Teacher Tell; Student Retell

This activity is pretty straightforward: the teacher reads or tells a story to the learners and the learners then retell the story from memory either as a full class back in plenary or to partners or in a small group. Telling stories has certain advantages over reading in that the teacher-teller can hold the attention of the learners with the power of eye contact, while at the same time permitting the teacher to observe how well the students are following the story. Telling allows one to use the body and gestures more than reading. After reading a story a few times, it will probably be possible to “tell” the story.

Preparation

Choose a story to tell. The story should probably be no more than five minutes long as learners will need to remember the story and retell it. Of course it would be best to have the story relate to the theme of the class or use several examples of the structure to be practiced.

When to Use It

• To have learners engage in listening for the full text, not just words • To give learners an opportunity to use extended language

Level

Skills

Practice

Materials

Small objects or images if using them

Preparation Time

10 minutes

Procedure Activity Time

10–15 minutes or longer, depending on variation 1. Set the tone for telling the story. If possible, use a routine to get students prepared for listening. One idea for practice is to gather all students in one corner of the room and have them sit down.

Another is to have students bring their seats closer to the teacher in the front of the room. 2. Tell the story in an appropriately animated style looking from student to student so the gestures, intonation, and voice help illustrate the tone of the story. 3. For the first time this activity is done in class, it might be best to have learners retell the story to the full class. Choose one student to start telling the story and continue calling on others to continue the story until it is complete. Help redirect students if they miss important events. 4. For subsequent use of the activity, have students retell the story in pairs or small groups.

Variations

1. Add small objects or images to help prompt events of the story. They can be used in the initial telling, and also small copies of the images can be distributed to the groups to prompt, sequence, and hold up while retelling. 2. Hold up the images or objects to prompt the retelling of the story either as a whole class or as a prompt to partners or groups to tell the next section of the story. 3. After telling the story, have students retell the story, but they have to change the story based on a significant change in the tale (summer instead of winter, rainy instead of dry, set in the past/future instead of the present).