Compiled by Karen Chace -- www.storybug.net 

185 Free ESL Storytelling Worksheets

ESL Printables: Storytelling Worksheets 

Learning the Power of Story with My ESL Students

National Council of Teachers of English: Position Statement on Storytelling

The Power of Story: Using Storytelling to Improve Language Literacy

Preschool ESL Classroom Activities: Storytelling

Storytelling as a Strategy to Increase Oral Language Proficiency of Second Language Learners by Katherine Massa

Storytelling EFL worksheets, flashcards and lesson plans

Storytelling Helps ESL Learners to Improve Their Vocabulary

Teaching English with Stores in the Preschool ESL Classroom

Telling tales: Using storytelling to teach EFL kindergarten students in Taiwan

University of Utah – 50 Ways to Use Picture Books with ELA Students

Why Storytelling in the Classroom Matters

Spanish

David Ambrose, Storyteller and Director of Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival, (Wales, UK), accepted the invitation to be interview for AEDA’s website.  Jennifer Ramsay was the interviewer and she elected to follow the structure of ‘The Hero’s Journey’, a common structure in traditional wonder tales. We hope you enjoy reading the interesting result.

Once upon a time there was a young man called David who had a flare for organizing events. David loved bringing people together and he dreamed of creating a space for artists to interact with enthusiastic audiences. He would often venture out into the underground alternative Arts scene in London and Guildford to be with like-minded people.  The freedom of this experimental rebellion against the normal, straight arts scene opened up a whole new world. His dream became reality when he became director of multi-disciplinary Art Centre in the south of England and he dedicated his time and energy to organizing events there for many years.  

Spanish

Reflection from Jennifer Ramsay, Professional Storyteller and Art Therapist.

Many storytellers seem surprised when they discover that as well as being a professional storyteller I am also an Art Therapist and sometimes ask “What does storytelling and art therapy have in common?”  The answer is simple because they both evolve around stories.

A lot of the stories I tell follow the structure of the hero’s journey. A character leaves his normal everyday life to answer a call to adventure. There he will find friends and mentors to help him pass the tests and enemies on his path. At the end of the journey the character is normally richer and wiser and there is learning. Every person also has their own hero’s Journey and as an art therapist my job is to accompany my clients so that they can take charge of their lives and feel comfortable in the leading role of their personal life journey. I also try help them contact with their inner resources so that they are able to overcome whatever tests may appear in their paths.

Spanish / Catalan / Basque / Galician

Spanish

Not yet a storyteller?

Although listening to a professional storyteller in school is clearly a valuable experience for students, it is usually going to be an infrequent treat. Fortunately, however, storytelling is not only a matter of professional tellers. The most important storyteller is there every lesson: you – the regular English teacher who can make stories an integral part of the whole language learning process.

Some teachers welcome this opportunity. Others may feel intimidated by a lack of performance experience. Seeing a professional mesmerising a class of students can encourage the mistaken conviction that “I could never do that!” But storytelling takes many forms. Professionals coming for a one-off visit to a group of unknown students easily choose a dramatic style guaranteed to reach out and form them into a willing audience. The situation of the classroom teacher is different: you may enjoy the chance to perform as a professional does, but you certainly do not have to. A quieter manner of telling may be just as effective. But whatever style suits you, your students will not only listen, they will love to listen. And this gives you the chance to explore the potential of regular storytelling in the language classroom. That is how I began many years ago, just discovering myself as a teller and at the same time discovering how storytelling could be integrated as a major part of the learning process.

Spanish

What do teachers of foreign languages try to do and what do they need?

1. Motivating:  language teachers must engage the interest of the students.
2. Introducing ‘new’ language in context…not just translation.
3. Helping the students to experience the language emotionally not just to study it intellectually.
4. Helping the students to develop fluency in listening and reading, speaking and writing.
5. Finding topics which provide opportunities for more activities.

Stories are the multi vitamin and multi mineral food for the language teacher!

Stories offer a rich food for all five of the language teacher’s needs!

Old ways of using stories in language teaching

The traditional way of using stories was (and is!) to ask the students to translate the story word by word and then to ask comprehension questions at the end.  

For most students this is a disaster; it kills the story.  The student is not involved emotionally and is involved in pedantic intellectualism which for most students is unpleasant and ineffective in terms of motivating the student to like the language and to feel that it is an alternative to their mother tongue.