Learning styles:

They are developed from psychology and are known as “Neuro-linguistic programming”

Visual learning style -> the learner learns best through seeing. For example, during the lesson
students are stimulated by different visual resources. In the warm up they are in touch with flashcards,
in the core task they are in touch with puppets, realia and the story itself, finally in the follow up they
are asked to pay attention to a true or false in which there are lot of pictures as well as in the last
activity from the follow up in which they are asked to draw their favourite part of the story. They are
asked about the different things they can see and they are visually stimulated throughout the whole
lesson.

Auditory learning style-> the learner learns best through hearing. Learners will be exposed to
different sounds, their voices and my voice throughout the lesson. In the warm up they will be in touch
with vocabulary from the story while I elicit them. In the core task they will also deal with my voice
because I will tell the story in that stage and I will use strategies such as different voices for the
characters, I will play with the pitch of my voice, they will be involved in the story and so on. In the
second activity from the follow up, students will listen to their classmates’ productions.

Reflective -> the learner learns best when given time to consider choices. An example can be the
follow up task in which they are asked to think about their favourite event in the story and write about
it. They are also asked to share it with their classmates but they have time to do it.

Group learning style-> What I could have done in the follow up is to give students some minutes to
decide if they are going to answer “true” or “false”

Individual learning style -> Students are working individually throughout the lesson, In the follow up
they are asked to write and draw their part which is a task that will be very interesting for students with
this type of learning style.

Impulsive -> the learner learns best when he is able to respond immediately. In the warm up they are
asked to respond immediately when they see the flashcards as well as in the true or false when they
are asked to respond immediately whether the statement is true or false.

Kinesthetic /kinisthetik/ learning style -> the learner learns best through using the body. In the
warm up I included a TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE-> (Children learn by listening to instructions
and performing actions) task in which students are asked to have a look at different word cards that
appear in the story (vocabulary). The teacher shows them a flashcard and they have to touch the
correct word card, that is to say the name of what they see in the story.

___________________________________________________________

Intelligences.

-Brown, Teaching by Principles (100-104)

Intelligence has traditionally been defined and measured in terms of linguistic and
logical-mathematical abilities. However, Howard Gardner described seven different forms of
intelligence.
1- Linguistic-> A good reader who learns well from stories. A learner with good vocabulary..as we are
working with a story, this will be interesting for him/her. They will enjoy the warm up (vocabulary) and
the core task.
2- Logical-mathematical -> likes sequencing and ranking activities.. For example, when I ask them to
retell the story or to tell what happened, they are sequencing the main events.
3-Spatial /speishal) (a learner who enjoys drawing, who learns well from using pictures) It is related to
the whole lesson plan. Specifically to the follow up where they are asked to draw and to the core task
where they can see different visual resources.
4- Musical (the ability to perceive and create pitch and rhythmic patterns). -> when I tell the story and
ask them to count or to bark as a dog.
5- Kinesthetic intelligence (They learn through manipulating and moving objects) ->
6- Interpersonal (the ability to understand others, how they feel, what motivates them, how they
interact with one another). A learner who learns well from pair-work.
7- Intrapersonal intelligence (the ability to see oneself, to develop a sense of self-identity).It has to do
with someone who likes independent learning and who also likes creative writing (follow up).
8- Naturalist intelligence: It has to do with a learner who is good at recognising differences and
similarities between things. It could be related to the moral of the story. For example, to identify the
differences in results when we work alone and when we work together. (Moral of the story).

_____________________________________________________________________________

Brewster!!!

Young children are different from older learners because children:

● Have a lot of physical energy and often need to be physically active

● Have a wide range of emotional needs
● Get bored easily but as they are young teens, they can concentrate for a long time if they are
interested
● They can be very enthusiastic.

LEARNERS CHARACTERISTICS:

-Cognitive development:

-They understand that others have different knowledge, feelings and perspectives. They accept their
classmates’ opinions.

-They are developing empathy so they can work in groups and can help each other.

-They can apply logical reasoning when dealing with concrete objects.

- They can form hypotheses and conclusions.

-They can talk about impossible hypothetical situations: “what if trees could walk?”
-Physical development->

-They master gross and fine motor skills. From holding a pencil to playing a sport or to understand
how to play an instrument
-They begin to show signs of puberty which can be an uncertain time for children and hormonal
changes can lead to moodiness.

Social and Emotional development ->

Young teens can be obsessive with friendships, they adopt role models who will influence their beliefs
and their behaviour. It is easier for teachers to motivate students and to establish positive behaviours.

Conceptual and Educational ->

About the conceptual and educational characteristics I understand the sequential

stages in which they develop their own learning, and the different ways to learn that I
may find in any class.
___________________________________________________

2. Analyze the story briefly (structure, language, content)

a. Structure: are all the typical features of the story present?

- All the typical features of the story are present.

An opening: It is not formulaic in fairy tales, the story begins telling “This is Aladdin”.
Introduction of characters: “This is Aladdin and his monkey, Alex. Here is Princess
Bulbul and her tiger Tony”
Description of the setting: “Aladdin is watching Princess Bulbul.” “One day Aladdin
goes for a walk and he sees an old man who shows Aladdin a cave and asks him for
help”
Introduction of a problem: Aladdin jumps down into the cave and goes to look for
the lamp the bad magician asked him to find, but the old man is really a bad
magician. Aladdin gives the lamp to the bad magician but he closes the cave with
Aladdin inside.”
Serie of events: ”Aladdin and Bulbul live happily in the palace. One day that Aladdin
is not at home, and old man comes to the palace and shows Bulbul some new
lamps. Bulbul gives the bad magician Aladdin’s lamp, and he gives Bulbul a new
one. The bad magician calls the genie and says “take me and Princess Bulbul, and
Aladdin’s palace to Africa.”
The resolution of the problem: When Aladdin comes to his palace, he finds no
palace, no Bulbul and no lamp. But Tony draws a map in the sand, so Aladdin, Alex
and Tony go to Africa on a boat. When they arrive in Africa and they find the palace,
Aladdin gives Princess Bulbul a sleeping medicine which Princess Bulbul puts in the
bad magician’s water. When the bad magician is sleeping, Aladdin begins to clean
the lamp and ask the genie to take them home.
A closing: “And so Aladdin and Princess Bulbul and Alex and Tony and the Genie
live happily ever after”
A moral: The moral could be that being honest and kind with people can be
rewarded. It does not matter if people is not what they appeared, good things
happen to good people.

b. Language: vocabulary, figures such as parallelism, alliteration, contrast,

metaphors, narrative, dialogues, rhythm.

Figures of speech:

-Parallelism-

-Rich vocabulary

-Alliteration

-Narrative/ dialogue

-Rhythm: “Come Cat come!”

Parallelism: It appears on the story when the genie comes out of the lamp, and he
says “Master! Master! tell me your wish! A day at the beach or a special dish? I can
give you a castle or a beautiful nose. A super fast car or eleven toes. Master! Master!
tell me your wish! A day at the beach or a special dish?” It is a repeated pattern that
creates a way into the story for the active listener.
Vocabulary: (rich vocabulary) I only found two words; suddenly and wishes.
Alliteration: I didn’t find use of alliteration in this story.
Contrast: The contrast in this story is between Aladdin and the bad magician. They
are representing good and evil.
Metaphors: I would say that Aladdin metaphorically represents honesty, and that is
a humble boy that wants to help people. In this story the bad magician represents
liars, and what is wrong. So, children may support Aladdin.
Narrative and Dialogues: This story moves between narrative and dialogue. For
instance; “but the bad magician closes the cave with Aladdin and Alex inside” in this
narrative the verbs are in present simple. The same happened with the dialogue “I
want to live in a beautiful palace, please” it is present simple too.
Rhythm: “Master, Master tell me your wish. A day at the beach or a special dish. I
can give you a castle, or a beautiful nose, a super fast car, or eleven toes.”

c. Content: quality, values, attitudes, learner’s engagement, images, potential

resources.

Quality: I think this story has all the features to be a good quality story. It is a simple
story regarding verb tense, it is easy to understand for children and I think students
will enjoy it. I think the genie is a character that engaged children in this story as well
as the lamp, and the wishes that the other characters can ask for. Students can also
empathise with Aladdin and Princess Bulbul.
Values and attitudes: This story gives children a moral about how being honest and
kind, people can fulfill their dreams. It also shows them the evil, and how that
attitudes are negative.
Learner’s engagement: This story has a clear plot and a twist at the end, which will
catch students attention until the end of the story.
Images: They are important for the story to be told. “Aladdin and the magic lamp”
has a lot of images that support what the story is telling. I think it is very important for
the children to understand what is happening in every event, it gives the story a
context.
Potential resources: The images used to put the story in context, and also audios
telling the story.

_________________________________________________
SEL

Bibliographies->

-“Developing Social-Emotional Learning skills (SEL)” Article

-Schonert-Reichl k, (2017) Social and Emotional Learning and Teachers. VOL. 27 / NO. 1.
Fordham University -> PDF en mi PC

Social-emotional learning is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and

interpersonal skills that are needed for life success. Teaching social and emotional skills can
promote positive development and reduce problem behaviours.

When students analyse the emotions of the characters they are reading about, they not only gain a
greater understanding of the text but also a greater understanding of their own feelings.

Asking these types of questions should illuminate the connection between actions and
emotions- in both fiction and real life.

“The enormous turnip” SEL questions:

-Is the farmer sad? Why? Why not?

-Why is the farmer happy? What happened?

__________________________________________________________
“Using Literature, an introduction” by O’Connell /LI.tre.cha/

Literature with a capital L refers to classical texts such as Shakespeare, Dickens, and so on.
Literature with a small l refers to popular fiction, fables and song lyrics.

Literary texts provide students with rich linguistic input, effective stimuli for students to express
themselves in other languages and a potential source of learner motivation. The literature used in
English language teaching classrooms (ELT) can be studied in their original forms or in simplified
versions, that is to say, stories in English written specifically for learners of other languages.

Literary texts that can be studied in ELT classrooms include:

● Short stories
● Poems
● Novels
● Plays
● Song lyrics

Why use literature in the ELT classroom?

Literary texts provide opportunities for multi-sensorial classroom experiences and can appeal to
learners with different learning styles because texts can be supplemented by audio-texts, music CDs,
film clips and other different resources. They also help learners to practise the four skills (speaking,
writing, listening and reading).

Literature can help students to develop their understanding of other cultures, awareness of
“difference” and to develop tolerance and understanding. Literary works help students to use
their imagination, enhance empathy for others and lead them to develop their own creativity. At the
same time literary texts can deal with universal themes such as love, war, and loss that are not
always covered in the world of coursebooks.

Literary texts are representational rather than referential.

The representational language of literary texts involves the learners and engages their emotions, as
well as their cognitive faculties while referential language communicates at only one level and tends
to be informational.

Challenges to be faced when using literature in the classroom:

● Text selection: the texts chosen need to be relevant and interesting for students.
● Linguistic difficulty: texts need to be appropriate to the level of the students’ comprehension
● Length: shorter texts may be easier to use within the class because of time but longer texts
provide more contextual details, development of characters and plot.
● Cultural difficulty: texts should not be so culturally dense because outsiders might feel
excluded.
● Cultural appropriacy: learners should not be offended by content.
______________________________________________________________________

-Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners (Cambridge Language Teaching

Library). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

-Summarise it! There’s a PPT in Rosario’s folder. LEARNING THROUGH STORIES

-Scott, W. & Ytreberg, L. (1993) Teaching English to Children Longman.(Ch.1)

-Summarise it! Children’s development (not useful… it only reaches 10 years old children.)

IMPRESOS:
-Xavier Minguez -> Exploring Education and Children’s literature.

-Guerrero, S. Primary Methodology Handbook (43-48)

● Handwritten summary

-Letherbridge, S. Mildorf, J., Basics of English Studies: An introductory course for students of
literary studies in English. Freiburg University

● Handwritten summary

-Brewster, J. & Ellis, G. (2002) The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. New Edition. Penguin.
(pp.27-34)

-Enchantment, scaffolding, intermedialidad -> textos impresos.. Hacer resumenes

__________________________________________________________________________

“The Science of Storytelling: Why Telling a Story is the Most Powerful Way to Activate Our
Brains”

When Buffer co-founder Leo Widrich started to market his product through stories instead of benefits
and bullet points, sign-ups went through the roof. Here he shares the science of why storytelling is so
uniquely powerful.

In 1748, the British politician and aristocrat John Montagu spent a lot of his free time playing cards.
He greatly enjoyed eating a snack while still keeping one hand free for the cards. So he came up with
the idea to eat beef between slices of toast, which would allow him to finally eat and play cards at the
same time. Eating his newly invented "sandwich," the name for two slices of bread with meat in
between, became one of the most popular meal inventions in the western world.

What's interesting about this is that you will never forget the story of who invented the sandwich ever
again.

How our brains become more active when we tell stories..

We all enjoy a good story, whether it's a novel, a movie, or simply something one of our friends is
explaining to us. Telling stories has been one of our most fundamental communication methods. But
why do we feel so much more engaged when we hear a narrative about events?

It's in fact quite simple. If we listen to a powerpoint presentation with boring bullet points, a certain part
in the brain gets activated. Scientists call this Broca's area and Wernicke's area. Overall, it hits
our language processing parts in the brain, where we decode words into meaning. And that's it,
nothing else happens.

When we are being told a story, things change dramatically. Not only are the language processing
parts in our brain activated, but any other area in our brain that we would use when experiencing the
events of the story are too.

If someone tells us about how delicious certain foods were, our sensory cortex lights up. If it's about
motion, our motor cortex gets active.

A story can put your whole brain to work. And yet, it gets better:

When we tell stories to others that have really helped us shape our thinking and way of life, we
can have the same effect on them too. The brains of the person telling a story and listening to
it can synchronise, says Uri Hasson from Princeton:

"When the woman spoke English, the volunteers understood her story, and their brains synchronised.
When she had activity in her insula, an emotional brain region, the listeners did too. When her
frontal cortex lit up, so did theirs. By simply telling a story, the woman could plant ideas, thoughts
and emotions into the listeners' brains."

Anything you've experienced, you can get others to experience the same. Or at least, get their brain
areas that you've activated that way, active too:

We know that we can activate our brains better if we listen to stories. The still unanswered question is:
Why is that? Why does the format of a story, where events unfold one after the other, have such a
profound impact on our learning?

The simple answer is this: We are wired that way. A story, if broken down into the simplest form, is a
connection of cause and effect. And that is exactly how we think. We think in narratives all day long.
We make up (short) stories in our heads for every action and conversation.

Now, whenever we hear a story, we want to relate it to one of our existing experiences. That's why
metaphors work so well with us. While we are busy searching for a similar experience in our
brains, we activate a part called insula, which helps us relate to that same experience of pain,
joy, or disgust.

We link up metaphors and literal happenings automatically. Everything in our brain is looking for the
cause and effect relationship of something we've previously experienced.
 - A story is the only way to activate parts in the brain so that a listener turns the story into their
own idea and experience. Storytelling is the only way to plant ideas into other people's minds.

- The simple story is more successful than the complicated one

When we think of stories, it is often easy to convince ourselves that they have to be complex
and detailed to be interesting. The truth is however, that the simpler a story, the more likely it
will stick. Using simple language as well as low complexity is the best way to activate the
brain regions that make us truly relate to the happenings of a story. Try for example to reduce
the number of adjectives or complicated nouns in a presentation or article and exchange them
with more simple language.

________________________________________________________________________________

Mourao, S. (2009) Using Stories in the Primary Classroom in O’Connell (Ed.) Brit Lit: Using
Literature in the EFL

Storytelling represents an approach to language teaching and learning founded on the understanding
that learners need to interact with rich, authentic examples of the foreign language.The
communicative approach enabled story to take its place in our English classrooms:

• A focus on meaning rather than medium, with an emphasis on fluency;

• The information gap, where students are encouraged to use their learning to understand authentic
texts;
• A focus on process rather than product;
• An emphasis on negotiation rather than pre-determination;
• A teacher who acts as facilitator not just instructor.

-Why use stories!

Many authors have made excellent arguments for the inclusion of stories in our English classrooms.
These arguments are not just linguistic ones, but include socio-emotional, cognitive, cultural and
aesthetic ones.

Socio-affective

Children love stories!

Children are familiar with narrative conventions and listening to stories is something they are used to
doing at home and in other school contexts
Stories help children understand their world and share it with others, often forging links between home
and school.
Storytelling has predictable routines with predictable formats providing children with pointers, which
encourage participation. This promotes a positive attitude towards the language that they are learning
and enhances their motivation.
Stories provide for shared social experiences. Children laugh together, are happy and sad together,
shout and sing together. This helps build children’s confidence and encourages social and emotional
development.

Cognitive

Stories link with other curriculum areas, providing for continuity in learning.
English is seen as a medium for language learning, stories support this by focussing on content not
language.
Stories in L1 or L2 are processed using the same cognitive strategies. Picture books are particularly
helpful, as the illustrations support these cognitive processes.
Stories develop children’s learning strategies: listening for general meaning; predicting; guessing
meaning; hypothesising.
Stories develop different types of intelligences that contribute to language learning, in particular
emotional intelligence.
Stories exercise the imagination! Children become involved in the story, identifying with the
characters, interpreting the narrative and illustrations. This imaginative experience helps develop their
personal creative powers.
Stories develop higher level thinking skills, as children are encouraged to verbalise thought when
discussing the stories.
Picture books in particular stimulate children to create meaning using the two forms of text, the visual
and the verbal.

Linguistic
Stories provide a natural and relevant context for exposure to language.
Reading picture books to children has been investigated in positively promoting vocabulary
development in children.
Picture books expose children to rich, authentic language, which they otherwise would not encounter.
The story visuals, the storyteller’s voice, mime and gesture all support meaning, and enable children
to develop their listening and concentration skills.
Children listen with purpose to find meaning. In doing so, they are motivated to listen for more and
understand more.
Listening to stories helps children become aware of the rhythm, intonation and pronunciation of the
language.
Many stories naturally provide for repetition and cumulative activities. This allows children to
participate by repeating large sections of narrative to join in as they are repeated in the story.
Children enjoy listening and re-listening to stories. This recurring activity also allows for children to
participate in the storytelling activity by repeating large sections of narrative. This is essentially a drill /
pattern practice but in a meaningful context.
Stories provide opportunities for integrating the four language skills, listening and reading, followed by
speaking and writing.
If selected appropriately, the language in stories should be a little above the level of normal
production/understanding, which allows for Krashen’s acquisition-based methodology (input +1
theory).

Stories add variety to a language course and can be used to create whole units of work that constitute
mini-
syllabuses.
Listening to stories helps children become storytellers. By exposing children to different types of story
they
are able to recreate their own stories using ideas and formats they have heard and seen in class.

Cultural
Stories often address universal themes, which allow children to think about issues that are important
to them, playing with ideas and feelings and promoting empathy.
Stories reflect the culture of their authors and illustrators, this allows for opportunities for presenting
cultural information and cross-cultural comparison. This is particularly true for picture books.
Traditional stories, which the children are already familiar with, can be enjoyed with ease in English. In
some cases the stories might vary slightly and a teacher can discuss the cultural aspects of traditional
stories in both languages.

Aesthetic
Picture books promote visual literacy: children develop skills in picture reading, decoding the visuals
and not just the words.
Picture books expose children to diverse styles of design and illustration, which contribute to
developing their understanding and appreciation of art.

HOW TO SECTION

Storytelling in your classroom

Creating a space conducive to storytelling is very important. It is not always possible to move chairs
around, but if it is, have the children bring their chairs together at the front of class, or maybe sit on
the floor. If you have a smaller number of students, create a storytelling corner, and sit the children on
a rug or on cushions.

It is important that the children can see you, and anything you are showing them, especially if it is a
book. Begin the storytelling session with a ritual expression / activity. For example: It’s story time,
are you ready?

Reading or telling a story?

There is a big difference between reading and telling stories. When you read a story, your eyes are
fixed on the page; you concentrate on what you are saying and leave very little time or space for
comments from and interaction with children.

When you tell a story, the book, the visual, your face and body are all visual aids for the children.
Because you are telling the story from memory, you are looking at the children and using their
reaction as feedback to what you are saying. Keep eye contact with children as often as possible, this
brings them into the story and also helps you see if they are following. If necessary, we can allow
them to interact with the story and extend it for their benefit. (See notes on children interacting with
illustrations in the next section.)

Storytelling implies knowing the story almost by heart. It also involves thinking about how you are
going to say certain words and phrases, whether a character will have a certain voice and which
gestures and movements you will use to accompany the words. We each tell a story using our
personality and character, and more important than anything we have to feel comfortable with the
story.
Try practising a little at home with friends or loved ones. Use a mirror and rehearse your voice,
gestures and facial expressions. It may sound silly but it really does help! But careful, don't get
yourself worked up about storytelling: the children will sense you are nervous and that's not what you
want!.

Thoughts about progression

Observation is key in collecting evidence to demonstrate a child’s progression and attitude towards
storytelling.
Look for the following in your classrooms:
• Positive reactions during storytelling activities;
• Children retelling the story with you;
• Children predicting what will come next;
• Children using story language in other activities;
• Children requesting stories again;
• Children independently browsing through picture books in the classroom;
• Children sharing stories with peers / families / friends.

4. Using traditional tales

When selecting a story for your group bear in mind the following:

• Language structures / vocabulary

Both these stories contain excellent examples of repetitive language that will enable children to repeat
large sections of narrative in a meaningful context.
She tried the big bowl. Yuck, it was too hot.
She tried the medium bowl. Yuck, it was too cold.
She tried the small bowl. Umm, delicious it was just right.
These refrains are repeated three times as Goldilocks goes through the house sitting on chairs and
sleeping in beds.

In Little Red Riding Hood we hear the following:

What big eyes you’ve got. All the better to see you.
What big ears you’ve got. All the better to hear you.
What big hands you’ve got. All the better to hug you.
What big teeth you’ve got. All the better to eat you!

Stories which include repeated refrains / cumulative sections and some rhyming are excellent for use
in the language classroom. Jack and the Beanstalk has the wonderful rhyme:

Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!

I smell the blood of an Englishman
Be he alive or be he dead.
I’ll grind his bones to makes my bread!

These chunks of language are quickly memorised, and it is motivating for children to be able to retell
the story with you.

Language should be accessible to your children.

Stories work best if there are still some words / phrases which are new, but which will be acquired
through listening to the story. This helps children to feel that they are progressing.
• Visual support available
Helping children understand a story using mime and gesture is very important, and illustrations are
even better. If you have a book as support for the story use that, even if it is in the children’s mother
tongue. You could find pictures of key vocabulary items and use those, but also ensure you feel
confident about miming anything that needs miming.

● Before/ during / after notes

Before the story

Because traditional stories are usually familiar to children the first thing to do is elicit whether they
know the story and what it’s about. Show visuals which represent the main characters / places, and
elicit language from the children. If you wish you could give children collections of characters / object
cards which appear in the story. Play with these cards, using the words / structures to give the
children confidence with later listening to the story.

During the story.

Give children a reason to listen. Prepare a question or a riddle for them to listen for during the story.
If you have used any word or structure cards before the story, the children can hold these up when
they appear or when they hear them in the story.
Have children act out words or parts of the story with you. When they hear the giant, they could
pretend to be a giant stomping in their seat. When they hear the word hot or cold they could mime
eating hot or cold porridge. Encourage children’s participation: look pleased when they begin to say
parts of the story with you.

After the story

Alongside all the games and typical language activities, encourage the children to be creative, rewrite
stories, make plays out of stories, film/record children retelling stories. But most of all, retell the stories
- retell them again and again. It is through retelling that children are exposed to the story language
and feel confident about using it.
______________________________________________________________________

Adapting stories.

https://kidsclubenglish.com/how-to-adapt-stories-for-teaching-english/

Telling stories is a great way to teach kids English and when choosing a story, one tip is to make sure
that the language is not too difficult and that there is plenty of repetition of vocabulary and
phrases.

So, all we have to do is think about the story in the planning stage and adapt the language a little.
This may involve SIMPLIFYING, ADDING or SUBTRACTING language from the original story.

1. Vocabulary frequency.

Vocabulary frequency – Is the vocabulary frequent enough? Do I want my learners to acquire

this vocabulary? Is there anything more useful I could use instead?

How do you adapt a story to include more frequent vocabulary?

The author may also make vocabulary choices because it creates a nice rhyme. Julia Donaldson’s
stories are great examples of these. While we don’t want to lose this magic, we need to remember
that our kids are learning English as a second language and our aim is to equip them with the
language they need to communicate.

You’ll notice that I have omitted some language, rather than substituting. Sometimes this is all that’s
needed. I have also changed the grammar (more on that below!) If there are less frequent words that
don’t add significantly to the message, consider leaving them out.

2. Grammar complexity and sentence length.

Grammar complexity and sentence length – Is the grammar too complex? Will my learners be
able to understand the key message or will they get lost in long, complex sentences? This will
be much easier for them, if the structures are shorter and simpler. It also makes it much
easier for you as the storyteller to give emphasis in your delivery.

How do you adapt a story to simplify the grammar?

While very young learners are much more tolerant of ambiguity than older kids and adults, they have
shorter attention spans and will be much more engaged in your storytelling if they can understand
more of what you are saying. Shorter utterances also work better for interactive storytelling, so it is
easier for you to ask questions to involve your learners or give them the opportunity to join in.

One benefit of storytelling, is that the learners can internalise grammatical structures without them
being explicitly taught. This involves the children subconsciously internalising patterns, such us
(SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT) or (ADJECTIVE + NOUN). Of course, eventually, we’ll want our
students to learn and internalise more complex structures but at these beginning stages of learning a
language, it might be best to help our students internalise the basic grammar structures first.

Look at these adapted examples from Elmer the elephant by David McKee.
In this example, I changed the adjective order because I wanted my learners to get used to hearing
the adjective before the noun. I also included the full sentence: ‘there were’; ‘they were’.

You’ll also notice I added some vocabulary too, because I wanted to teach opposite adjectives: big,
small, (tall), short.

In this case, I avoided the relative clause and conditional sentence. I also decided to omit ‘joked with’
and substituted it for a simpler phrase with more frequent vocabulary.

3. Target language

Target language – What language or phrases would you like your kids to be able to learn from
the story? Maybe there is some language you’ve been working on in class that you could
include in the storytelling. Maybe you’d like your students to get a feel for a certain structure
you’re planning on doing more focused activities with later.

How do you adapt a story to include your target language?

I try to include phrases that the kids will be able to join in with and start to include in their active
language repertoire. Stories are fantastic for this, because they often allow you to target phrases that
might not typically appear in a young learner’s coursebook.

Below are a couple of examples of where I have adapted the original language to include my target
phrases.
With this story, I wanted to revise family vocabulary, so I substituted ‘Mr.’ for ‘Daddy’. I also wanted the
kids to pick up the structure, ‘this is’ + adjective. In other classroom games and activities, we used
similar phrases: ‘This is great!’; ‘This is fun!’; ‘This is boring’, etc.

While ‘beware of the..’ is a nice phrase, I wanted the kids to acquire, ‘Be careful!’ because it is more
frequent. I also wanted them to internalise the structure, ‘There’s a..’

4. Repetition

Repetition – Children (and adults!) need to hear a language item several times before it can
be acquired and used productively. Does your story contain plenty of repetition of language
you think would be useful for them to acquire? If it doesn't, can you add it?

How do you adapt a story to include more repetition?

You will easily find story books for kids that include a lot of repetition. If there are already areas of
repetition in the story, then your task is easy! You simply need to make sure that the language that
you repeat is adapted to something you think will be more useful and accessible for your students. For
example, in Monkey Puzzle, there are repeated patterns every time the butterfly thinks it has the
answer but the vocabulary changes each time:

“Quick, little monkey! She’s over here.” / “I know where she is, then. Come this way.” / “She’s just
round the corner, without a doubt”.

To include more repetition of language for the students to recognise, I adapted these parts of the story
to, “I know! Come with me.”
Other stories might include some repetition but not enough. That doesn’t mean you should give up on
the story though! Add it in! See these examples with The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Gadone.

Using graded readers:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/managing-resources/a
rticles/using-graded-readers

Bibliographies-> Using Graded Readers. British Council TeachingEnglish.

Definition:

Graded readers or ‘readers' are books that have had the language level simplified to help second
language learners read them. The language is graded for vocabulary, complexity of grammar
structures and also by the number of words.

Why use graded readers

For most language learners, reading an original version of a book in English would be a difficult
task. They would find too many unknown words and they would find language beyond their level
which would make understanding the book very difficult. If learners start with graded readers
they won't have to stop and look up lots of unknown words in the dictionary. Readers are an
excellent way to motivate your students.

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Using literature in the EFL/ESL classroom by Clandfield L.

An article discussing ways to use literature in the EFL/ESL classroom.

Literature has been a subject of study in many countries at a secondary or tertiary level, but until
recently has not been given much emphasis in the EFL/ESL classroom. It has only been since the
1980s that this area has attracted more interest among EFL teachers. The purpose of this article is to
look at some of the issues and ways in which literature can be exploited in the classroom. There are
also links to classroom activities and lessons with literature that you can download and use straight
away.

What is literature?

First of all, any method or approach towards using literature in the classroom must take as a starting
point the question: What is literature? The Macmillan English Dictionary gives the following definition:

literature / noun

1. stories, poems, and plays, especially those that are considered to have value as art and not
just entertainment

Many authors, critics and linguists have puzzled over what literature is. One broader explanation of
literature says that literary texts are products that reflect different aspects of society. They are cultural
documents which offer a deeper understanding of a country or countries (Basnet & Mounfold 1993).
Other linguists say that there is no inherent quality to a literary text that makes a literary text, rather it
is the interpretation that the reader gives to the text (Eagleton 1983). This brings us back to the above
definition in the sense that literature is only literature if it is considered as art.

Before doing any study of a literary text with your learners, one idea would be to ask them what they
think literature is. Attached below is a short discussion lesson you can do with your students on the
subject “What is literature?”

Why use literature?

There are many good reasons for using literature in the classroom. Here are a few:

● Literature is authentic material. It is good to expose learners to this source of unmodified

language in the classroom because they skills they acquire in dealing with difficult or unknown
language can be used outside the class.
● Literature encourages interaction. Literary texts are often rich is multiple layers of meaning,
and can be effectively mined for discussions and sharing feelings or opinions.
● Literature expands language awareness. Asking learners to examine sophisticated or non
standard examples of language (which can occur in literary texts) makes them more aware of
the norms of language use (Widdowson, 1975 quoted by Lazar 1993).
● Literature educates the whole person. By examining values in literary texts, teachers
encourage learners to develop attitudes towards them. These values and attitudes relate to
the world outside the classroom.
● Literature is motivating. Literature holds high status in many cultures and countries. For this
reason, students can feel a real sense of achievement at understanding a piece of highly
 respected literature. Also, literature is often more interesting than the texts found in
coursebooks.

● Predicting. Give students some words from the extract and ask them to predict what happens
next. If it is a play, give them a couple of lines of dialogue and ask them to make predictions
about the play.
● Giving students a “taste”. Read the first bit of the extract (with their books closed, or papers
turned over) at normal speed, even quickly. Ask students to compare what they have
understood in pairs. Then ask them to report back to you. Repeat the first bit again. Then ask
them to open the book (or turn over the page) and read it for themselves.

__________________________________________________________________________

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/managing-resources/a
rticles/fairy-tales

Fairy Tales. Teaching English. British Council.

Author-> Jo Bertrand

Fairy tales provide a wealth of possibilities for teaching English topics. Each fairy tale has its own
magical setting and is split into several scenes. Within each scene there are sets of vocabulary
that you can exploit. Below we will look at a few of the better known fairy tales and highlight
some of the possible areas you can concentrate on in class.

Aims:

● For the learners to hear in English what are probably familiar stories in their own
language.
● To allow the children to see English in an imaginative context.
● To introduce various vocabulary sets such as family, food, clothes or parts of the body.
● To help older primary school children notice language areas such as past simple,
comparatives, etc.
● Comparatives and superlatives: 'You’re pretty, but Snow White is prettier. She’s the
prettiest of them all.'

Post-reading activities

1. Draw a picture of your favourite character.

2. Act out a scene from the story.
3. Re-write the end of the story (this can be done on paper or orally).
4. Make up a group or class fairy tale. Use different characters from several fairy tales.
5. Point to flashcards of scenes from the story to identify characters or events.
6. Gradually uncover a flashcard from the story. The children have to say what they see.

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 -Digital literacies

Bibliographies by Hockly and Pegrun.. Both of them are in Rosario’s “digital literacies” folder.

HANDWRITTEN SUMMARY!!

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- Jenkin, R. (n.d). Artículo: How ICT resources can support learning at primary level.

How ICT resources can support learning at primary level: Rebecca Jenkin

Benefits for the teacher

There are many benefits about using ICT to teach literacy. ICT allows the teacher to produce and
modify resources quickly and easily. It allows access to a wide range of information in various formats,
and interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have become essential tools in the classroom. Computers,
software, cameras and a range of ICT devices can all make teaching more effective and more fun for
the pupils. But the number of activities and resources available to teachers is truly vast, and
judgments need to be made about when and (more importantly) why ICT should be used. It should
only be used when appropriate: meaning when, and if, it allows the teacher or the pupils to do
something they would not otherwise have been able to do.

ICT in practice

The use of ICT in literacy lessons.

● Speaking and Listening – In the classroom, ICT allows greater opportunities for sustained
forms of talking, such as asking and answering questions. The use of webcams extends
interactivity, and allows for instant feedback and reflection on the processes involved in
talking, both in groups and individually.

● Interactive whiteboard – IWB technology puts emphasis on shared and public talk and on
pupils’ responses. Through ordinary talk, details cannot be easily remembered unless
recorded in some way. Sound recording has been available for some years, of course, but
transportable sound recording devices (such as MP3 or MP4 formats) make it more
straightforward and support emphasis on listening. Also, digital cameras are likely to help the
pupils’ ability to reflect and comment on use of language: gesture, posture and facial
expressions are integral elements of speaking. In more formal situations, video presentations
allow pupils to view and review formal and informal presentations from the earliest years.

● Early reading – With renewed interest in phonics teaching, there is currently a wide range of
software available to support early reading using synthetic phonics. Through the use of
ICT-based phonics books, clear connections can be made between sounds and letters on a
page. Learning to read is a long and difficult process, and many pupils struggle to concentrate
when using books alone – increasing concentration and attention time is a key advantage to
ICT. Many pupils view software differently from ICT – perceiving it to be more exciting. There
are lots of audio-based reading schemes now available to schools, many of which offer
significant advantages over books. For struggling readers, there are also many
software-based reading intervention programs available that can dramatically improve pupils’
achievement. Some feature speech- recognition software and integrated assessment for
learning.
 ● Vocabulary – Interactive dictionaries can prove invaluable in the classroom. The days of
having to refer to a weighty tome in the corner of the classroom are long gone, and the
essential development of vocabulary is made easier through interactive resources.

● Sentences – ICT makes sequencing words easier. There are many products available to help
with sentence writing skills, such as Textease or Clicker, and many offer added speech
facilities to help pupils check their work.

● Comprehension – The use of ICT resources that include aural and visual comprehension
activities can make a significant difference to a pupil’s development. Pupils have to acquire
listening skills, which they will need in all areas of the curriculum. If the only voice they ever
hear is the teacher’s, this can prove difficult. Many products are available that offer
paper-based comprehension activities alongside sound, animations and video. These
multimedia products open up a world of experiences to the pupil, allowing them to develop
core comprehension skills without even realising it.

● Composition – Presentational software and databases extend possibilities for composition.

Mixed-mode texts can be constructed on paper, but digital technology, with its facility for
importing pictures and manipulating text, means that the presentation of writing can be more
varied, involving design features which paper-based writing does not allow. Using word
processors allows pupils to edit text without their changes showing on the page. They don’t
need to think so hard about spelling or presentation and so can focus on the content. They
can present information in a range of ways and use a spellchecker or thesaurus.

● Drama – A strength of using ICT-based drama in literacy lessons is that it allows pupils to be
experimental, reflect on their learning and reshape their ideas after reflection. Digital cameras,
capturing moving and still images can greatly aid drama processes, particularly the
development of dialogue. Capturing drama moments – by using freeze-frame functions – on
camera and displaying the images on the IWB allows for ease of sharing, evaluating and
extending understanding.

PowerPoint

PowerPointTM is a fantastic presentation tool: easy to use at a basic level, immediately gratifying
(PowerPointTM presentations look impressive very quickly) and offering many different designs and
visual enhancements. This software is a must-have in the classroom.

Supporting visual literacy

DVD and video texts offer good opportunities for evaluating purposes and viewpoints. Discussion of
the ways that film texts are put together, for example decisions made by the director about camera
angles, where to use a close-up or a middle- or long-distance shot can greatly aid the process of
evaluating the effect of a text on the reader or viewer and offer a focus for sharing impressions of the
overall effects of a text on the reader. DVDs can be easily paused and reviewed to analyse how
directors (and writers) construct narratives. Discussions like these, based on film, transfer to
discussions about authors’ intentions and points of view and give pupils a frame for discussing their
responses to books.

In conclusion...
If used appropriately and supported properly within the school by a technician, ICT can dramatically
improve achievement levels, inspire creative thinking and encourage the development of skills that will
prove invaluable in the real world. We live in an age of computers, so the sooner pupils become au
fait with technology, the better. While researching and resourcing technology products and equipment
can prove time-consuming, it is worth the effort. ICT can save teacher’s time and inspire pupils to
learn, so let’s get tapping those keypads, pointing those cameras and have some fun.

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Language Teaching and Educational Research

Al-Kadi, A. Language Teaching and Educational Research, 2018-1, 1-12

DEFINITION->

‘Digital divide’ refers to the gap between those who have access to ICT and those who do not or are
less fortunate to access it.

Introduction

Information and communication technology (ICT) has penetrated into most aspects of human life
giving possibilities for recording things from birth to death. . Language researchers view ICTs not only
as motivational and assisting tools but also essential appliances for language learning and teaching.

Prior research has shown that technology impacts language curricula, teaching methodology, and
learning. This integration, if undertaken properly, provides benefits to the ‘digital’ generation:
-multiple choices for formal and informal language learning, scaffolding, gamification).

Technology integration

Technology integration is generally defined as purposeful manipulation of any kind of modern

technology in language pedagogy. .

Research on technology integration

The word ‘technology’ hosts many variables which interact within a digital ecosystem. It represents
the utilisation of digital tools, applications, and platforms for language learning and teaching purposes.

Technology in language education is not based on a theory of its own but on language acquisition and
learning theories. “Computers themselves do not possess theories of learning: Computer
programmers and educators, consciously or unconsciously bring those theories to the task”

Technology and methodology

The use of technology to achieve better learning/teaching results.

Conclusion->

ICTs are not always used for activities they were originally intended for, educators need to innovatively
re-appropriate such ICTs for learning and teaching purposes. The selection, understandably, is
affected by (a) educators’ understanding of the capacities of technology, (b) the real functions of
technology and © educational goals and process.

Today L2 pedagogy is associated with computers, mobile devices, and the Internet applications.
Language teachers and learners are familiar with a long list of technologies.

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