1 One story, many activities
When you plan a variety of activities around a story or a poem, you can address the different language learning needs of students. In Case Study 1, a teacher plans multiple activities linked to a familiar story.
Case Study 1: Mythili plans multiple activities for mixed ages
Mythili teaches a large mixed age group of students in Classes I, II and III.
In my class there are students of different ages and abilities. Instead of giving different language books to different groups, I plan learning activities based on one story that each group can achieve at their level.
For example, all my students love the story of ‘The Puri Boy’ [see Resource 1]. For this story, I planned four activities for different age groups. I put students into groups and display a wall chart of these groups. Then I set up the classroom so that on each day of the week a group has an area to work on a ‘Puri Boy’ activity. The younger students work with me, and the older students work independently – this is a good skill for them to learn.
Over a two-week period, I rotate the groups through all the activities. I make another wall chart that says what each group will do every day. The group name chart and the activity chart encourage students to read in English.
Sometimes I mix the groups, so that the older ones help the younger ones. Also, I expect the older students to do more writing than the younger ones.
Here are my activities for the ‘Puri Boy’ story. Can you guess which groups worked with me, and which groups worked independently?
- Extend the story orally with pictures, introducing other animals such as a dog, goat, ox, bullock, elephant or monkey, and the sounds they make. Students will tell me the names of these animals in their mother tongues.
- Read from the board and practise other action words:
- Run, run, as fast as you can
- Jump, jump, as high as you can
- Skip, skip, as far as you can
- Walk, walk, as far as you can
To ensure that students with physical disabilities do not feel excluded, these can be used:
- Eat, eat as much as you can
- Clap, clap as loud as you can
- Sleep, sleep as long as you can
- Word search: students identify word(s) hidden in these words: ‘catch’, ‘woman’, ‘late’, ‘fast’ and ‘dough’. Less able students and younger students match pictures and words.
- Practise and write English dialogue in pairs: one student is the talking puri and the other student talks to the puri. Start by using the words and phrases of the story, and try out other English phrases such as ‘Oh no! Don’t eat me! I will run away!’
I always plan some extension activities for able students to do, such as:
- Story extension and different endings: say or write what would happen if the fox didn’t eat the Puri Boy.
- Create new characters such as a talking car, a talking doll, or a talking chapati, and tell or write new stories with these new characters.
Finally, I plan activities for the whole class to do. This brings the learning together for everyone:
- Mask making: draw on a sheet of paper any character from the story. Cut out the eyes. Punch a hole on either side of the mask. Thread the holes and knot up the ends. Learn additional vocabulary reinforced through craft instructions, e.g. ‘draw’, ‘cut’, ‘string’, ‘eyes’, etc. Label craft resources in English.
- Playscript writing: dialogue between characters, acting out the story using the new characters, the new action words and the masks.
Students do not get bored returning to the same story. Planning different activities around one story gives them – and me – repeated opportunities to practise English using a familiar and playful theme. With multiple activities around a text, students have time to develop confidence in using English and I have assessment opportunities when I work with groups.
 Pause for thought
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The activities that follow will help you to plan, manage and evaluate multiple activity sessions.
Activity 1: Plan multiple activities with a story
Do this activity with colleagues, if possible. Use the short story below or choose one from your own English textbook.
‘Raja’
Raja called Shyama to come and play with him. Shyama said that he had to work and could not play. Raja went to a field with a ball. Raja saw honey bees and called them to play. The honey bees said they could not play as they had to work. He then saw ants. Raja called out, ‘Ants! Ants! Come let us play!’ ‘No, we cannot play. We have to work,’ said the ants. Raja went home. He helped his father at work. Father said, ‘You are a good boy.’ Raja felt happy.
Brainstorm and list possible activities based on the story of Raja’s search for playmates. Think about activities that might involve the following elements:
- art and craft
- games
- drama, dialogue or role plays
- reading
- writing
- links to other subjects, using English.
As you do this, think about the different abilities of your students. How could the activities support their learning?
Here is what a group of Class III teachers thought of, for the story of Raja. In each activity, there is an emphasis on reading, writing or speaking English.
- Craft activity: Make insect and animal masks. For a sight-impaired or blind student in the class, other students outline the masks for them. Label tools and materials (mask, paper, scissors, paint, string) in English.
- Drama/role play: Act out the dialogue, adding other animals and friends of Raja using the masks made in the craft activity. Practise English pronunciation and speaking.
- Reading and vocabulary development: Read the story aloud together from the chalkboard or the textbook, looking at the sentences ‘Come let us play’ and ‘No, we cannot play’. Substitute and read together different words in the sentences, such as ‘Come let us dance’, ‘Come let us cook’ or ‘Come let us sing’, and ‘No, we cannot dance/cook/sing’. Focus on new vocabulary.
- Writing: Draw a series of scenes from the story with speech bubbles and write in the dialogues. Students with writing difficulties are encouraged to label the scenes. Encourage attempts to write in English.
- Links to other subjects: Using English to describe insect and animal habitats, and differences between insects and mammals. Use English beyond the language lesson.
Now choose no more than three activities that you feel you could implement using a short story or a poem. Choose a text that you and your students will enjoy. Choose activities that you feel confident doing with students. You might feel more confident about craft or a game, or you might feel more secure with a reading activity. When you have chosen a story and thought of some activities, discuss your ideas with your colleagues. Take their feedback and revise your ideas.
Pause for thought
See Resource 2, Using groupwork’, to learn more about organising students in multiple activities. |
Now continue the activity, adding more detail.
Activity 2: Detailed plans for multiple activities
Multiple activities work well when planning is detailed and flexible. Here are some points to consider.
Timing
How much time will you need for each activity, including time needed for giving instructions, grouping students, moving equipment and distributing resources?
For example, for the ‘Puri Boy’ activities in Case Study 1:
- narrating or reading the story: 20 minutes
- teaching and practising the new action words: 15 minutes (including instructing students to stand in a circle and listen, repeat, etc.)
- mask-making: 30 minutes (including distributing resources and repeating instructions).
As you can see, one class period is not enough time to do everything well. Activities should be planned over two or more periods, or on different days of the week. Look at the school calendar to find a suitable time to do the activities without interruption.
English language
Make the activities into opportunities for English language learning. What words or phrases do you want students to practise? How will you make sure these are used? Make a list of these words and phrases. You could display them in your classroom either on the board or on a poster.
Classroom space and organisation
You might need to change the way your classroom is set up. Do you need to move chairs or desks? Students can help you to do this. How will you organise the students to start, stop or change from one activity to another? Practise English words and phrases to organise students and get their attention. Here are a few examples:
- ‘Turn around and face each other.’
- ‘Turn your chairs around.’
- ‘Form a circle.’
- ‘Move around quietly.’
- ‘Listen to me.’
- ‘Is everyone ready?’
- ‘Please stop and look at me.’
- ‘It’s time to stop now.’
Now come up with some phrases of your own related to your activity, your classroom and your students. Practise these at home or with a colleague.
Resources and classroom management
Make a list of the resources you will need. How will you organise the distribution of the resources? For example, you could:
- lay out the resources on tables beforehand and instruct how many students should stand at each table
- tell students to group themselves and assign one member of each group to pick up the resources
- call out names of students and ask them to collect the resources.
You should now have a very detailed plan for multiple activities based on a story or other text, covering timing in the lessons, the English language you will use and encourage your students to use, and the resources needed.
Review and discuss your plan with a colleague, reworking it if necessary.
What you can learn in this unit