Fun Storytelling ESL Activity

Let me tell you, my first year of teaching—I was awful. Truly horrendous—as we all are. But surprisingly, I stumbled across a few gems that first year that I still use today. One of them is my storytelling activity.

This activity is a hit among all English levels, but I’ve found that lower-level English learners really love it. You can either do it with no materials, or with some simple materials.

The idea is simple. Give students a few random pictures/things and have them create a story using those elements. My friend once gave me a few deconstructed calendars, and that’s what I still use today. She had taken apart three wall calendars and laminated the pictures. One calendar was a castle theme, another was animals, and the last one was a strange collection of frogs wearing or doing a variety of things. One frog is wearing a crown, another is in a teacup, one is riding a skateboard—like I said—strange. You don’t have to use calendars though—you could print off your own pictures and laminate them. You don’t even have to laminate pictures; instead, you could just write words on a piece of paper. Even easier? Just give everyone the same three pictures/words by writing them on the board or screen.

I divide the students into groups of around four, and give each team three pictures: a castle, an animal, and a frog. They then have a few minutes to create a story including all three things. Because of the castles and frogs, most of the stories lean towards fairy tales, which is fun and gives the students a parameter when coming up with stories.

After students have come up with their stories, have them retell it. You could simply have them tell their story to the group next to them or have teams come up to the front of the room to present to everyone.

Tips:

The great thing about using frogs, animals, and castles is that the stories tend to be fairy tales. That removes the pressure of creating a “great” story and just lets the students have fun. It also saves some time, since they’re not overwhelmed with possibilities. If you have a castle and a frog in a shoe, your first thought is definitely going to be: fairy tale.

As you hand out the pictures, try to think about how the students can best communicate with each other—it’s going to get loud. Also think about how they can easily share their story with another group, if they’re not going up to the front to present. Instead of having each row of four students be a team, I generally try to have two students in the front row communicate with the two students behind them. Squares work better than rectangles.

Another fun twist is to add in famous people. When I worked at a training center, I changed up my pictures. I used a variety of locations, like a desert, Disneyland, or a mystical forest. I also added in some famous faces, like Obama or Jacky Chan.

So, what does this teach students? Well, at its most basic level, it simply gives students the chance to speak in English. First, as they discuss what the story should be with their partner, then again as they tell their story to someone else. Just practicing English is enough reason for this to fit in any class. But if you’re looking for other benefits:

Practice organizing and explaining thoughts clearly

Often in ESL, we focus on conversation—listening and responding—but students might not always get the chance to practice really sharing their thoughts in a more complex way. Having to tell a story from start to finish means students need to focus on communicating events in a clear way, so everyone can follow along.

Practice verb tenses

Most ESL students struggle with verb tenses. Depending on the story, they might have to practice keeping their verb tenses consistent, or they might have to practice adjusting their tenses to match what is happening in a story.

Practice adjectives

Every teacher has that one thing they emphasize, and for me, that’s adjectives. I’ve found, for many students, learning and using adjectives is a weak point. Many times, I’ve used this storytelling activity in a lesson about adjectives, encouraging the students to describe the location, what people look like, or how people are feeling in the story.

Practice creativity

For my Chinese students, creativity is another point they struggle with. In my classes, I try to push students to develop their creativity. Rather than reading yet another article and answering questions or filling in yet another grammar exercise with the correct preposition, I like to give my students chances to not only use the language for themselves, but also to let go and get creative.

Practice public speaking

Especially if you have students present their story in front of the class, they’ll get a great chance to practice their public speaking skills. And even if they’re not standing in front of the class, they’re still getting the chance to present their story to another group.

Try this storytelling activity out with your students! Make it as simple or as complex as you need to, but I’m positive your students will enjoy it.