READING2:Howtoexploitstoriesintheclassroom.

A.Activitiestopreparechildrenforreading
1.Usingillustrations
Itisalwaysagoodideatoexploitpicturestohelpthechildunderstandandvisualisethestory.
Illustrationscanbeusedtointroducethestory,elicitvocabulary,introducedifficultwords,
andgenerallyexcitetheinterestofthechildforthestory.AsklearnersquestionssuchasWho
arethepeople?'Whataretheydoing?'Whatisthis?'Whatisthestoryabout?etc.Learners
willbeintroducedtovocabulary,willbebetterabletounderstandthetext,andwillbemore
engagedinthereadingtask,becausetheywanttofindoutiftheywereright.
2.Preteachingvocabulary
Manyofthestoriesarerelatedtoalexicaltheme.Forexample,youcanfindrelatedactivities
topractisethenamesoffarmanimalsbeforeyoureadastoryaboutfarmanimals.
3.Introducethetheme
Storiesareoftenrelatedtoatopic.Itcanbeagoodideatofamiliariselearnerswiththetopic
beforereading,bytryingactivitiesrelatedtothetopiconthesite,bysettingatasktofindout
aboutthetopic(thiscouldevenbeforhomework),orbydiscussion(inyourownlanguage
withlowerlevellearnersifyoulike).
4.Inputculturalbackground
SomestoriesassumeaknowledgeofculturalnormsintheUK,forexample,thedailyschool
routine.Childrenareusuallyinterestedinfindingoutthedifferencesbetweentheirown
cultureandthelivesofchildrenintheUK.Somestorieshavemoreovertculturalbackground.
IfyourstorymentionstypicalsightsinLondonyoucoulduseamaporguidebooktofindout
whatthesearebeforechildrenreadorlistentothestory.
B.Activitiesduringreading
1.Useavarietyofwaystoread
Therearemanydifferentwaystoapproachastory.Itisquitelikelythatyoungerlearnerswill
wanttoread,hear,orlistentothestoryseveraltimes,particularlyanimatedones.Thisshould
notbediscouragedasithelpslearnerstoequateoralandwrittenformswhichisimportantfor
thedevelopmentofreadingskills.Intheclassroomitisimportanttovarythekindofreading.
2.Sustainingreading
Ifthestoryisverylongthenitisimportanttokeeptheclassmotivatedtoread.Theteacher
couldstopatconvenientcliffhanger'pointsandasktheclasswhathappensnext?'Thisuse
ofpredictionskillsmakesthelearnerswanttoreadontotheendofthestorytofindoutiftheir
ownideaiscorrect.Inaclassroomthiscouldbedoneasaguessinggame'.
3.Totalphysicalresponse
Withveryyoungoractivelearnersthestorycanbemimedwhiletheteacherreadsandthe
childrenlisten.
4.Charactersandvoices
Instorieswhichhavealotofcharactersyoucouldaskstudentstoreadthedialogueofthe
characters.Theteachercouldreadthedialogueindifferentvoicesfirst,orevenwithfunny
voicesandnonsensewords!Toextend,theclasscouldrewritethestoryasaplaywhichcould

beperformedperhapswithcostumes.
C.Postreadingactivities
1.Quickcomprehensioncheck
Itisalwaysagoodideatodoaquickcomprehensioncheckwhenyourlearnershavefinished
readingthestory,orattheendofeachpageoftext.Thismaytaketheformofafewgist'
questionsaboutthetextaskingchildrenforaresponse.
2.Makeaposter/illustratethestory
Youcanuseanystoryasanopportunityforsomecreativedrawingandillustration,perhaps
withvocabularylabelsinEnglish.
3.Stimulusforwriting
Manystoriescanactasastimulusforcreativewriting,dependingonlevel.Youngerlearners
coulduseoneofthesimplerstoriesasamodelforastoryoftheirown,forexample,theirown
storysetinahauntedhouse(Wheredidtheygo?Whatdidtheysee?Whathappened?).
4.Roleplay/actingout
Interpretingstoriesasroleplaycanbeassimpleorcomplicatedasyoulike.Itcouldstartwith
mimingbasicactions,thenspeakingorimprovisingdialogue.Intheclassroomtheteacherwill
needtobeorganisedinadvancewithmovingfurniture,providingsimplepropsetc.Youcould
evenusefacepaints.
Taken from: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/kids-stories

How can I help children to understand a story?

To make the most of a storys potential and to increase the pupils enjoyment and
ability to follow the story you will need to support your pupils understanding in
several ways.
The following eight steps provide a framework to make story-based lessons more
accessible.
1. If necessary, modify the story to make it easier for your pupils to
understand. You may need to substitute unfamiliar words with better-known
ones or adapt the sentence structure to make the story easier to follow,
and so on.
2. Provide visual/audio support: drawings on the blackboard, cut-out figures,
speech bubbles, masks, puppets, real objects, flashcards, sound effects
such as bells, tapping, etc.
3. Identify your language focus. Decide which language points your pupils
need to recognise for comprehension when the story is told and which
would be useful for them to produce. This language focus may include
vocabulary sets, language functions and structures, pronunciation, etc.
4. Decide when you will read the story. Will you read a little each lesson or
all at once after appropriate preparation? Decide how long you will spend

on the story. Will you use it once or twice or over a period of several
lessons?
5. Provide a context for the story and introduce the main characters. Help
your pupils feel involved and link their experience with that in the story to
set the scene. Relate the story to relevant aspects of their own lives such
as where they live, the animals they are familiar with, what they like or
dislike, going shopping, having picnics, the people they know, etc.
6. Once the context has been understood and the children can identify with
the characters, then elicit key vocabulary and phrases.
7. Decide in which order to introduce the language necessary for
understanding and how much new language to present at a time. Check
that each lesson provides variety and the opportunity for recycling
language previously introduced.
8. Decide how much follow-up work you will do. For example, find out if there
are any rhymes or songs that pupils can learn to reinforce the language or
topic introduced. Decide which follow-up activities can provide
opportunities for pupils to use language from the story in different areas of
the curriculum, for example, drama, art or simple science (e.g. work on
bones and skeletons after reading Funnybones).

READING3:ASAMPLESEQUENCEOFPLANNING.WHATISMISSING?

TheThreeLittlePigsbyPaulGaldone
Day1
PriorKnowledge:
Presentstudentswithsomerealstraw,afewsticks,andarealbrick.Letstudentstoucheach
materialanddiscussitstexture,weight,sturdiness,etc.Askstudentstothinkofastorythat
theyhaveprobablyheardthatincludesallthreetypesofmaterials.Encouragestudentstotell
youwhattheyalreadyknowaboutthestory.Somestudentsmaysaydifferentthingsregarding
whathappenstothewolfattheend,etc.
FocusStory:
Introducetitle,authorandillustrator;showthecoverandtalkaboutwhatthepigsareholding
andwheretheyappeartobe;readaloudforenjoymentandtoseeifthisversionofTheThree
LittlePigsisliketheonethestudentsremember.

Day2
FocusStory:
Reviewthestory,havingstudentsworktogethertosequencepicturesfromthestorytoshow
whathappenedfirst,second,third,next,etc.;introducearetellingchartshowingtherepetitive
wordsthatthepigsandthewolfusedinthestory.
RereadthestorySharedReading(lettingstudentsjoininontherepetitivewording,pointing
totheretellingchart);generateadiscussionregardingthecharacters,theproblem,andthe
solutioninthisstorybyaskingquestions,suchasthefollowing...
Whydidthethreepigsleavetheirmother?
Whywasthewolfabletoblowdownthefirsttwopigs'homes?
Howdoyouthinkthefirsttwolittlepigsfeltwhenthewolfcameknockingontheirdoors?
Howwouldyouhavefelt?
Howdoyouthinkthethirdlittlepigfeltwhenthewolfcametohishouse?
Whycouldn'tthewolfblowdownthethirdlittlepig'shouse?
Thewolfcouldn'tblowdownthebrickhouse,butthethirdlittlepigstillhadaproblem.
Whocantelluswhatthatwas?
Whydoyouthinkthethirdpigwasabletotrickthewolfsomanytimes?

Howwouldthestorybedifferentifthewolfwasnota'hungry'wolf?
Howwouldthestorybedifferentifallthelittlepigshadtakenthetimetobuildabrick
house?
CompanionStory:
Tellstudentsthatyouhaveanotherstoryaboutpigstosharewiththem;Introducetitle(Pigs),
author,andillustrator;PictureWalkdiscussingeachpicturesostudentsunderstandthatthis
bookisaboutthedailyanticsoflittlepiglets.Thisisahighlypredictablebookandthepictures
closelymatchthetext.Gettingstudentstousetheexactwordswhendescribingshouldbe
easy(numberofpigs,preposition,object).Readthestorytogether.
Day3
FocusStory:RereadSharedReading(lettingstudentsjoininontherepetitivewording,
pointingtotheretellingchart.)
CompanionStory:
RereadPigs(echoreading);Rereadthestory,askingstudentstogoonarhymehuntby
listeningforrhymingwords;seeifstudentscanorallygenerateadditionalwordsthatrhyme
witheachrhymingpairfromthestory.
FocusStory/Companion:
DiscussaspectsofbothTheThreeLittlePigsandPigsthatcouldberealandthosethatare
fictional.
PigsFictional:
pigswearinghatsandmasks,pigsstanding/balancingontopofeachother
Real:
pigsbeingfedbyafarmer,pigssleepinginapen
TheThreeLittlePigs
Fictional:
animalswalkingontwolegs
pigsbuildinghouses
pigsandwolftalkinginEnglish
pigscooking
pigseatingawolf
Real:
littlepigshavingamotherpig
pigsbeinghuntedbywolves
pigsbeingsmart
Introducesomefactsaboutpigs(bodyparts,piglets,characteristics,sounds,eatinghabits,
wheretheylive,howtheyareusedtohelppeople)byreadingselectedportionsfroma
booksuchasPigsbyGailGibbons.

Day4
Havestudentsstate/reviewsomeofthefactsthattheylearnedaboutrealpigs.
CompanionRhyme:
Introducethecompanionnurseryrhyme'ToMarket,ToMarket'(discussingtheterm
'market');Readaloud;Reread(echoread).
FocusStory:
EncouragestudentstoorallyretellthestoryofTheThreeLittlePigs,stressingtheconceptof

first,second,etc.;Havestudentsactoutthestory.Youwillneedthreepigs,onemotherpig,
onewolf,threepeddlers,andonepersontopointtotheretellingchartsentencescontainingthe
repetitivewords.
CompanionStory:
RereadSharedReading(withhalfoftheclassreadingtheevenpages/firsthalfofthe
sentenceandtheotherhalfoftheclassreadingtheoddpages/lasthalfofthesentenceandthus
completingtherhyme);Choosestudentstofindandmaskcertainletters('p','t','f','d','s','g',
and'n')ortofindsmallsightwords(in,a,at,the,on).
Day5
CompanionStory:RereadPigs(choralreading).
CompanionRhyme:
Forenjoyment,readthebookversionofthecompanionrhymeToMarket,ToMarketbyAnne
Miranda;Rereadcompanionnurseryrhyme'ToMarket,ToMarket'(pausingfortherhyming
words'jig'and'jog');Explaintostudentsthatyouhavepicturesthatrhymewitheither'pigand
jig'or'hogandjog'.Havestudentssortthewordfamily'ig'and'og'picturecards;Present
studentswiththeTakeHomepoembookletReadaloudtogetherwithstudentstrackingthe
print.(Thistakehomebookletisfoundin25MotherGoosePeekABooBooksbyHelen
Moore,Scholastic:1993.)
FocusStory:Haveasecondsetofstudentsactoutthestory(similartoyesterday).
RelatedReadAloudStories/Poems
FocusStory:TheThreeLittlePigsbyPaulGaldone
CompanionStory:PigsbyRozanneLanczakWilliams
CompanionPoem:ToMarket,ToMarket/ToMarket,ToMarketbyAnneMiranda
PossibleCrossCurricularConnections
Art:
1)CreatetheTLCToMarket,ToMarketartwork(fromMoreNurseryRhymes)
2)Makepinkpaperpigs
3)Createplaydoughpigs
4)Experimentwithstrawpaintblowing
Math:
1)Focusonordinalpositions(first,second,third,etc.)
Literacy:
1)Listentothestoryatthelisteningcenteranduseflannelcharacterstoretell
2)CreateaVenndiagramcomparingtwoversionsofthisfolktale
3)Makestickorstanduppuppetsforretellingathome
4)MakeaThreeLittlePigsMuralwithinteractivewriting
Science:
1)Performblowing/airexperiments
2)Learnaboutrealpigs(characteristics,wherelive,whateat,etc.)
Music/Movement:Sing/actoutTenPinkPigletsormanipulatethepigsonthepoem

chart(below)
SocialStudies:
1)Learnaboutvarioustypesofhomes/shelters
2)Makeacollageofwantsversusneeds

Taken from: http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/three-little-pigs/