Tell Us a Story

Michael Berman, UK

Michael Berman BA, MPhil, PhD (Alternative Medicines) is an English Language teacher, writer, and a Core Shamanic Counsellor. Publications include A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom and The Power of Metaphor for Crown House Publishing, and The Nature of Shamanism for Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Further books due to be published in 2008 include Divination and the Shamanic Story by Cambridge Scholars Publishing and a resource book on Storytelling. Michael has been involved in TESOL for thirty five years and has given presentations at Conferences in more than twenty countries. www.Thestoryteller.co.uk

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Introduction
Sample Activity
Parts of the body: story
Parts of the body: worksheet

Introduction

The long-awaited Tell Us A Story, a resource book for teachers on storytelling, is now available in downloadable format from the Brain Friendly Publications website www.brainfriendly.co.uk. ISBN 9791905231200, Price £10. It is a resource you can download to introduce storytelling to the classroom; A4 pages 76

This book gives a description of the history and art of Storytelling. Included are 28 stories based on myth, fable, fact and fiction from around the world - from Georgia to Wales to China to Germany to India and Japan. Good English is based on the speaker's ability to paint a verbal picture to entertain, excite and inform the listener. This book gives much needed practice to the teacher and to the student. Full notes for teachers are provided on how to exploit the stories to gain the most from them. Designed for teaching at Council of Europe language level CEF - B1/B2; Intermediate to Advanced English Language Level according to CEFR - the Common European Framework of Reference.

Sample Activity

Title: Parts of the body

Level: Pre-Intermediate / Intermediate

Target Audience: Younger Learners or Adults

Language / Skills Focus: Listening & Speaking

Materials: Photocopies of the worksheets to hand out after the storytelling.

In Class

Pre-listening

As a lead-in to the story, you could start with an alphabet game. The aim is for each student to repeat the previous student’s list and add a body part of their own, starting with the next letter of the alphabet!

I’ve got an arm.

I’ve got an arm and a bottom.

I’ve got an arm, a bottom and a chest.

I’ve got an arm, a bottom, a chest and some digits etc.

Possible answers: eyes / feet / gall bladder / hair or hips / index finger / jaw / knees / legs / mouth / nose / ovaries or organs of speech / pores or a palate / a quaff or a quirk / ribs or retinas / shoulders or shins / toes or thighs / unmentionable parts / varicose veins / wrist or a waist / x-ray vision / zap or a zit

Write the following words on pieces of paper and give them out to the learners before they listen to the text: limbs / body / arms / legs / stomach / feet / hands / eyes / ears / nose / tongue. Tell the class you’re going to read a story to them and every time they hear the word that is written on their slip of paper, they stand up and sit down again. This activity is ideal for the kinaesthetic learners as it gives them an opportunity to stretch their legs and listening for the words to come up in the story helps to hold the learners’ attention during the while-listening stage.

Post-listening

Hand out the worksheets for the gap fill activity for the learners to decide on a moral to the tale and to complete the gap fill activity.

Complete the story by putting the missing words below into the gaps: 1. limbs 2. complained 3. sick 4. paying 5. strike 6. refused 7. avoided 8. deaf 9. taste 10. upset 11. situations 12. lay 13. because 14. lost 15. shake 16. bells 17. run 18. bone 19. suffered 20. foolish 21. energy 22. function 23. ashamed 24. mistake 25. promise

Invite the students to work in small groups to produce dialogues between different parts of the body, which they can present to the rest of the class. It should be apparent which parts of the body are speaking without having to mention them by name. The rest of the class can be asked to work out who’s speaking to whom while listening to the presentations as a means of holding their attention. This activity is more appropriate for a higher level class, as is the final activity on the worksheet.

Now match the numbers with the letters to complete these proverbs about food and drink: 1-e / 2-j / 3-h / 4-a / 5-k / 6-d / 7-f / 8-i / 9-b / 10-c / 11-g

Parts of the body: story

One day all the Limbs of the Body, the Arms and Legs, got together and complained to the Stomach: “We’re sick and tired of doing all the work while you just eat everything we collect without paying for it and we’ve decided to go on strike.” So the Feet refused to walk, the Hands stopped holding things, the Eyes avoided seeing, the Ears became deaf, the Nose stopped smelling and the Tongue refused to taste.

The Stomach was most upset because he couldn’t get food from anywhere and didn’t know what to do. Sometimes the best thing in such situations is to do nothing and that’s exactly what the Stomach did. He just lay down patiently and waited.

He didn’t have to wait very long because the Arms and the Legs quickly lost all their strength. The Hands began to shake and the Feet began to tremble. The Eyes began to cry, the Ears started to ring like bells, the Nose began to run and the Tongue was as dry as a bone.

When the Stomach saw they had suffered enough, he began to speak: “Now you can see how foolish you’ve been. I digested the food you gave me to produce the energy you need to function.”

When the Limbs heard these words, they felt very ashamed of their actions. “You’re right. We’ve been very stupid. We need you as much as you need us and we’ll never make the mistake of complaining again. We promise. You can be sure we’ve learnt our lesson!”

Parts of the body: worksheet

Listen to the story and then decide what the moral is. If you don’t like the suggestions given, find a moral of your own!

1. You can’t live without food and water.
2. People need people.
3. Strikes serve no useful purpose.
4. When people work together, disagreements are inevitable.
5. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

Complete the story by putting the missing words below into the gaps:

avoided / ashamed / because / bells / bone / complained / deaf / energy / foolish / function / lay / limbs / lost / mistake / paying / promise / refused / run / shake / sick / situations / strike/ suffered / taste / upset /

One day all the 1. ….. of the Body, the Arms and Legs, got together and 2. ….. to the Stomach: “We’re 3. ….. and tired of doing all the work while you just eat everything we collect without 4. …… for it and we’ve decided to go on 5. …...” So the Feet 6. ….. to walk, the Hands stopped holding things, the Eyes 7. ….. seeing, the Ears became 8. ….., the Nose stopped smelling and the Tongue refused to 9. …...

The Stomach was most 10. ….. because he couldn’t get food from anywhere and didn’t know what to do. Sometimes the best thing in such 11. …… is to do nothing and that’s exactly what the Stomach did. He just 12. ….. down patiently and waited.

He didn’t have to wait very long13. …… the Arms and the Legs quickly 14. …..all their strength. The Hands began to 15. ….. and the Feet began to tremble. The Eyes began to cry, the Ears started to ring like 16. ….., the Nose began to 17. …. and the Tongue was as dry as a 18. …...

When the Stomach saw they had 19. …. enough, he began to speak: “Now you can see how 20. ….. you’ve been. I digested the food you gave me to produce the 21. …. you need to 22. ….. .”

When the Limbs heard these words, they felt very 23. ….. of their actions. “You’re right. We’ve been very stupid. We need you as much as you need us and we’ll never make the 24 ….. of complaining again. We 25 ….. . You can be sure we’ve learnt our lesson!”

Now match the numbers with the letters to complete these proverbs about food and drink:

Please check the What’s New in Language Teaching course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.