Digitized Folk Story Retell

Ask students what a folk story is. What are some features of folk stories? Brainstorm as a class and list students' responses. 

Tell students that they are going to practice listening to find out if their ideas are accurate and then they will practice grammar, pronunciation, and speaking as they listen to and retell a folk story and then later create a digital version of themselves telling a folk story from their native countries or the United States.

1. Ask students what verb tense(s) is/are used when telling a story. (Past tense - students may also respond past continuous).
2. Review the spelling and pronunciation rules for regular verbs. 
3. Review the most common irregular verbs.

Practice past tense pronunciation – regular and irregular verbs.

Resources are the following:

Tools for Clear Speech 

Eva Easton’s American English Pronunciation –ED course and Irregular Verbs

Distribute the Folktales Listening handout. Have students listen to a video about folk stories, "What is a Folktale?" Video at https://youtu.be/7BHiCjz6nz8

Play the video again, as needed, and then have students compare their answers with a classmate. Next, check as a class and then compare students' list of features with the definition and features provided in the video.

1. Have students listen to you tell a folktale or use an online video of a folktale. Try to choose a story that has a twist in the ending.
2. Two texts that have folktales that you can use are True Lies: 18 Tales for You to Judge and Still More Stories to Solve: Fourteen Folktales from Around the World. Websites with folk stories include http://voicesinthedark.com and Moonlit Road. http://themoonlitroad.com/.
3. If you use a story you read, make a slide show of images and keywords (especially verbs) and print out the slides for note-taking for students as they listen.   
4. Pre-teach vocabulary from the story students may be unfamiliar with. Have students listen and take notes. Then check comprehension.
5. Create comprehension questions or a cloze exercise and have students listen again and complete the activity or answer the questions.
6. Then model for students how to do a structured retelling using the images from the story, focusing on past tense verbs. After students have finished the structured retelling in pairs or small groups, have them work together to solve the problem or determine the ending.
7. Finally reveal the ending or moral of the folk story.

Ask students to name any famous folktales from their native countries. You can open a web browser and search for folk stories from around the world to provide titles if students have trouble naming any. Web sites with Folk Tales from around the world include World of Tales and World Folklore. You can also share a couple of titles and brief summaries of well-known folk stories of Native Americans or from the United States.

Introduce the project prompt: Folk Story Project

For this project, over the next few weeks, you can work alone or with a classmate or classmates to translate and recreate in English a folk story from your native language to share with the class.

You may consult a variety of sources of information for the presentation, including the internet, books, family members, community elders, experts from local community-based organizations, and museums. 

Part I. Translate the story.

Find the story. You can use the websites posted in Canvas and emailed to you. You can also visit the school library, and a librarian can help you find it. If you find the story only in your native language, use Google Translate https://translate.google.com/ or another translator. I should check your English translation to make sure it makes sense, so copy the English translation onto a Microsoft Word or Google Doc and send it to me.

Part II. Research the Story.

Try to find the answers to these questions:

1.    What did you know about the story? As you researched it, does it mean something different from what you thought?

2.    How did it make you feel when you heard it as a child?

3.    How does it make you feel when you hear it today?

4.    Why do you think it is an important part of your native culture?

Part II. Prepare a Visual Aide and your Presentation.

To prepare a visual aide for your presentation, you have many options:

1.    Add an image or two on a Word or Google Doc with the story and read the story.

2.    Make a Google Slideshow or PowerPoint Slideshow with images and read the story. You may narrate the slides and use automatic timings and export them as a video if you like. See instructions on the next pages.

3.    Make a video with images and you reading the story with Adobe Spark Video or Canva. See instructions on the next pages.

4.    Create a brochure or infographic advertisement or movie poster and then read the story. I will share websites for these types of projects.

5.    Write a formal report that summarizes the story and includes an explanation of its history, cultural significance, and personal relevance, and read the story to the class.

At the end of your presentation, answer the questions you answered in Part II.

See Instructions for Adobe Express and Narrating a PowerPoint slideshow and exporting as a video file.

Have students present their digitized folk tales and take audience questions. 

Use a rubric, checklist, or peer evaluation to give feedback. 

If students completed the project in pairs or small groups, refer to the Teaching Skills that Matter Folk Story lesson plan rubric.

Students will be able to reflect on the values of their native cultures as well as use vidual literacy and digital media tools to create an end product.