Context

These posts come from my preparation for and reflection on some extra-curricular story-telling sessions I am doing. I love reading to people and telling stories, especially to children, so when the owner of a local bookshop in the Catalan town where I live asked me if I'd be interested in doing some story-telling sessions in English for children and their parents, I was most definitely interested!

We decided to open the 45 minute sessions to families of children aged 1-6, and I thought that as they were so young and had little or no exposure to English, we would need to complement a story with other activities to keep the children's attention from wandering too much and to give them the chance to hear and use English in a natural context as well as listening to the language of the story. The sessions are a time to enjoy listening to stories, playing games, singing songs and making things, as well as learning English in a fun and natural environment.

As children come to these sessions with their parents or another carer, it is a relaxed and fun space in which to enjoy activities without the pressure that an extra-curricular class situation may bring about, or the stress that the absence of the carer may cause. The idea is for everyone to have fun!

Why am I sharing these sessions? I thought that my plans and reflections could be useful for EFL teachers, for people working with children with English as a second language, and even classroom teachers working with English natives. I'd love to think that I'm helping children hear and experience more books or the same books in different ways. And, as a teacher I always welcomed new ideas when I was planning my lessons, the more practical and usable, the better!

I'd really like to hear your feedback, other ideas, disasters and successes related to using stories with children. Thanks!

The Book Bug.