STORYBOOKS

WHY USE STORY BOOKS IN THE CLASSROOM?

FOR CHILDREN

Stories create magic and a sense of wonder at the world. Stories promote a feeling of well-being and relaxation. Children become highly motivated when we use stories: they feel

more relaxed and comfortable when learning a language. Stories teach about life, about ourselves, about the others…They

help them to solve some of their problems. They encourage active participation and cooperation. They encourage the use of imagination and creativity. They allow children to explore their own cultural roots and also

different cultures. A way to develop an understanding and respect for other cultures. They help children consider new ideas. Stories transmit universal socio-cultural values such as tolerance,

courage, perseverance… Stories enhance listening skills.

• Stories allow us to manage the classroom, since they help to create a

comfortable and relaxing atmosphere.• It provides a great opportunity to use authentic material in the

classroom.• Working with illustrations provides a creative and artistic learning

environment.• We can work on the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.• Stories allow us to suit all the different learning styles within the

classroom (visual, aural, kinaesthetic).• We can use the stories to introduce some other cross-curricular issues.

(e.g. “The hungry caterpillar” to explain the life cycle o butterflies) • They could provide a context to develop a book-making project or a

board game which will give the children a great sense of achievement.

FOR TEACHERS

WHAT TO CONSIDER

An appropriate selection of the story. The language and contents of the story need to correspond with the children age and level of development.

The children have to engage with the story, otherwise they will lose interest.

For lower levels, it is better to select stories with repetitive structures, rhymes….. very plain and clear language. If children soon know the story by heart, they can repeat it with pride.

The best stories are those which contain a strong message (social or environmental) and children can get a sense of justice and tolerance.

ACTIVITIES

Title: Understanding cover informationType of learner: VisualLevel/s: First – Third cycleDescription:- Make three labels with: The title of the book, the author and the illustrator- And other three with the labels: “Title” , “Author” and “Illustrator”- Kids have to match the labels after looking at the cover of the bookAdaptationFirst cycle: Just match the labelsSecond and third cycle: Worksheet

Name:_________________________________ Date: _____________________________________

LOOKING AT A BOOK COVER The title of the book is

__________________________________________________________________________________

The author is

__________________________________________________________________________________

The illustrator is

__________________________________________________________________________________

In the cover picture I can see

What I think will happen in the story is

Title: Working with sentencesType of learner: VisualLevel/s: First – Third cycleDescription:- Make labels with words taken from a sentence of the story- They have to order themAdaptationFirst cycle: Take a repetitive chunk of the storySecond and third cycle: Increase the difficulty of the sentences

YOUDON’T

SCARE

ME!

Title: Sequencing the storyType of learner: VisualLevel/s: Kindergarten – Third cycleDescription:- Scan representative images from the story and make labels with a

summary of the story - Match each sentence to the image- Put them in order to sequence the storyAdaptationKindergarten and first cycle: Just order the imagesSecond and third cycle: Also match the images to the sentences

Name: ______________________________________ Date: _________________________________

My storyboard of _____________________________________________________

Title: listen to your wordType of learner: AuditoryLevel/s: Kindergarten – Third cycleDescription:- Make labels with words of the story and give one to each group or

student- Every time they listen to their word they have to raise the labelAdaptationKindergarten: Instead of words they have imagesFirst cycle: Simple/repetitive wordsSecond and third cycle: Sentences

Elephant

coloursElmer

Title: Simon says!Type of learner: KinaestheticLevel/s: Kindergarten – Third cycleDescription:- Display flashcards of the vocabulary of the story around the

classroom- Divide the students in small groups- Give them instructions such as: “Simon says red team go to the

elephant!” - They have to follow the orders but only when you start the

sentence with “Simon Says”AdaptationKindergarten: Not to make groups, do it with one small group each timeFirst cycle: Make only two groups or rowsSecond and third cycle: More than two groups

OTHER ACTIVITIES…

- Guessing- Retelling the story- Songs- Chants- Role-play- Invent new endings- Drawing - Colouring- Making a book or a

comic- Etc…

Some story books

Kindergarten and infant schoolBrown bear, brown bear, what do you see? (Bill

Martin Jr. And Eric Carle)

Colour and animals are beautifully shown together with a simple rhyming text.

Elmer (David McKee)The text is difficult in English, but if the children know the story we can use the book to teach colours and some vocabulary.

My world, your world (Melanie Walsh)Children can learn about differences and similarities between different cultures. They can learn vocabulary and values such as respecting others.

Monkey puzzle (Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler)With this book children can learn vocabulary about animals, and also science. They can learn about the cycle of butterfly’s life. The text of the story rhymes and is very repetitive.

The Gruffalo(Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler)With this book children can learn vocabulary about food, parts of the body and animals. It also talk about how children can face their own fears in a very creative way. The text of the story rhymes and is very repetitive.SONG VIDEO:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZfEIX2lhlI&feature=player_detailpageWEB FOR ACTIVITIES: http://www.gruffalo.com/section.php?s=html/gamesandactivities.html

Winnie the Witch (Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas)This book is useful to work vocabulary about furniture and colours. It uses the simple past tense of verbs related to actions. It makes the children laugh. A STOTY TELLERhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3QMAKX5xqg&feature=player_detailpage

Primary . 5 to 7 years old.

Primary . 8 to 9 years old.

Silly Billy ( Anthony Brownie)This book helps the children to cope with their worries. Reading this book children can learn vocabulary and also some features about other cultures, in this case the “Worry Dolls” from Guatemala. The children can develop arts and crafts.

Primary . 10 to 12 years old.Roald Dahl is a very popular writer. He wrote many

books for children in his Gipsy House that was built by himself. All his books are suitable for children, we have chosen two of them. Most of their books are illustrated by Quentin Blake.

Esio Trot.This is the story of a very shy man who is in love with a very kind woman, and of the small tortoise who brings them togheter.Besides the fun Esio Trot lesson plans and projects that you will find on this web page, below are a few additional ideas that I have also used along with this story:http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com/Esio-Trot-Lesson-Plans.html

Magic finger.This book is about a girl that when she get cross she does magic with her finger.

TIPS FOR A GOOD STORY TELLER

When you tell a story, you must captivate an audience and you must have some PERFORMANCE SKILLS.

VARY THE VOLUME, PITCH and TEMPO of your voice ( CLEAR AND EXAGGERATE EXPRESSION).

Use your FACE, BODY and GESTURES. Clear focus to maintain concentration. Maintain ENGAGING EYE-CONTACT with the audience. Make the audience believe in you (charismatic presence) Use different, exaggerated character voices. BE DYNAMIC and use your space. Remember to pace yourself. Use SILENCE and PAUSES to add dramatic effect.

LINKS: Children tell stories by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrZc6eztoH4 Storytelling in School (Liverpool Irish Festival) http://vimeo.com/30722583

LIBRARIES AT SCHOOL

School Libraries Make a Difference to Student Achievement

• http://www.iasl-online.org/advocacy/make-a-difference.html

This page contains links to research reports and other documents that show that school libraries make a difference to student achievement; that school libraries have a positive impact on students and on learning. There are documents from a number of countries. There are also links to articles in professional journals and newspapers that are based on these documents. This page is intended to help school librarians to answer the question, "Do school libraries make a difference?".

• School Libraries Work!Updated 2008 version now available. This is a Research Foundation Paper published by Scholastic Library Publishing; it brings together research findings from almost ten years of school library-related research. The preface notes, "A substantial body of research since 1990 clearly demonstrates the importance of school libraries to students' education. Whether student achievement is measured by standardized reading achievement tests or by global assessments of learning, research shows that a well-stocked library staffed by a certified library media specialist has a positive impact on student achievement, regardless of the socio-economic or educational levels of the community.“

• Student Learning Through Ohio School LibrariesThe OELMA web site has the report of the "Student Learning Through Ohio School Libraries" project carried out by Dr Ross Todd and Dr Carol Kuhlthau. Also available on the web site are a short PowerPoint presentation of the findings of this research project, the report itself as a downloadable PDF file, a fact sheet on the project, and a link to an article about the project in the February 2004 issue of School Library Journal. The article is titled "13,000 Students Can't be Wrong".

Setting Up and Running a School Library

Primary school library• In a primary school library it is essential to

encourage children to love reading. A good idea is to divide primary school stock into skill levels: books for beginners, and books for children who arc just starting to read on their own. Make sure children can easily reach all the stock. You could put books on a low shelf with mats or cushions nearby so that children can look at the books on their own or make themselves very comfortable when their teacher reads them a story.

MAKING BOOKS USEFUL FOR TEACHERSTIPS

- Organize the books for levels and choose a colour mark for each level. Decide which levels are you going to use. For example:

Grade Pre YellowGrade 1 OrangeGrade 2 Blue and so on

MAKING BOOKS USEFUL FOR TEACHERSTIPS

• Add all kind of activities and ideas to work with each book and put it inside a folder next to the book.

• Anna & Natalie

Grade Level: 1st to 3rd grade Author: Barbara H. ColeIllustrator: Ronald Himler

Book Brief:Anna is determined to win the honor of laying the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia.

ACTIVITIES

• http://www.rif.org/documents/us/Anna-Natalie_A-RIF-Guide-for-Parents-and-Families.pdf

• http://www.rif.org/documents/us/Anna-and-Natalie_A-RIF-Guide-for-Community-Coordinators.pdf

• http://www.rif.org/documents/us/Anna-Natalie_A-RIF-Guide-for-Educators.pdf

• http://www.rif.org/documents/us/Anna-Natalie_RIF-Extension-Activities-for-Educators.pdf

• http://www.rif.org/documents/us/Anna-Natalie_A-RIF-Vocabulary-Scaffold.pdf

Teaching resources web:http://www.tes.co.uk/Link to a word document with a wide list of Online Storybooks classified by topic:http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Interactive-Story-Books-Online-for-FS-KS1-6044415/Online Storybooks webpages:http://www.storyplace.org/preschool/other.asphttp://www.magickeys.com/books/http://www.fablevision.com/place/library/index.htmlhttp://www.storylineonline.net/http://www.sebastianswan.org.uk/index.html

USEFUL LINKS