Folk Tales as a Source of Abundance
Joanna Czeredys, Poland
Joanna Czeredys is a freelancer; I cooperate with private language schools and universities in Poland. I am interested in teaching ESP, EAP. In my lessons I try to combine the methodology with technology and facilitate the learning process.
E-mail: czeredysjoanna@gmail.com
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Introduction
Lesson outline
Conclusions
References
Folk tales and legends are a fantastic tool to be used in the classroom. I use them quite frequently as the stories are abundant in the examples of proper tense use, linking words and expressions. A lesson, based on a folk tale, develops all skills starting from communication, listening, writing and reading.
Legends tell a lot about a culture; therefore it is so interesting to incorporate them to lesson schemes as students can expand their knowledge about their culture or the culture of their peers. I appreciate using the stories in multicultural groups as everybody learns a lot in an amusing way. You can use legends in various ways. Below I present one of my scenarios.
First, introduce heroes of the legends by matching their names with the pictures. When the task is accomplished and students are in the mood of telling the stories, ask your students to complete a gap fill exercise based on a legend; they should use proper verb forms of past tenses. To fully use a text, you add another exercise, in which students extract expressions typical for legends from the text.
The next step of the lesson plan is to do a control-writing exercise: students should present a chosen-legend by completing the sentences, which start with fixed-expressions. As a teacher monitor their work, help if necessary with vocabulary. Then check their work before the students record the legends, they can use their mobiles or any available handheld devices. Finally, students mingle and listen to the recordings. The listening part promotes active use of the language, there is a lot of buzz as the legends provoke positive emotions. Not only do the students listen to the legends, but also they comment on the stories, exchange views, help to use devices; there is a remarkable growth of student-talking-time.
As a follow up exercise, you can vote for the most interesting, mysterious or surprising legend.
It is also a good idea to ask students to prepare comprehension questions to check how much their peers understood. It is advisable to do it as homework.
If you want to make the lesson last longer and allow students to come back to the legends’ recordings, my advice is to use the tool provided by EDpuzzle. The website allows you to upload the recordings; students can prepare comprehension questions attached to their work. Moreover, as a teacher, you can check if the homework was done.
This lesson scenario develops a lot of skills. Students are exposed to practicing writing, breaking the barrier of speaking, they are encouraged to listen attentively and communicate with each other.
The lesson is live, full of interaction, and effective communication. Students acquire language skills in a relaxed atmosphere, the lesson finishes with everybody’s smile on the face.
https://edpuzzle.com/
Please check the Teaching Advanced Students course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Teaching Languages Using Technologies course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Using Mobile Technology course at Pilgrims website.
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