FOLKTALES - FABLES - FUN

Dr. Lori Langer de Ramirez

Chair, ESL & World Language Department
Herricks Public Schools, NY
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…
teach grammar and
vocabulary in context
teach grammar and
vocabulary in isolated lists
incorporate language,

culture and content
teach language separate
from its cultural context
communicate with the
classroom teacher to
reinforce curriculum
organize lessons on topics
that are disconnected
from the students

Where to find stories
the community
the Internet
print sources
travel

What to look for…
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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!