Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Short Stories and Fables
Short Stories and Fables
INTRODUCTION
WHY STORIES
We feed on stories: films, theatre plays, books, conversation with friends
Stories teach us how to understand the world around us
Stories are inexhaustible source of language building items
Kids love them and they are always ready to hear a new story
Kids search for the meaning in stories, and when they grasp it they are
happy
Stories build fluency
Stories help the children develop a sense of foreign language: they listen
without any obligation to repeat, and yet, they store language to use it
productively in the future
Stories teach us how to listen, and that is a prerequisite for successful
communication
READING OR TELLING THE STORY
Reading :
-no need to memorise the text
-no fear of language mistakes
-text is always the same and predictable
-reading promotes books
-creates distance between a reader and a listener
-the reader easily gets lost in the text
READING OR TELLING THE STORY
Telling:
-a sense of sharing something personal
-a storyteller can make a very powerful impression
-talking is natural
-a storyteller can see the faces of the listeners
-a storyteller can use mime and body to tell the story
-a storyteller can use a more simple language
-story needs to be memorised extremly well
-language mistakes are possible
CHOOSING A STORY
You should choose a story which:
-could capture the children´s attention after the first sentence
-you personally like
-would be understandable enough to be enjoyed
-offers rich vocabulary
-does not have long descriptive passages
-suits other topics that you discuss with children
-you feel you can tell successfully
BEFORE YOU READ OR TELL THE
STORY
The success of your story depends on how well you have
prepared for it
You need to awake the spirit of storytelling in kids
Gather the children around you
Change the seating arrangement or create a story corner
Use an object: a storyteller´s bag, a puppet, a cloak, a hat
Use music – always the same
Tell them a story always at the same time
Show them a picture or an object
HOW TO BEGIN
Create a context
Wait for them to be perfectly still
Don´t use long introductions
Tell it naturally
Use body and mime, move around, be dynamic
Change the tone of your voice
Emphasise the key words
Stop the story to involve the children; ask them questions, make them feel
they are a part of the story
Speak clearly and let your moves be a touch slower than in real life
It is very important to maintain the magic, so keep everything under control
Prepare well if you read from a book
LANGUAGE
Choose key words and teach them before or during the
story
Simplify the language, but do not alter the story beyond
recognition
Use big and clear pictures and cards
Use realia (objects) to explain vocabulary
Use the context of the story
Translate the word, if need be
SHORT STORIES AND FABLES