Story telling has been the bedrock of communication in societies for hundreds of years. Ranging from bedtime stories told by a parent to a child to orators passing on events and history of the community. Sadly, with the development of electrical means of communication and more recently with smart phones and computers, this art seems to be diminishing - and yet it is one of the most useful and effective tools for any language teacher to use in being able to effectively help their pupils to communicate.
The famous novel by Robert Louis Stevenson can be presented in an abridged version. For a class of teenage refugees I presented this once a week for 8 weeks. Each lesson lasting about an hour. I used a similar format for every lesson as follows:
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1. Present the story orally using PowerPoint slides. (Sometimes repeated with incorrect story lines to see if they were
paying attention.)
2. Give pupils copies of 8 slides from the story and get them to write a summary of what the slide shows.
3. Have supplementary activities such as worksheets or puzzles related to the story.
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Click on the picture to see an enlarged version and click on the button to download the activity.
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Week 1
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Presentation Sequence Story Worksheet
Week 2
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Presentation Sequence Story Worksheet
Week 3
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Presentation Sequence Story Worksheet
Week 4
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Presentation Sequence Story Worksheet
This abridged story is retold by Ann Ward with
Series Editors: Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter.
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The illustrations are screen captures from the YouTube video story Treasure Island https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POGloksREnk&t=7s which consists of 30 separate videos.
Week 5
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Presentation Sequence Story Worksheet
Week 6
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Presentation Sequence Story Worksheet
Week 7
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Presentation Sequence Story Worksheet
Week 8
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Presentation Sequence Story Worksheet
These are a series of miscellaneous exercises that can be introduced at any time during the lessons. There are also a number of answers to some of the worksheets above which can be shown on PowerPoint for the class to see.
The famous novel by Charles Dickens can be presented in an abridged version.
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1. Present the story orally using PowerPoint slides. (Sometimes repeated with incorrect story lines to see if they were
paying attention.)
2. Give pupils copies of 8 slides from the story and get them to write a summary of what the slide shows.
3. Have supplementary activities such as worksheets or puzzles related to the story.
​
Click on the picture to see an enlarged version and click on the button to download the activity.
​
The first book in the Narnia Series is the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This presentation is different from previous ones in that it was made during the Covid crisis and so could only be presented online. I therefore made all the worksheets as online exercises. The illustrations for this module were copied directly from the film and so are not the best of quality. Having used this with a class, I know that it works and that despite the lack of written activities it is still enjoyable and educational.
