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Storytelling

Asking questjpns

TIME    20 minutes

LANGUAGE_ Questions; orał fluency

PREPARATION _ 1 You need to ch(X)se a story whiclt you don’l mind being

interrupted! It should be a short story. Here are sorrie stories which I have used: ‘In a dark, dark town’ (3.2, page 77);

‘Father, son, and donkey’ (3.5, page 88); ‘Ghosts’ (6.8, page 1%); ‘The donkey and the little dog’ (6.4, page 193); ‘The fox and the crow’ (6.7, page 195); ‘The boy who cried wolf’ (6.6, page 194); ‘The travellers and the bear’ (6.16, page 204).

IN CLASS_ 1 Tell the children the story. Then comment that it is a very

short story and invite the children to ask you ąuestions about it.

In a dark, dark town

|n a dark, dark town There is a dark, dark mad.

And id the dark, dark, road There js a dark, dark twe.

And in |he dark, dark house There is a dark, dark door.

Go in the door.

There are some dark, dark stairs. Go up and «p and np and up And up and up and up The dark, dark siairs-Now ■..

There js a dark, dark room-Go in the dark, dark room.

In i(ie dark, dark room There is a dark, dark cupboard-Open the dark, dark ęupboard. What is there?

2    Tell them that you are going to play a gamę willi Ulem. Say you are going to tell the story again in less than five minutes, and they must try to stop you trom finisliing the story by asking ąuestions.

3    Help the class to think of all the different kinds of ąuestions they can ask in order to find out morę information. Write some examples on the board. Here are some ąuestions which could be asked about ‘In a dark, dark town’ (3.2):

Is ir very dark?

Can you see the houses?

Whal time is it?

Is it raining?

What day is it?

W here is this town?

Whal is the narue the town?

Is it a big town?

Are there rrees in the road?

Are there any cars?

Is it a big road?

Who lives in the house?

How old is he or she?

Whal are his or her hobbies?

What colour is the front door?

4    Tell the story, pausing at the end of each lilie to give the children a chance to cali out a ąuestion. Encourage sby and less fluent children to ask ąuestions. Give the impression that you are desperate to tell the story so try to give short answers.

The class win if they can prevent you from completing the story in five minutes.

FOLLOW-UP

With higher-level ciasses try this gamę on another occasion, without helping the children to prepare ąuestions bcforehand.

COMMENTS_ This activity reąuires the children to think ąuickly and be

willing to cali out their ąuestions. It is not easy but nevertheless gives an opportunity for the children to develop their willingness to ‘have a go’.

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Tliis is uu African story about

THE MON AND THE JACKALS.

Every day the Liou chased the Jackals. Every day they ran away. Every day the Lion roared :

'Tomorrow l'll catch you !'

We are getting older and slowcr. Maybe tomorrow we'il he the Lions diuner', said the first Jackal sadly. The second Jachal answered:' Oli,uo ! We imist trick the Lion !'.

The next day the Jackals knocked at the Lion's den. The I.ion was very surprisetl. llmmni,why areiTt you running away ? Are you not afraid that I might eat you?'

'Oh,yes,we are afraid of you, but we are morę afraid of the other Lion in the weil. Ile is bigger and stronger than you', cried the Jackals.'Bigger tlian me? Stronger tliau me? Take me to him ! f am the king here!' ,roared the Lion.

The Lion looked in the well and he saw a big.strong Lion looking back at him. The Lion roared loudiy. The other Lion roared back just as loudly.

' l'II show you who is the king bereł’, roared the Lion and jumped into the well. There was a big splash and that was the end of the Lion.

The Jackals laughed :'He was the biggest and strongest animal in the forest. Hut we are the cleverest!'.The Jackals grew old together. They ran morę slowly,but it didn't matter.