Use storytelling in class

Use storytelling in ESL class because:

1. It helps to develop the Ss' udnerstanding of narrative structure
2. You will have the Ss' attention
3. Telling folktales themselves will help the Ss with their paragraphrasing skills, which in turn is helpful in writing research papers
4. Folktales are in public domain, their themes are timeless and universale, and they are part of everybody nation's oral tradition
5. When you tell a story instead of reading it you have eye contact with the audience and can judge when to give more explanation or wen to skip over some datails to get to the climax. The audiece also has full access to your gestures and facial expressions.
6. The stories themselves can be a jumping off point for the major skill areas.

Choose a tale that:

1. You want to tell
2. With one simple plot
3. With few interesting characters, not too many
4. With lots of action building to a climax
5. That has a short introduction that sets the stage
6. That will be interesting to your audience

An effective Storyteller:

1. Tells a story that has a beginning that catches the audience's attention, a clear telling of all the events in sequence, and an effective ending
2. Uses pauses to emphasize an importan word, but not too many unnecessary pauses
3. Looks at the audience
4. Uses posture and gestures to help te story
5. Uses different voice pitch for different characters such as a deep voice for a night.

Tips for learning a tale:

1. Read the whole tale yourselve
2. Read it again out loud. listen to the sound of the language
3. Memorize the opening sentence, the conclusion, and maybe a few key words but no more. Don't memorize the whole tale. That will make it boring for your listeners.
4. Develop pictures in your mind of the action in the order that it happens. It might help to draw pictures or list a few words to remind you of the events
5. Try to tell the tale in your own words to remind you of the events
6. Practice the tale until you feel comfortable with it. Remember, you are not memorizing the story word for word. you are remembering te story, just like you remember what you did last week or the plot of your favorite movie, so that you can tell a friend.

(This information was taken from a workshop given by Sandy Miller and Patricia Lima Costa in a MEXTESOL convention 2005)