Let me start with my own story! ONCE UPON A TIME… I used to be a teacher who relied heavily on vocabulary lists and checklists of what my students needed to memorize. For example, my third graders were required to name five fruits, five animals, school supplies, and places in the community, among other things. All these vocabulary words were disconnected and lacked context. I also expected my students to remember these words indefinitely and use them the following year. This often left me feeling frustrated, and I blamed my students for not retaining words they had only heard during the fruit unit.
Everything changed when I started teaching with stories. I began to focus on high-frequency and useful phrases and language. Instead of just concentrating on the five-word fruit unit, I told stories where students not only learned the names of the fruits but also how to express likes and dislikes while following a plot in the target language. These stories were simple, engaging, and provided the necessary repetition for my students to acquire the language, not just learn it.
As a teacher, I felt my teaching toolkit was rejuvenated. I discovered different ways to bring stories to life for my students—through pictures, short clips, picture books, co-creating stories, songs, or short stories I created for them. I didn’t switch to teaching with stories overnight. I started gradually, and with practice, I became more confident in integrating more stories into the various grades I teach. Now, I can proudly say that my curriculum is 90% story-based.
I remember that the first story I told my students was the picture book Froggy Gets Dressed (Froggy se viste). I first read the story and then retold it using props. The story was so repetitive that by the end, they were repeating it with me. From there, I started incorporating more and more stories, and now I have a full repertoire.
The best part of teaching with stories is that it gives you the flexibility and creativity to make language acquisition an enjoyable process for your students. Your students are more likely to acquire the language when they experience it in context, which makes all the difference. Bringing stories to your students can also broaden their horizons and allow them to learn about themselves and others because through stories, you can also bring culture and teach life lessons. Stories naturally incorporate varied vocabulary and grammar, providing a meaningful context for language use.
Are you ready to start using stories in your classroom? Remember to start little by little, ensure that you feel connected to the story, and practice before bringing it to class! And remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect; with practice, you’ll become more confident and proficient at telling stories!
Creating stories with novice learners could be challenging but not impossible if you provide the language and a template for them to complete. Although they are not completely coming up with the details for the story, giving them this support provides them with a sense of autonomy in the target language. Rolling stories have become an all-time favorite activity for my second and third graders; the best part is that this can be done in just one class. My classes don’t last more than 45 minutes, so during this time, students get to create the story and illustrate it. This activity is so simple that students can decide to do it in groups or on their own, and now we have stories for different seasons and celebrations.
What do you need in order to roll a story?
Story Template: This guide includes sections for the type of character, color, emotion, place where they live, and what they like to do.
Dice: Using dice adds randomness and creativity to storytelling. Students roll to determine story elements.
Additional Story Template: This optional tool provides extra structure, which is especially helpful for younger students. It maximizes class time and relieves students from writing from scratch, which could be overwhelming for many younger students.
Flashcards with articles:Believe it or not, this question has come up in my second-grade classes, and it has been an opportunity to talk about definite and indefinite articles. That’s why I now support this with visuals when writing these little and short stories.
Once students have completed their stories, they illustrate them. I like keeping them in the notebooks. In the next class, I use a document camera to read their stories and ask questions about them. Some students might have the same stories, but believe it or not, they all want to hear them. I also expand by using their illustrations to talk about the stories. Rolling stories has to be one of my favorite stand alone activities that are engaging and meaningful.
Using stories to teach Spanish to young learners can be an effective and engaging way to introduce children to the language and is a great tool for language acquisition. Here are some tips and ideas to help you make the most of this approach:
Choose age-appropriate stories: When selecting stories, it’s important to consider the age and language proficiency level of your students. For younger learners, simple stories with basic vocabulary and repetitive phrases can be helpful. As they progress, you can introduce more complex stories with a wider range of high-frequency vocabulary.
Use visuals: Including pictures or illustrations can help children better understand the story and increase their engagement. Use visuals to introduce new vocabulary or help children make connections between words and their meanings.
Ask questions throughout the story: Encourage children to participate and interact with the story. You can ask yes or no questions or provide choices for students to respond.
Act out the story: Acting out a story can help children better understand the plot and vocabulary. Use props to make it more fun and interactive. You can use students as actors while telling or reading the story.
Incorporate music: Including songs or rhymes related to the story can help children remember new words and phrases. Music can also create a fun and engaging atmosphere in the classroom. You can come up with your own songs to support the story!
Follow-up activities: After reading the story, incorporate activities to reinforce learning and keep children engaged. These can include games, crafts, or writing activities related to the story. You can also have students retell the story in their own words or pictures, or create their own versions of the story.
Use diverse stories:ry to incorporate stories with diverse characters and cultures as well. This can help children develop empathy and understanding for people from different backgrounds. Bring both fun stories and stories where your students can see themselves represented.
Stories provide a rich and effective way to aid in language acquisition. Sometimes, children forget that they are hearing a different language because they become so immersed in the plot.
Story asking is a teaching strategy that can be applied in the classroom with zero to low preparation. It involves the teacher asking a series of questions in the target language to help students collaboratively create a story.
To implement story asking, the teacher begins by introducing a theme or topic for the story, such as “Los animales” (Animals). This establishes a framework for the students’ storytelling. The teacher then proceeds to ask the students questions in the target language about the setting, characters, and plot of the story. These questions can vary depending on the students’ proficiency level and the desired language skills to be practiced. For example, the teacher might ask questions like “¿Qué animal es?” (What animal is it?), “¿De qué color es?” (What color is it?), or “¿Cuántos años tienes?” (How old is it?).
As the students provide their answers, the teacher can write them down on the board or a piece of paper to visualize the evolving story. This visual aid helps students see the progression and coherence of their collective narrative. The teacher can also ask follow-up questions to deepen the students’ ideas and encourage further development. For instance, if a student mentions a cat, the teacher might ask, “¿Cómo se llama el gato?” (What is the cat’s name?) or “¿Qué le gusta comer?” (What does it like to eat?).
Once the story has been co-created, the teacher can read it back to the class in Spanish, incorporating details provided by the students. Once the story is ready, the teacher can ask questions about the story to engage the students further and assess their comprehension. The results with elementary students are usually a few paragraphs.
Story asking not only promotes language acquisition but also fosters important skills such as collaboration and active listening. By working together to construct a story, students learn to value each other’s contributions, build on ideas in the target language.
A parallel story is a powerful tool that language teachers can use to engage their students and reinforce language learning. By taking an existing story and modifying it slightly, teachers can create a new and exciting experience for their students that still retains the language patterns and vocabulary of the original story.
After using the book “La vaca que decía oink” by Bernard Most in class, I decided to create a parallel story for my kindergarten students. Though I worried they wouldn’t enjoy listening to a similar story, my students surprised me by engaging with it and recognizing familiar language patterns. I made some modifications, such as shortening the story and changing characters. We even plan to act it out and sing “La granja” to accompany it.
Parallel stories offer a time-saving approach, allowing you to reuse language patterns and recycle familiar vocabulary with minimal changes. Revisiting the same story also gives students an opportunity to process and predict what comes next. Occasionally, I like to add a surprise by altering the ending.
To create a parallel story, find a story familiar to your students and adjust it to their language level. Use props or Story Listening to tell the story, then create the parallel story by changing the characters, setting, and adding your twist. Finally, share the parallel story and prepare for your students to make connections!
Parallel stories are a fantastic way to engage language learners and reinforce language learning!
My love for using stories in my classes is never-ending! Read some of the reasons why I use stories in my classes:
THEY ARE FUN AND ENGAGING
When using stories, students always want to know the end of it, so it really keeps them engaged. In my experience, the stories are even more engaging when they are simple and students can follow the plot in the target language.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE ABOUT OTHER CULTURES
You can also bring stories that give students opportunities to learn about other cultures. Make sure to check facts before bringing the story to the class. It’s important to avoid stereotypical stories or overgeneralization.
PRESENT LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT
Stories are perfect to provide “chunks” of language, rather than isolated vocabulary words. Stories present useful language and grammar in context. Make sure the stories you use with early language learners provide enough repetition and use high-frequency vocabulary and phrases.
CHILDREN NEVER GET TIRED OF THEM!
Find different ways to retell the story. You could have your students draw their favorite part of the story, and later you might use their pictures to retell the story.You can add more fun by retelling the story and having your students become active participants in it! This way you are providing repetition without your students even noticing it!
STORIES I USE!
Although these are my own stories, I also include a variety of stories from other authors and cultures:
