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Teaching kids
This part of the site is for teachers working with children. It offers a range of tips and resources which are based around online materials from the British Council's LearnEnglish Kids website. Most of the materials can be used either online or printed up to be used in the classroom. Updated monthly.

Next update: 09 April 2010

Tips for using stories
Sue Clarke

On the British Council’s site for young learners - LearnEnglish Kids - there are lots of stories which you can use to motivate your students. These stories have been specially written for children learning English. They range from quite simple to quite demanding in terms of the level of difficulty so choose carefully. The stories are currently divided into four sections:

• •hort stories: Animated Flash movies for learners aged approx 8-12. These are suitable for lower level learners and above.
• Longer stories: Texts over a number of pages with soundfiles that users can download and listen to. These are for learners aged approx 8-12 and are more suitable for learners with higher levels of English.
• Stories for little kids: Animated Flash movies for learners aged approx 7 and under. Language levels vary but the subject matter is more suitable for younger children. Younger children will need support to use these stories.
• Fairy Tales: Animated Flash movies of traditional stories. These are suitable for all ages, and are appropriate for lower levels and above.

As a teacher using a story in the classroom, there are many ways of using and exploiting the stories to help children understand and add to their enjoyment. On these pages you will find tips for using and exploiting the stories in the classroom, including:

A. Activities to prepare children for reading

1. Using illustrations
2. Pre-teaching vocabulary
3. Introduce the theme
4. Input cultural background

B. Activities during reading

1. Use a variety of ways to read
2. Sustaining reading
3. Total physical response
4. Characters and voices
5. Vocabulary help

C. Post-reading activities

1. Quick comprehension check
2. Make a poster/illustrate the story
3. Stimulus for writing
4. Role-play/acting out

You can find details of all these at www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/teaching-kids/tips-using-stories.

When you have used some of these ideas, why not go back to this page and leave a comment or some additional ideas!

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