Storytelling

Storytelling =Activity 1: Retelling Stories= [|Waze.net] Go back to Oral English Activites  Retelling a story in one's own words (rather than reciting a text from memory) provides oral fluency practice. Story-telling is a common human activity which can be enjoyable, especially if the material is interesting. On the other hand, when listening to a story in a foreign language it is easy to "tune out". The twist in this activity is that the listener has to be attentive because they will shortly have to retell the story that they are hearing. Students work in pairs, but in the grander scheme of things they are organised into groups of four. Each of the four members initially receives a short written narrative which they read quietly (jokes are ideally suited to this purpose). Then they must retell this story to another group member. In the second round of story-telling, they change partners and retell the story they just heard from their previous partner. After a third round of story-telling, everyone in the group will have heard each of the stories.  Prepare four short passages (such as jokes), suited to the language level of the students. Ideally, they would be able to read the passages without needing a dictionary. Of course, if there is a word which few students are likely to know, and you can't avoid using it, then you may choose to introduce it to the class before starting the activity, or add the pronunciation and translation to the hand-out. Clearly label the stories A, B, C, and D. Make enough copies so that each student can receive one of the four stories. The hand-outs are collected during the activity, and can be reused. Hint: choose jokes which are genuinely in the form of stories, with several events leading to the punch line. If a lot of the detail is just embellishment, and not actually essential to the meaning of the joke, then it will be easily forgotten and the joke will probably shrink to only one or two sentences after a few retellings! Suitable jokes can be found on the internet (although you will have to sift through many unsuitable ones). See the Resources section for examples.  > || D || C || > Now warn them that they will have to listen very carefully again, because they will have to retell this story too!  Unfortunately, things get quite awkward if the number of students is not divisible by 4. I welcome suggestions on how to cope with this. This is what I tried: Surplus 1 student One group of 5, where two students work together: they read the same story, work together (or take turns) to retell it to another student, and both listen to the story which that other student tells them. Surplus 2 students One group of 6, which only receive three stories between them. Distribute them around the group in the order A, B, C, A, B, C. This group must //not// follow the pairings that you describe on the board, but as long as you quickly run to them and pair them up (the first A talks to the B on her left, then the C on her right, then the B on her left again) then things should go reasonably smoothly except that during the third round they will be hearing their original story again. Surplus 3 students One student acts as if she belongs to //two// groups (hence these two groups have a total of 7 students). For example, if she is student A then she tells her story to the B students from both of the groups simultaneously, and then they cooperate to tell her their story.  If the sequence of pairings described in the procedure are carried out, then each student in the group should hear each of the other three stories. But if this sequence is not followed, or if one student tells the wrong story (ie not the story they most recently heard), then students may end up listening to a story that they've already heard. This is one of the weaknesses of this activity. A similar and perhaps superior activity is Activity 8: Retelling Jokes. A related activity is Activity 2: Retelling Personal Stories. I found these jokes in an oral English coursebook from //Nan Kai Daxue// press, called //Yingyu Kouyu Jiaocheng// (the front cover says "You Can"). But they can also be found on the internet ([|here], [|here], [|here], and [|here]), so I don't mind reproducing them.
 * ▶ || Duration: || 25–35 min ||
 * ▶ || Aim: || Oral fluency practice ||
 * ▶ || Summary: || Students retell stories which they have just heard. ||
 * Introduction ||
 * Preparation ||
 * Procedure ||
 * 1) Organise the students into groups of four. If the number of students is not divisible by four, then see the What to do about surplus students section, below.
 * 2) Show them that you have prepared four different stories. Explain that you will let each member in the group read a story quietly, then you will collect the stories back again and they will have to retell the story. Explain that they don't have to remember each word, just the general meaning of the passage. Explain that they shouldn't start talking until you tell them to. If necessary, ask them not to write on the sheets. Instruction check:
 * Can you show your sheet to anybody else? (no)
 * Do you have to remember every word of the story? (no)
 * When will you start telling the story? (not until the teacher says to)
 * 1) Distribute the stories so that each member in the group gets a different one. It's best if stories A, B, C, D go around the group like this:
 * A || B ||
 * 1) Give the students time to read their stories.
 * 2) Tell them to look at their letter, A, B, C, or D, and remember it. (Check by asking the As to put their hands up, etc).
 * 3) Collect the stories, by asking the students to pass the sheets to the front of the classroom.
 * 4) Draw a diagram on the board: the letters A, B, C, and D as the four corners of a square. Explain, and indicate on the diagram, that student A will tell their story to student B, and then B will tell their story to A. Similarly, C and D will talk to each other. Now comes the surprise: "You must listen very carefully," (point to your ear!), "Because later you will tell the story you hear to somebody else." Instruction check:
 * Why should you listen carefully?
 * 1) While the students are talking, circulate with a copy of each story in your hand in case some students need to be reminded of the details. It may also be necessary to hurry some students along if they are going too slowly, because otherwise the rest of the class will have to wait for them.
 * 2) Once all the students have finished telling their stories, erase your previous scribbles from the diagram and indicate that next student A will talk to student D, while B talks to C. Instruction check:
 * Will you tell the story you read (point to sheet), or the story you just heard (point to ear)? (the one you just heard)
 * 1) Once the students have finished swapping stories, explain the next pairing, which is actually the same as the first: A talks to B, while C talks to D. Tell them that they must listen carefully once again, but this time because you will choose one student to tell the story they hear to the class.
 * 2) Carry out your threat...choose a random student to tell their story. Everybody in the class should have heard this story by now, so ask them to listen and see if the chosen student tells it correctly. Afterwards, invite comments on how the story has changed through being retold.
 * Notes ||
 * Resources ||

A man wanted to become a monk so he went to the monastery and talked to the head monk. The head monk said: "You must take a vow of silence and can only say two words every three years." The man agreed and after the first 3 years, the head monk came to him and said, "What are your two words?" "Food cold!" , the man replied. Three more years went by and the head monk came to him and said "What are your two words?" "Robe dirty!", the man exclaimed. Three more years went by and the head monk came to him and said "What are your two words?" "I quit!" , said the man. "Well," the head monk replied, "I am not surprised. You have done nothing but complain ever since you got here!"
 * (A) The Unsatisfied Monk**

Mr. Smith lived in the country, but he worked in an office in the big city, so five days a week he went to work by train every morning and came home the same way. One morning he was reading his newspaper on the train when a man sitting behind him, who Mr. Smith had never met before, leaned forward, tapped him on the shoulder and spoke to him. The man said, "You're not leading a very interesting life, are you? You get on the same train at the same station at the same time every morning, and you always sit in the same seat and read the same newspaper." Mr. Smith put his paper down, turned around, and said to the man angrily, "How do you know all that about me?" "Because I'm always sitting in this seat behind you," the man answered.
 * (B) It's the Same Every Day!**

For a long time Dr. Jackson had wanted to get a permanent job in a certain big modem hospital, and at last he was successful. He was appointed to the particular position which he wanted, and he and his wife moved to the house which they were now to live in. The next day some beautiful flowers were delivered to them, with a note which said, 'Deepest sympathy'. Naturally, Dr. Jackson was annoyed to receive such an extraordinary note, and telephoned the shop which had sent the flowers to find out what the note meant. When the owner of the shop heard what had happened, he apologized to Dr. Jackson for having made the mistake. 'But what really worries me much more,' he added, 'is that the flowers which ought to have gone to you were sent to a funeral, with a card which said, "Congratulations on your new position".'
 * (C) Flowers Sent to the Wrong Place**

Hank lived in a small town, but then he got a job in a big city and moved there with his wife and his two children. On the first Saturday in their new home, Hank took his new red car out of the garage and was washing it when a neighbor came by. When he saw Hank's new car, the neighbor stopped and looked at it for a minute. Then Hank turned and saw him. The neighbor said," That's a nice car. Is it yours?" "Sometimes", Hank answered. The neighbor was surprised. "Sometimes?" he said, "What do you mean?" "Well", answered Hank slowly, "When there's a party in town, it belongs to my daughter, Jane. When there's a football game somewhere, it belongs to my son, Joe. When I've washed it, and it looks really nice and clean, it belongs to my wife. And when it needs gas it's mine."  In my experience, this activity was successful in getting the students to speak. The downside is that it's complicated (oh no! B told their story to C, instead of A!), and inevitably quite messy, especially if the number of students isn't exactly divisible by 4. That means you will be running all around, trying to fix things when they break. So don't choose this activity until you've read about [8: Retelling Jokes] Activity] as well!
 * (D) The Family Car**

=Activity 2: Retelling Personal Stories= [|Waze.net] Go back to Oral English Activites  This is another story-telling activity, like Activity 1: Retelling Stories and Activity 8: Retelling Jokes, but in this case stories are provided by the students rather than the teacher. Students will swap stories in pairs. Initially, they will tell their own story, but after that they will have to retell other people's stories. Bring enough small slips of paper for every student to receive one. Students need time to think of a good story from their life, therefore it is best if the activity is introduced just before the break so that the students can think of a story during that time and be ready to start the activity in the second half of the lesson. Demonstrate by telling the class an interesting story from your own life. This may be the only time during the semester when you will have every student's undivided attention! Instruct the students to think of an interesting story from their life during the break. But remind them not to tell anybody yet! Write some ideas on the blackboard to help them: Let the students tell their story to their partner. As will soon become clear, this is really only a practice run. Instruct the students to write their name and a title for their story on the slip of paper which you give them. Explain the rules of the activity (perhaps get two students to stand up and go through the motions as a demonstration). Work in pairs, tell each other the story, and then swap the piece of paper. Then when you form a new pair with another student, you will repeat the proceduce, telling the story on the slip of paper which you now hold. Check:  An interesting follow-up discussion is to ask the students in groups to list the different chinese myths and stories that they know (such as the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai). Some groups will probably start telling each other stories, if some in the group know the tale and the others don't. And as the teacher, you might learn something about chinese mythology too!
 * ▶ || Duration: || 25–35 min ||
 * ▶ || Aim: || Oral fluency practice ||
 * ▶ || Summary: || Students hear anocdotes from their classmates and retell them. ||
 * Introduction ||
 * Preparation ||
 * Procedure ||
 * a funny thing that happened when you were young
 * a lucky escape
 * an embarrassing moment
 * your best day ever
 * a romantic evening
 * an adventure while travelling
 * What do you do after telling the story? (swap cards)
 * After you find a new partner, do you tell them the story about yourself, or the story on the sheet of paper in your hand? (the sheet in your hand)
 * Notes ||

=Activity 8: Retelling Jokes= 
 * ▶ || Duration: || 20–30 min ||
 * ▶ || Aim: || Oral fluency practice ||
 * ▶ || Summary: || Students retell jokes in their own words. ||
 * Introduction ||

Retelling a story (in this case, a joke) in one's own words provides oral fluency practice. In this activity, each student is initially provided with a joke which they later retell to other students. The inherent interest of the jokes provides the motivation. Locate about eight different jokes. Rewrite them if the language is too difficult or idiomatic. When choosing jokes, make sure the humour is comprehendable to the students: puns are definitely a bad idea, and many jokes are culturally specific. Give each joke a memorable title (such as "The Joke About //x//") and produce enough copies so that each student will receive one joke. Make a list of the joke titles, and produce enough copies for each student to receive one. On this sheet, they will tick off the jokes which they have heard. See the Resources section for examples. Explain that you will give each student a joke for them to read and then hand back. Then they will retell the jokes //in their own words// (no need to memorise the original text), but only to one student at a time (not a larger audience). Show them the list of jokes, and explain that they should tick off the jokes as they hear them. Tell them that they can retell //any// joke which they have heard, not only the one which they originally read. Check: Hand out the list of jokes first, and then give one joke to every student. After a while, invite those students who are confident that they can remember their joke to hand back the sheets. Those students who have returned their sheets can start talking.  One interesting follow-up is to have a quick vote on which joke is the best. You might also ask one or two students to tell one of the jokes which they've heard—allow them to choose a joke which they remember clearly. You may wish to explain that jokes and stories can be told in either past tense or present tense (the latter being informal, but quite common). But of course, you must use one tense or the other, not both in the same story! A way to encourage retelling jokes that the students hear, in addition to the joke they originally read, is to add two columns to the list of jokes: one column for the student to tick when they hear the joke, and one which they tick when they tell the joke.  I used these eight jokes in my class: jokes.doc (html preview). The table of joke titles is on this sheet: jokes_table.doc (html preview). Alternatively, this is the modification to the jokes table mentioned in the Variations section: jokes_table2.doc (html preview). Note that you should probably explain the word //genie//. Also, this set includes a blonde jokes, so you might need to explain the concept of a "blonde joke". To help do this, I told another blonde joke as an example. It goes like this: A blonde walks into a shop, and finds a sales assistant. She asks, "How much does that TV cost?" But the sales assistant says, "Sorry, we don't sell to blondes". The blonde is disappointed, and leaves the shop. But then she has an idea: she'll change the colour of her hair. So she dyes it brown, goes back to the shop the next day, and finds a different sales assistant. She asks again, "How much does that TV cost?" But that sales assistant also says, "Sorry, we don't sell to blondes". The blonde is surprised, and asks, "But how did you know I was a blonde." The sales assistant says: "Because that's not a TV, that's a microwave." (You will probably get more laughs if you can quickly translate microwave oven into chinese: //weibolu//).
 * Preparation ||
 * Procedure ||
 * When you get the joke, will you talk to anybody? (no)
 * When you tell a joke, you will work in groups of...? (two)
 * Can you retell jokes that you hear? (yes)
 * Notes ||
 * Variations ||
 * Resources ||

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