How To: Use Stories in The Primary Classroom

How to use stories in the primary classroom
Why use stories?

Stories are one of the ways children learn their own first
languages. In the language-learning classroom, using
stories echoes this and helps with acquisition and the
development of all four skills. As the children listen or
read they develop skills of prediction, understanding,
and questioning. Through interacting with and retelling
stories, the skills of speaking and writing can also be
developed. Many stories have examples of natural
repetition, which help the children remember and
produce new language. Visual clues in illustrated stories
also help understanding, and provide stimulation.
The story content can also be instructional: it can teach
values, aspects of culture, and life skills. A good story
is above all fun and motivating, and because it often
has real meaning for children, they read and listen with
a high level of engagement. Stories can get children
thinking beyond the simple events of the story itself, and
they can inspire creativity. Stories are also very social, as
a group joins together in the collaborative telling and
retelling of them.
Ten tips for using stories

1 Choose appropriate stories
Choose a story you know your children will enjoy.
Ideally it should have some or all of the following
characteristics: it should be exciting, funny and
engaging. It should have characters children identify
with, and the topics and values should be relevant
and age appropriate. The language should be the
right level and length, with possible repetition of
rhythm and rhyme, and good visual reinforcement.
It should help develop the childrens literacy skills
and provide opportunities for other learning and
for follow up and extension. Above all it should
be motivating and should stimulate the childrens
imagination.
Its important to set up the story well. With younger

children the establishment of a story routine is vital.
Make sure you have all the materials and props you
may need before you begin. Where possible, have
the children sitting in a circle, or on a carpet; move
the classroom furniture if necessary. Make sure they
are seated in a way that allows them to get the most
out of the storytelling session, e.g. cross-legged,
quiet, unlikely to be distracted or disturbed by others,
and where they can all see. Introduce a chant to
signal story time, or a clear signal to establish silence
before you begin.
Types of stories
Amongst the many types of stories we can find
traditional tales, legends, myths, true stories, and those
created by the imagination of the teacher and the
children. As well as printed books, stories can also be in
audio, video, or digital form. This guide, and the tips and
activities in it, concentrates on both the use of stories
in picture books (books written for English-speaking
children), and stories integrated in coursebooks.
Set the scene creatively

When planning how to create interest in the story,
think about stimulating ways to set the scene,
e.g. using music, realia, and visuals. For a story set
outside, you could take the children out of the
classroom to a nearby park or forest, if convenient.
For a night-time story such as One night in the zoo,
you could put some quiet, mysterious music on and
make the room darker. You might set up a small
shop in class if one features in the story. With older
children, give the setting up of the story the time it
deserves. Raise interest in the coursebook stories by
talking about the characters, summarizing what has
gone before, and getting them to predict how they
think the stories will develop.
Which types of stories are best for the

classroom?
Any story that captures childrens interest can be
good for the classroom. Coursebook stories have the
advantage of being especially written to include the
target language adapted to an appropriate length and
level. Children often identify very strongly with the
characters in their coursebooks and many children will
have already read all the coursebook stories before
class to find out how the stories develop. But stories in
other formats work very well, too. Picture books can be
an extremely stimulating supplement to topics in the
coursebook. Graded readers can provide a rich extra
source of stories; they are dealt with in the guide How to
use graded readers in class. Even stories made up by the
teacher can be very effective, especially if the characters
in them are based on children in the class.
Plan the physical space and have a routine
Professional Development How to use stories in the primary classroom
Build up a story prop box

To help create the story characters and enhance the
telling of the story itself, try to collect props (masks,
hats, costumes, and realia) to use for storytelling. You
may also like to have a specially decorated magic
box, bag, or even coat; when you show this in class,
it clearly signals that story time is about to begin.
Gradually add to your story prop box selection, so
that you have props to use and reuse for pre-, during,
and post-story activities.
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5
Help develop literacy skills

Actively focus on the typical features of a story to
develop literacy skills. Before the story, help the
children with prediction skills by showing them the
front cover of the book. Read the title and point
out the name of the author. Look at the picture and
ask the children what they think the book might be
about. Elicit anything they might know about the
topic, the story or the characters. As you read the
story, interact with the children using strategies to
help them follow the story, through comprehension
activities, predicting what comes next, and knowing
when to move on to the next page, or frame.
Help the children understand typical beginnings and
endings, such as Once upon a time, and The troll was
never seen again, as well as linking expressions, such
as and, so, and but.
10 Plan activities for pre-, during, and post-story.

Pre-teaching the key language in the story can make
it easier for the children to understand and enables
them to focus more on the story itself. Bear in mind
that pre-teaching too much can give away important
events in the story and spoil the suspense. Many
activities can be done at several stages in the story
telling, but generally, pre-story activities should
involve prediction and create interest. Activities
during the telling will maximize interaction. Those
done post-story can check understanding and give
opportunities for further exploitation.
Three pre-story activities

1 Wall dictation
Maximize the childrens involvement

The children can be involved in both verbal and
non-verbal interaction. Ask questions about what
is happening in the story, what is likely to happen
next, what the characters are feeling, and how
they feel about the values in the stories. Encourage
the children to join in the telling with the natural
repetition in the language, or sounds appearing in
the stories. Equally, explore ways of involving them
through mime and activities that involve acting out
the story.
Use digital resources

There is a wealth of digital resources available to
support the more traditional use of stories in the
class. DVD Roms, interactive whiteboards, and
online coursebook material can provide really useful
additional language support. Many picture books
also have online videos, sometimes with the authors
reading them, or with animations. Equally, just typing
in the name of a picture book in a search engine can
direct you to a wide range of ideas and activities.
Develop your storytelling technique

Its fun to be a good story teller. Experiment with
different techniques to improve your skills. You
can try different ways of using your voice: make it
louder, quieter, vary the speed, vary the intonation,
use different voices for different characters, vary the
pitch, and vary the emotion. Use facial expressions
and gestures to express emotions, and mime to
clarify the actions. Point to and use the pictures to
help comprehension. Add excitement in the way
you turn the pages, by turning the page very slowly,
for example, so that the picture on the next page
appears little by little, or turning the page very
dramatically at a key moment in the story.
Use all the senses

To really stimulate imagination, where possible,
try to think of ways you can use the senses. For
example, for touch, in Goldilocks the children can feel
something soft and hard. In a story set in winter, you
can take in something really cold for children to feel.
For stories set in summer and spring, you can take
in flowers to smell. In Hannahs Surprise the children
can taste pieces of fruit (although you should always
check for food allergies before taking food into the
classroom).
Aims To generate interest and curiosity in the story,

and pre-teach some key language
Age range Older children
1 Before the class, choose between six and ten
sentences from your coursebook story. Make
copies of these or write them out. Number them
in a random order, not in the order of the story.
Put the numbered sentences around the walls
of the classroom, or outside the classroom for
extrafun.
2 Put the children in small groups. One child in
the group goes to the wall, makes a note of
the number of the sentence, and reads and
memorizes the text.
3 This child goes back to the group, tells them the
number of the sentence, and then dictates the
text to the other children, who write it down.
4 It is then the turn of another child to do the same.
The children continue until they have all the
sentences.
5 Correct the sentences with the children and
explain any new words. They then try and guess
the order in which they appear in the story.
Note It is not important for the children to get the
right order of the sentences in this activity; the
activity should give them a taste of what is to come.
The number of children in the group is flexible. Fewer
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children will mean that each child dictates more
sentences. You can also do this activity with the
children in pairs.
Aim To help develop early reading skills by following

the text in a coursebook story
Age range Younger children
1 The first time, either tell the story yourself, or play
the coursebook audio.
2 Ask the children to open their books, and show
them how to follow the text with their index
finger going along under each word.
3 The second time, play the audio, or read out the
first part of the story, and walk around the class
to check each child is following. Praise those who
are, and encourage others by showing them.
4 Continue with subsequent parts of the story, each
time checking that the children are picking up the
idea of how to follow, read, and listen.
5 Add a game element by suddenly stopping the
story to check the children are on the right word.
Note This activity works well with all kinds of stories,
not just coursebook stories.
Variation With older children, use this idea to help
raise awareness of sentence stress, by asking them to
put their finger under the words they predict will be
stressed. Play the audio, or read out, to check.
Realia bag
Aim To create interest in the story
Age range All children
1 Before the lesson, collect some of the things that
appear in the story and put them in a bag.
2 Explain that you are going to tell a story and that
the objects in the bag appear in it. Make sure the
bag you use can be opened in such a way that the
children can feel the objects inside without seeing
them.
3 Ask various children to come to the front of the
class, one for each object in the bag. One by one
let them feel one of the objects inside the bag
and describe what it feels like, and what they think
it is. Then take out the object, discuss it with the
children, and ask them to think about what role it
has in the story. Do the same for each of the objects.
4 When all of the objects have been taken out of
the bag, ask the children how they might relate
to each other, to see if they can guess their
significance in the story.
5 Tell the story, so the children can see if their
predictions were right.
Three during story activities

1 Following fingers
Snap picture prediction
Aim To pre-teach language and create interest

1 Before class, use the camera on your mobile
device to take photos of parts of pictures from
the story. You can choose any part of a frame,
character, or object.
2 Print out the photos and make a collage of them,
or upload them and make a digital collage that
can be shown on a whiteboard.
3 Show the photos to the children and tell them
that all the photos appear in the story. With
younger children, elicit from the whole class
what the photos could be and what roles they
have in the story, and as you do so, pre-teach the
language you think the children will need to help
them understand the story. Older children can
work in pairs first, before you ask them for their
suggestions.
4 Tell the story, and the children can see if their
predictions were right. Encourage them to spot
and point out the images as they occur.
Variation Once older children know the technique,
you can ask them to use their own mobile devices
to take similar photos for other children to find for a
post-story activity.
Hold and show

Aim To increase involvement in the story through
kinaesthetic activities
1 Depending on the age of the children, decide
before the lesson what things would be suitable
for the children to use. For example, in a story
about magic the children can have magic wands
to wave for every spell.
2 Tell the story once, using support strategies
mentioned in this guide. Give the children copies
of the materials you have selected, helping them
to cut out, colour, or create, as appropriate.
3 Play the audio, or tell the story again, encouraging
the children to lift up their objects when they are
mentioned, or mime using them, as they appear
in the story.
Variation The possibilities are limitless: any story can
be enhanced in this way. In a story involving cooking,
children can make a recipe book. The children can
hold up cut-outs, or finger puppets of the book
characters, or copies of short parts of the text when
they hear them.
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3
recall the characters, plot, and language. Add any

written language you would like them to copy.
3 As the children work, help them as needed. Early
finishers can help other children.
4 To follow up, retell the story, with the children
now using their books at the same time.
5 If you have space, display the books around the
classroom.
Variations Instead of individual books, try making
collaborative books, with children working on
different stories in groups of eight (for a story
containing eight pages). Each child in the group is
responsible for creating one page. As above, recall
the eight most important frames or pages, using
pictures on the board with the text you wish to
include. Allow individual children to choose the
pages they would like to work on, making sure all
the pages will be covered. You may like to initial their
names under the pictures to make this clear. Hand
out paper and as the children finish their pages work
with them to collate the books.
There are many more formats that individual
or collaborative books can take. For example,
photocopy the key pages in black and white for
the children to colour. More imaginative formats
involve varying the shapes of the covers of the
books. For a space story you can make the book in
the shape of a rocket; a house shape can be used
if the story mentions different rooms. You can add
textures by adding material, wool, bits of foil, and
whatever you have to hand to enhance the story.
You can also make lift the flap and pop out books.
Many other ideas for children creating their own
storybook formats can be found on resources such as
YouTube.
Join in
Aim To help understanding of and increase
involvement in the story through the use of
kinaesthetic activities, mime, and simple repetition
Age range Younger children
1 Before telling the story, think about and plan the
type of gestures you are going to make, and how
the children can join in.
2 Make sure the children are seated where they
have the maximum freedom of movement to
participate.
3 Begin telling the story, pause at the appropriate
moments, show the children the actions, and
encourage them to join in with the actions while
repeating key language. For example, in Jack and
the Beanstalk, rub your tummy and look sad to
show that Jack and his mother were poor and
hungry. Encourage the children to do the same.
Hand out, while counting, five imaginary magic
beans, (those the old man gave to Jack) to each
child. Say, one, two, three, four, five magic beans,
as the children hold out their hands to you, and
repeat. All the time encourage the children to
join in, copying and imitating your actions and
words as the story develops. Mime the action of
throwing the beans out of the window, as the
mother does. Show the beanstalk growing up and
up, and Jack climbing up and up, etc.
4 When the children are confident of joining in with
the storytelling, and know when to do which
actions, its a good idea to tell the story again
without stopping, either in the same or the next
lesson.
Variation Instead of involving all the children, you
can bring volunteers to the front of the class to act
out the story as you tell it.
Six post-story activities

1 Make a story book
Aim To use a story to help develop literacy and
writing
1 Decide on the number of pages you want and
the format the story book will take. The simplest
option is to take a piece of A4 paper, cut it in
half horizontally, then fold the two pieces in half
together and staple them, so that you have an A6
book of eight pages.
2 After telling the story, recall it with the children
by drawing eight pictures to represent the most
important frames or pages, in sequence, on large
sheets of paper or on the board. As you do so,
Research project
Aim To use a story to develop a CLIL based lesson
1 After the story, ask the children questions about
the factual information in it. For example, in a story
about Pompeii, you could discuss volcanoes. Ask
them what they already know, and what other
questions they would like answers to. Put these
questions on the board.
2 In pairs, or small groups, encourage the children
to do some online research, either using mobile
devices, school computers, or at home.
3 Put the information the children have discovered
on the board and talk about their findings.
Discuss with the children how they would like to
present the information; in a poster or a classroom
display, for example. Those who enjoy a technical
challenge might like to use digital tools to make
quizzes, games, presentations, or videos. They
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could even use stop motion (videoing with
a mobile device and stopping the frames to
produce animated presentations), or Augmented
Reality (by tagging their work or photos, they can
layer it digitally to provide further information).
4 Allow class and home time for the children to
develop their projects. Once finished, share the
projects with the whole class, and, where possible,
with other classes and with parents, too.
Note Make sure you follow your schools e-safety
guidelines.
Aim To use the story to inspire the creation of

another story
1 Choose an aspect of the story you feel the
children would find interesting to develop. For
example, you can adapt a theme from the story
but have the children, or famous people, as
characters.
2 Depending on the ages of the children and the
resources available, decide on your format for the
story. You may wish to make the story on paper
or use digital tools. The ideas in Activity 1 Make a
storybook are useful for this. Another option is to
create a digital storybook there is a good activity
for this in the guide How to use technology in the
primary classroom.
3 Put the class into small groups. Work with the
whole class, helping the groups to gradually build
up and invent their story. Help them to consider
the following questions:
Who are the characters and where is the story?
There is a problem. What is it?
How does the problem continue?
How does the problem end?
4 Once the groups have decided on their stories,
encourage them to get together in their groups
to plan their stories, make story boards and start
writing in rough. They can decide if they will
draw or find their images from other sources
such as online, magazines, or their own photos.
They can divide up their roles in the group: some
may prefer to be involved in writing the stories,
some in sourcing or creating the images, some in
editing the writing.
5 As the groups finish, help them to correct their
work.
6 Help them in the process of making their stories,
and then share them with other classes or online.
Get creative
Aims To reinforce understanding and make the story
more memorable through a kinaesthetic creative
activity
1 Before class, look through shared social
networking sites such as Pinterest for
inspirational craft activities that will be suitable
for the age range of the children. For example, for
any story with a series of animals, such as There
was an old lady who swallowed a fly, Dear Zoo, and
Mr Gumpys outing, you can make animals out of
modelling clay. Choose a craft project that you
think will suit your children.
2 Also before the class, make an example of the
craft you have chosen, e.g. in the example of
Mr Gumpys Outing, make one of the animals in
the story. Make sure you have all the necessary
materials, and have prepared the classroom for
the craft work activity.
3 After working on the story, show the children the
animal you have made, pointing out its relevance
to the story, and have them make their own,
making sure that each of the elements in the story
is represented.
4 Work with the children to create their animals.
Encourage early finishers to help others.
5 Retell the story and encourage the children to
show and move their animals as appropriate. You
can either create a display background scene at
the front of the class or they can do this at their
desks.
6 Create an area in the classroom to display the
completed craft, and if feasible, take photos to
upload to your school website or social media
sites.
Variation Use different art techniques and materials
to provide variety, such as printing from things
in nature (e.g. leaves and potatoes), making
decorations, shadow puppets, presents, posters,
andmasks.
Collaborative story creation
Act it out
Aim To use a story to help develop speaking skills
1 Choose all or part of a coursebook story for
the children to work on. Divide them into
small groups with at least as many children as
characters in the story. Not all children may want
to act, but they can help in the preparation stages.
2 In their groups, the children decide which
characters they want to play. Some may choose
to say less, some more. Give them time to practise
reading the dialogue, monitor and help with
pronunciation as needed.
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3 As the children practise, allocate different spaces
in the classroom for each group to act out its
scene.
4 Next, ask the children to think about how to stage
the scene, and to select props from the props bag
(or find some in the classroom, or make them, as
appropriate).
5 Ask for volunteer groups to act out their story, or
part of the story, for the class. Give the audience
a task to focus them on listening to the other
groups, such as What was special about this group?
6 If you wish, the children can perform the story to
other classes, and the childrens parents, or you
can video the performances.
Note Always get written permission from parents
before videoing children.
Variations Use cut-out figures of the story characters
to act out the story as a puppet theatre. To add an
extra dimension, try making a small puppet theatre
or TV, using a decorated cardboard box.
Silly teacher!
Aim To check comprehension or focus on specific
language points
1 Retell the story, but this time make deliberate
mistakes, acting as if you dont realize it. For
example, point to the picture and say: Once upon
a time there were four ducks.
2 Encourage the children to correct you, stressing
the correct version: No! There were three ducks.
3 Continue to retell the story in this way, Oh, sorry,
yes, there were three ducks. The three ducks lived in a
field. The children say, No! They lived in a pond.
Variations Stronger groups, or older children, can
do this activity among themselves once they know
how it works, in groups of three or four. Another
variation of this is for the teacher to act forgetful.
Start sentences and pretend you forget how they
continue, e.g. Once upon a time there were? The
children say: three ducks.
Find out more about professional development courses at

www.oup.com/elt/oxfordteachersacademy
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How To: Use Stories in The Primary Classroom

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How to use stories in the primary classroom

Why use stories?

Ten tips for using stories

Its important to set up the story well. With younger

Set the scene creatively

Which types of stories are best for the

Plan the physical space and have a routine

Professional Development How to use stories in the primary classroom

Build up a story prop box

Oxford University Press