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 Take a story,
make a chant from it
create a song about it
make a game of it
choose key words and use pictures from it
design a worksheet of it
find moments to stop and think about it
think about some movement in it…
… and here it
goes!
The
topic of a well known story can be used in many
ways.
Kids
are engaged in every area of
learning - vocabulary, structures, maths and logic, sciences, art,
craft, music and movement.
In Language section we play with key
words, practise listening skills and comprehension, develop speaking and
communicative skills, later reading and writing skills, from individual
words to a complex text. Chants and rhymes support rhythm of the target
language, pronunciation and intonation.
Mathematical activities and games offer concept of amount,
numbers, calculation practice, logical thinking and problem solving, all
based on the theme of the story.
World around us tells us about classification,
how things work, what we can see and do with things, animals, people, how
we feel, and even some models for behaviour (moral of the story).
Music and movement section offers specially
designed songs with recordings and karaoke, activities to do with the song
lyrics, attractive action games (yard games, circle games) and time for
movement activities.
Children
should explore the topic with all senses, and that’s why there, in the
folder Art and craft, you’ll
find colouring pages, worksheets for drawing, pencil control, developing
fine motor skills, finishing pictures, left-right oriented tasks, craft
activities such as designing a scene for the story, making masks etc.
A big
effort is put into work with dyslexic
or autistic children; there are lots of activities that the teachers
find useful.
Learning by doing is my credo.
In each material you can find lots of printables,
picture flashcards, card games, board games, worksheets, colouring pages
with various tasks, original rhymes and chants about characters or the
plot, songs with karaoke, ideas to listen, repeat, say, solve, sing, act,
create, revise, learn…
There are usually about 80 - 130 files with more than 200 - 300 variations,
and an additional set with some general material. Pictures, games and
worksheets are to be printed, mp.3 files are to be
listened to and worked with.
Each area is provided with a
detailed Instruction manual.
Children should learn step by step; with each revision we add a few more, a
bit more difficult tasks. I can say it grows with children from the age of 2 (simple
vocabulary work and listening tasks, clapping, chanting) to the age of 12 (complex logical
tasks, comprehension, communication games, learning foreign languages).
The
project has been awarded a Pearson
ELT Teacher Innovation Award (People’s Choice category). In this
competition, teachers and parents who liked the story-based materials voted
for my project. See the certificate above.
I have
given a few talks on the project, even a webinar for IATEFL YLT SIG (see
here), I’ve presented it at conferences and
teacher training events in many European countries.
And
I‘ve received a lot of positive feedback from teachers; they say children
love songs, activities that go together with the story, a large scale and
wide variety of tasks, sweet and comprehensive pictures.
I’d
like to have my story materials in more languages, as they seem to work
well on CLIL base. However, I can only speak Czech and English. Anyone
willing to help with a German, Spanish, French, Russian (to name just a
few) versions?
For
more details visit my e-shop.
If you are in doubt or don’t like something, let me know (sylviad@atlas.cz).
If you like the activities, share your feelings among your colleagues and
friends! 
And
come back for more!
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