4 Summary

In this unit the focus has been on learning and using English through storytelling with the students in your class. Through stories, we can start to use a new language in a familiar context.

In the classroom, storytelling and reading stories aloud are key elements of language teaching. Creating, recalling and repeating stories are a learning process for teachers as well as for students. The ability to tell a story in an interesting and lively way is an important teaching skill. A good story is entertaining, of course, but it can also hold students’ attention while they learn important concepts, attitudes and language skills. Telling and listening to stories is a pleasurable activity that can bring teachers and students together in a shared experience.

Other Elementary English teacher development units on this topic are:

• Songs, rhymes and word play
• Shared reading
• Planning around a text
• Developing and monitoring reading
• Promoting the reading environment.