BY : Isymah Kyra

Most

children start school familiar with stories and narrative conventions in their own language and quickly transfer this familiarity into a willingness to listen to and participate in stories in English. provide a natural, relevant and enjoyable context for exposure to language and an opportunity to familiarize children with the sounds, rhythm and intonation of English.

Stories

The discovery and construction of meaning is supported through things such as visuals, mime, gesture, voice and characterization, and children also develop learning strategies and thinking skills, such as predicting, hypothesizing, guessing and inferring meaning.
Stories help young children to develop concentration skills and also aspects of emotional intelligence, such as empathy and relating to other people. Stories also provide a springboard for a wide range of activities which develop language, thinking skills, positive attitudes and citizenship, as well as appreciation of other cultures, or understanding of content from other areas of the curriculum.

Stories can be selected from a range of sources, including graded readers, story websites on the internet or picture books. Whatever the source, the most important thing is that the story chosen is suitable for the children it is intended for. Teacher need to check that the content is relevant, interesting, appealing and memorable and attractive which will support childrens understanding. The language level of the story also needs to be appropriate with the syllabus (KSSR).

The story must be repetitive, cumulative or includes a rhythmic refrain. Therefore, it promotes participation, aids memory and practices a particular language pattern. It is important to vary the kinds of stories including, for example, traditional stories, fables or stories with a moral, myths, legends, funny stories, rhyming stories, stories with flaps or pop-ups, biographical stories.

Teacher also can choose stories that help children understand their own feelings, stories from other cultures and stories which are linked to content from other areas of the curriculum.

Before telling a story to children for the first time, it is usually advisable to practice how we are going to do this, such as , mime or actions we plan to use to convey meaning, the way we are going to use our voice and etc.
When telling the story, teacher need to make sure that everyone can see and hear the story and, if teacher are using a picture book, hold this up and show each illustration slowly round the group. With younger children it is usually best if they can sit on the floor in a semi-circle near the teacher and teacher may also can introduce the story with a rhyme to settle the children before you begin.

As you tell the story, it is a good idea to maintain frequent eye contact with the children, in order to help them stay focused and attentive. Teacher need to give them time to think, look, comment, ask or respond to questions and, if appropriate, encourage them to join in. At the end, it is important to invite a personal response,
e.g.by asking children if they like the story, or have had similar

experiences or feelings to the characters in the story, and be ready to recast or extend their contributions in English as necessary.

If teacher want to use a story in an extended way over several lessons, then this is likely to be a cyclical process which starts by creating interest, motivation and attention in the story and predicting what it is about, followed by an initial telling of the story, related activities and follow-up. The cycle can then be extended through a combination of retelling(s) of the story in a variety of ways, interspersed with a series of appropriately selected activities that lead children from an initial, global understanding of the story to using more and more of the language it contains.

In some cases, the storytelling cycle may lead to children producing their own versions of the story or dramatizing some aspect of it in a role play. With older/ advance children, as part of their understanding of storytelling, it is also important to develop their awareness of how stories are constructed and to give them opportunities to create stories themselves.
As part of activities in the storytelling cycle, and in order to enrich and enhance childrens learning, it is often appropriate to integrate storytelling with drama.

Through listening and responding to storytelling and doing short, introductory drama activities, children use mime, sounds, gestures and imitation to show their understanding and to make connections between language and corporal expression. It helps young children associate actions, words, and meanings and memorize key language in a natural and enjoyable way. As children become familiar with the story, more extended drama activities provide opportunities for recycling the language it contains through retelling or acting out, either by the children themselves or by the children using puppets. In these activities, the use of drama provides a focus and support for children to use (some) language from the story in an independent way and also contributes to building up their confidence and self-esteem.

At a more sophisticated level, the use of drama techniques such as hot seating, role play or thought tunnel provides opportunities for children to go beyond the story and explore the issues, problems or moral dilemmas that it contains.
This not only provides opportunities for children to use language they know beyond the story script within a clearly defined framework but also encourages them to develop critical and creative thinking skills and to work with others in a collaborative way.

 Usually,

it is advisable to introduce drama gradually, in activities which are short and where teacher can use technique such as freeze to control the action. is vital to show yourself willing to participate in classroom drama and to model the kinds of responses you expect from the children.

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 Although

it is important to give children encouraging feedback after doing a drama activity, it is best not to look at them (too) directly during the activity, as this may unwittingly convey an impression that you are judging them.

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can be off-putting to some children, who will be drawn in naturally as long as they do not feel under pressure.

 Teacher

need to think about the following questions to evaluate how things went and plan possible improvements for next time:

1. Interest: Did the story engage the childrens curiosity, interest and attention? Why? / Why not? If so, how was this sustained?

2. Participation: Did the children participate actively? What factors encouraged or discouraged this?

3. Creative thinking: How did the children respond to activities which invited a creative or imaginative response? Did this affect the way they used language? If so, how?

4. Kinaesthetic learning: How did the children respond to activities involving mime and movement? In what ways did such activities seem to help or detract from the childrens learning?

5. Collaboration: Did the children collaborate and work well together? What factor influenced this?

6. Enjoyment: Did the children enjoy the story and related activities? Why? / Why not? What effect did this have on their motivation, confidence and self-esteem?

Quite simply, this is "making it up as you go along". It works best when there is some kind of simple framework (e.g. pupils are told the "beginning of the story" and take it from there). It may also be appropriate to set a few simple guidelines (e.g. "characters must not fight" may help to curb the natural tendency of exuberant young boys). Improvisation has the advantage over role play because children can "be themselves". Improvisation can be used in literacy lessons to develop storylines; in geography lessons to simulate living in different social conditions; or in history lessons to consider "how it might have been" or to generate "alternative endings" to historical scenarios.

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5 pismp\Huge Improv Theater_ _I Am a Tree_.flv

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there is no need to use any costume at all, it can help remind pupils that they are "in character". is no need to use anything complicated: a simple hat, cloak or scarf is often sufficient. Teacher could use simple name-badges to remind children who's who.

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As in improvisation, children act out a scene - with the added factor that each is allocated a specific role or character. It is a good idea to allow children a few minutes to think about their character (or to discuss it with a friend) before the activity commences. Even so, the emphasis should be on play. Role play can be used in literacy or citizenship lessons to explore different points of view; in foreign language lessons to practice use of language; in science lessons to consider implications of using particular scientific inventions.

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there is no need to use props, it sometimes helps to have a few simple "bits and pieces" to hand. can provide something for children to do with their hands. Props can also be used to indicate who the characters are (a crown for a king; a sword for a soldier; a Bible for a priest; etc.). is often useful to have a few pieces of furniture available (a couple of chairs will do) that can form the "set".

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is a conversational rather than a dramatic device. Children work in pairs, seated and without props, to hold a conversation. can be allocated roles or speak from opposing viewpoints. activity can be useful in preparing ideas to be used in persuasive writing tasks.

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Although not strictly a dramatic technique, this activity can be used as a follow-up from role play or thought tracking. A large outline drawing of a character is pinned on the wall (if you are "artistically challenged" you could draw around a child). Children write words around the outline to show how the character is perceived by others. Children also write words inside the outline to show the character's inner feelings. This can lead to useful discussion of real and fictitious characters. F:\sem 5 pismp\Role on the Wall.mp4

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stand facing each other in two lines that form an alley. As the character walks between the lines, each child that they pass speaks to their conscience - providing arguments for and against a possible course of action. is not essential for every child to say something and some children may wish to repeat a previous contribution. there are several options for the main character to consider, the activity could be adapted into a "conscience triangle" or a "conscience square".

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