U SING FOLKTALES IN THE CLASSROOM
C IRCLE M AP The gods A mermaid An Inca
L AS I SLAS E NCANTADAS
S TEPS Know the folktale before telling it. Set the ambience (desks cleared, low lights, students totally focused). Use props, realia. Tell the story involving students. Set the tone (ask an introductory question, speak slowly, modify intonation). Read the story several times each time with a different purpose. Do pre /post activities.
R E -T ELLING G AME Ask students to tell parts of the story. An alternative is the following game: Post key words from the story, pair students and ask them to tell as much of story for 90 seconds. Every time they use a word, they score one point. Following team take over the story.
OceanTalkArrived EmergedFog VolcanosMermaid GrowThanked ProtectNoisy Time
S EQUENCING GALAPAGOS STORY Hace muchos años no había nada en el mar. La sirenita llegó y quería ver mucha vida. La sirenita habló con el dios del mar y él decidió hacer algo. Primero emergieron grandes volcanes. Luego grandes cactos empezaron a crecer. El dios formó dos corrientes de agua. Llegaron muchos animales, pájaros y peces Los animales estaban muy alegres y ruidosos. Algunos incas visitaron las islas y hablaron con el dios. El dios formó un manto de neblina para proteger las islas encantadas.
OTHER POST ACTIVITIES True/False. Sequence pictures to tell the story. Jeopardy Act out a scene involving conversation with a partner. Create a poster in which you draw a scene from your favorite part of the story and write a summary sentence about it. Draw your favorite part of the folktale and state why is your favorite.
H OW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT FOLKTALE If you check14 of the following, the story is appropriate: The story has: Rhyme Repetition Beginning, middle, end Intrinsic drama Richness of the target culture Targeted language functions Connections to other disciplines
The story leads to: Visuals Props Acting it out Signaling TPR
The story is: Interesting Meaningful to students Relevant to curriculum objectives Age- appropriate Linguistically appropriate
R ESOURCES Discover the Power of Folktales: A rich context for communication by Priscilla Russel.