. Let them guess, for example, what character will
say.
* Teach them a song that goes along with the theme of
the story.
* Teach them actions to go along with the songs.
* Let them act out parts of the story.
* Allow them to dress up like characters in the story
and do the things they did. If they decorated cookies,
let the children decorate cookies.
* Tell a story to introduce a new unit.
* Give the students three events in the story and ask
them what came first.
* Let the students draw a picture about their favourite
part of the story and then explain it to the class.
* Let the students tell about a similar experience they
might have had.
There are so many things
you can do with stories in the ESL classroom. Just let
your imagination go and soon so will the imaginations
of your students!
For ideas to help you get started and free materials on
using games in the preschool classroom go to
onhttp://www.teachingenglishgames.com/3-5.htm .
Shelley
Vernon has helped 1000s of teachers be an inspiration
to their pupils.
Improve
the effectiveness of your lessons and enjoy yourself
more.
Receive
free preschool ESL games and stories now on
http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/3-5.htm