Scheme of work for Learning English through Short Stories
Focus Suggested
Time
Allocation
Knowledge, skills &
attitudes to be
developed
Suggested activities
Teaching
resources
Suggested
assessment
activities
Remarks
Part 1
MASTERING THE BASICS
Periods 1-2 (2 periods)
Module Introduction & concept of short stories
Overview of different text types of short stories
Period 1-2 (2 periods)
Develop basic
understanding of typical short stories
Gain interest in the module
Let students share and discover the concept and topics covered in short stories
Create fun and interest in learning English through short stories
Bring students to the school library
Let students pick some of their favourite short stories from the library
Introduce different types of short stories to students: e.g. romance, mystery, detective, suspense, fairy tale, folk tale, etc. from students’ choices Introduce vocabulary and jargons related to short stories learning through simple matching game
Discuss with the class the notion of short stories
Short story books Hand-out introducing vocabulary and jargons related to short stories learning
Part 2 ANALYZING TEXTS
Periods 3-36 (34 periods)
Introduce the major features and organization of short stories
Period 3-18 (16 periods)
Develop basic understanding of the major features of short stories:
Introduce different types of short stories e.g. romance, mystery, detective, suspense, fairy tale, folk tale, etc.
Sample short stories of different types
Group presentation of their analysis of the basic features and organization of
1. setting,
2. characterization, 3. point of narration, 4. plot,
5. theme Develop basic understanding of the structure of short stories: 1. introduction, 2. complication, and 3. resolution (ending) and how to make transitions between each part
Develop analytical and presentation skills
to analyse the basic features and organization of short stories to students
After introduction, ask students in groups to analyse the basic features and organization of the short stories given by teacher Group presentation of the analysis of the basic features and organization of short stories
Peer and teacher evaluation to groups’ presentation
short stories
Introduce language used, dialogues and punctuation in short stories
Period 19-22 (4 periods)
Develop basic understanding of the language, dialogues and punctuation used in short stories
Create dialogues for scenes from a short stories
Develop collaborative and creative skills
Analyse the language used, format of dialogues and punctuation by picking examples from stories introduced in previous lessons Let students appreciate the dramatic function of using dialogues in short stories by comparing a narrative version and another version with dialogues
Divide a short story introduced in previous lessons scene by scene
Ask students in groups to convert the narration into dialogues by using a storyboard
Sample short stories Storyboard
Peer comment and evaluation on other group’s storyboard
Invite groups to role-play their storyboard and let students appreciate the differences between narration and dialogues
Appreciate the language art in short stories
Period 23-30 (8 periods)
Develop basic understanding of 1. metaphor and simile, 2. euphemism, 3. symbols
Appreciate the language art of using
1. metaphor and simile, 2. euphemism, 3. symbols in short stories Create sentences by using
1. metaphor and simile, 2. euphemism, 3. symbols
Develop collaborative and creative skills
Analyse the basic features, characteristics, the dramatic and artistic function of 1. metaphor and simile, 2. euphemism,
3. symbols
in reading and writing a short story by highlighting some examples from the stories introduced before Ask students to give more examples of
1. metaphor and simile, 2. euphemism,
3. symbols
from different types of short stories or their favourite short stories
Discuss with the class the different characteristics and functions of
1. metaphor and simile, 2. euphemism,
3. symbols
in various types of short stories Students in groups convert simple sentences or paragraphs into
1. metaphor and simile, 2. euphemism,
3. symbols
Sample short stories Sample
1. metaphor and simile, 2. euphemism, 3. symbols
from different types of short stories
Peer and teacher comment on students’ creative writing
Invite students to share and explain their work and ask others to comment on the creative work
Introduce the cultural aspects of different short stories
Period 31-36 (6 periods)
Get a taste of different types of stories from different parts of the world
Appreciate different styles of short stories from a wide variety of sources
Understand and
appreciate the culture and language use in other countries
Develop self-learning and IT learning skills
Before introducing the characteristics of different short stories around the world, invite students in groups to share their findings about the characteristics and examples of short stories of a specific country, e.g. Greece, UK, France, and USA
Summarize and highlight students’ findings to ensure students’ understanding of the similarities and differences between short stories around that world
Give students sample of short stories
Group competition: Ask students to identify the writer’s nationality with reasons by referring to the characteristics introduced and discussed before
Students’ presentation of the
characteristics and examples of short stories of a specific country, e.g. Greece, UK, France, and USA
Group competition as a formative assessment to ensure students’
understanding of the different cultural aspects from the short stories around the world
Before the lessons, ask students in groups to search the
characteristics and examples of short stories of a specific country, e.g. Greece, UK, France, and USA
Part 3
PRODUCTION OF SHORT STORIES
Period 37-50 (14 periods)
Write a story Period 37-42 (6 periods)
Develop skills in drafting, revising, and editing an original short
As a start of creating individual story writing, teacher
introduces an online
Online writing platform
Peer and teacher evaluation on the story planning and
Teacher can encourage students to continue their online
story independently and collaboratively
Experience different means in gathering information Develop skills in organizing ideas in a logical sense Experience process writing:
1. brainstorming and planning
2. drafting 3. peer evaluation 4. editing
collaborative writing platform to the class. Teacher begins the story and assigns students their roles with brief background information, e.g. personality. Students continue the story based on the background information given.
Introduce to students their task of creating a short story of any type and cultural background for a three-minute storytelling section
Show sample products (if any) to the class
Ask students to search
information about their stories’ theme on the internet, reference books, etc.
Students pair up to peer comment on their counterpart’s planning and the first draft with the aid of an evaluation checklist
Give comment and advice to every student’s first draft After editing the first draft, ask students to form groups of four and peer comment on others’ second drafts with the aid of another evaluation checklist With teacher and peer’s comment, students finalize
Sample story writing Evaluation checklist
the 1st and 2nd drafts Teacher comment on the final product
collaborative writing after class or even after the course
Teacher can make use of some good drafts and evaluation as models and demonstration to students during this learning process
their short story and get ready for the final storytelling stage Introduce
storytelling skills
Period 43-45 (3 periods)
Develop basic
understanding and skills of storytelling:
1. pronunciation 2. stress and intonation 3. paralinguistic features Experience discovery learning
Prepare students for the final storytelling performance
Introduce the basic skills involved in storytelling by showing to students several sample storytelling video clips Students in groups point out the characteristics of
storytelling and the differences between reading aloud a text and telling a story
Summarizes students’ sharing and discussion according to three major aspects in storytelling:
1. pronunciation 2. stress and intonation 3. paralinguistic features Divide a story into sections and invite students to perform storytelling based on the skills introduced before
Cut sample storytelling video clips focused on: 1. pronunciation 2. stress and
intonation 3. paralinguistic
features
Handout about 1. pronunciation 2. stress and
intonation 3. paralinguistic
features in storytelling
Storytelling performance as a formative assessment
Storytelling Period 46-50
(5 lessons)
Experience English storytelling
Practise storytelling by making use of
appropriate 1. pronunciation 2. stress and intonation 3. paralinguistic features learned before
Make use of previous learned knowledge to
Invite each student to share the stories they created to the class Tape-record students’
performance for their own reference and evaluation Encourage peer comment on storyteller’s performance as well as the story content with the aid of an evaluation checklist
Tape-recording equipment
Evaluation checklist
Peer and teacher’s evaluation
For more able class, teacher can invite students to submit a self-reflection on their writing and storytelling performance
convey meaning to others Evaluate students’ storytelling performance at the end of the course
Encourages students to share their individual and online collaborative writing to their schoolmates through
podcasting or broadcasting in the school campus
On-line reference materials:
http://schools.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/
