FOLKTALES - FABLES - FUN

Dr. Lori Langer de Ramirez
[email protected]
Chair, ESL & World Language Department
Herricks Public Schools, NY
Folktales, Fables and Fun
for the language classroom
ACTFL National Standards
“the 5 Cs”

Communication
Communicate in
languages other
than English


Connections
Connect with
other disciplines
and acquire
information
Comparisons
Develop insight
into the nature of
language and
culture

Communities
Participate in
multilingual
communities at home
and around the world

Cultures
Gain knowledge
and understanding
of other
cultures
WHY use folktales?
“…the great power of the story is that it engages us affectively as well as requiring our cognitive attention; we learn the content of the story while we are emotionally engaged by its characters or events.”
- Kieran Egan, Teaching as Storytelling
“The use of literature designed for children in the target culture allows learners of the target
language to share
cultural experiences
and attitudes in a very direct way…”
Curtain and Pesola
Languages and Children,
Making the Match
WHY use folktales?
Through the characters on the page, children are able to live out their worst fears and their fondest wishes. Valuable life lessons are conveyed through the stories which children readily absorb in a non- threatening and even enjoyable context.
-Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment
WHY use folktales?
Children do not learn about complex grammatical points by either making errors and then being corrected or through explicit instruction in grammar. The knowledge of specific grammatical rules "...is part of a child`s biological endow- ment, part of the structure of the language faculty.“

“…about 99 percent of teaching is making students feel interested in the material.”

-Noam Chomsky, Language and Problems of Knowing
WHY use folktales?
With folktales you…
will
won`t
Where to find stories
the community
the Internet
print sources
travel
What to look for…
grammar
vocabulary
culture
content
interesting
story
webpage
www.miscositas.com
www.miscositas.com
 
PRE-READING
 
Vocabulary preparation
- “magic box”
- illlustrated words
Prediction
- order story
- summary illustration
Story background
- realia - tradition
- author - geography
Pre-reading and prediction
“Stories allow students to
anticipate and predict
thus involving
them in activity.”

(Barton and Booth, Stories
in the Classroom, 1990)
PRE-READING
Story background
 
Intro page:
Story origins
and geography links
Students click here to begin the story
 
 
 
READING
 
Students navigate the story by clicking on the left or right icons
POST-READING
 
Comprehension check
- factual questions
- opinion questions
- related personal questions
Story reviews
Performance
Creative writing similar story from own culture
find another story from target culture same genre story
POST-READING
Story reviews
Students summarize the story.
Students review
the story with a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down”.
POST READING
Creative writing
Genre = Etiological tales, Pourquoi tales, Why-stories
“Why the Ocean Has a lot of Salt”
Sample classroom connections
Sample Art connections
Sample Phys Ed connections
Sample Music connections
Creating a curriculum unit
Look at current curriculum
Determine links to
language
culture
content
Find folktale
Edit folktale
Build lessons & activities
Stories are everywhere…

Go out
and find them!
Questions?
Ideas?
Comments?