Showing posts with label Story Time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Story Time. Show all posts

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Fred and Ted Go Camping by Peter Eastman


I've already done this story before as part of my Storybooks ESL Listening, but I was doing it for a Kindergarten class recently, and so I found it useful to convert it into another format.  

Google Drive Folder HERE
Slideshow: slides, pub
Matching activity: slides, pub
Coloring sheet: slides, pub
Lesson Plan: docs, pub
 

Target vocabulary:  many, few, hard easy, asleep awake, early, late, heavy, late, wet, dry, big, little


Content objective: Read Fred and Ted Go Camping for General Understanding
                  Be able to distinguish between the two characters, and identify their characteristics

 Language objective: adjectives for opposities


Stage Name

timing

Procedure

Expectations and Learning Target

10:25-

10:30


Lead-in 

10:30-10:35

Slide 3 on the slideshow.  Elicit from students what the situation is.  Get them to predict any problems that could happen while camping.  Use slide 4 for support if necessary

Gist Reading

10:35-10:45

Read Story

Vocabulary

10:45-10:50

Slides 47-60.  Elicit the vocabulary from students.  Provide vocabulary where necessary.  Confirm that students understand which vocabulary applies to which character

Distinguish characteristics

10:50-

11:00

Matching worksheet–demo the first one with students, then have them complete the rest of it at their desks.  Students draw a line from the adjective to the character.  If necessary, go back to slides 47-60 to remind students of the answers

Time allowing


Coloring Sheet



Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff


This is another book by Syd Hoff, who also wrote Sammy the Seal.  Although unlike Sammy the Seal, I don't think I've read this book in my childhood.  At least not that I can remember.

The premise, however, is golden--a young boy gets to spend a day playing with a dinosaur.  How could you not go wrong with a book like that?  And indeed, it went over pretty well with my students.
Unfortunately, there are a couple pages near the beginning of the book which are a bit dated: stereotypical portrayals of Indians and Eskimos, as well as some depictions of guns and swords.  These things made me pause a bit before taking it into the classroom, but I ultimately decided that the positives of this book outweigh the negatives.

Supplementary Materials
Google Drive Folder HERE
Slideshow: slides, pub
Circle the things in the story worksheet: docs, pub
Coloring sheet: docs, pub

Sunday, January 18, 2026

It's Not Easy Being a Bunny by Marilyn Sadler

I've already done this story before as part of my Storybooks ESL Listening, but I was doing it for a Kindergarten class recently, and so I found it useful to convert it into another format.  

Supplementary Materials:
Google Drive Folder HERE
Slideshow: slides, pub
Matching Worksheet: docs, pub
Animal cards: docs, pub
Lesson Plan: docs, pub



Objectives: Understanding the main idea of the story, understanding key details from the story, predicting and checking

Language objectives: animal names


Lead-in/ Building Background: Show picture of rabbits.  Elicit from students what they already know about rabbits.  Elicit from students what problems rabbits could have


Reading: Gist Question: Read story for understanding of main ideas. At each stage, get students to predict what problems living with the animals will have.


Language skill: drill the names of the animals


Reading Skill: Key details--use this sheet to match the animals with their characteristics


Time allowing: more practice on animal names with the cards

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Flap Your Wings by P.D. Eastman


I've already done this story before as part of my Storybooks ESL Listening, but I was doing it for a Kindergarten class recently, and so I found it useful to convert it into another format.  

Supplementary Materials:
Google Drive HERE
Lesson plan: docs, pub
Google Slides: slides, pub
Compare and Contrast Worksheet: docs, pub
Coloring Sheet: docs, pub
My Video HERE

Objectives: Understanding the main idea of the story 

Compare and contrast


Lead-in: Show picture of bird sitting on eggs in nest.  Elicit from students what they already know about the picture.  Elicit or teach about how birds sit on nest eggs to build background.


Reading: Gist Question: Read story for understanding of main ideas.  Introduce the question: “Whose egg is it?”  Read story, and then check for understanding.


Reading Skill: Compare and contrast--use this sheet.  Which pictures go with birds?  Which with alligators?  Which with both?


Fast Finishers: Work on coloring sheet

Thursday, December 04, 2025

A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer


I've posted versions of this book twice before (here and here), but I've retooled this for one of my Story Time lessons.  I used the images on this youtube video for creating the slideshow.

My materials for this book are below:
Google Drive HERE
Slideshow: slides, pub
A great sequencing activity can be found here on Teachers Pay Teachers.  (This particular resource is free, although you will need to create an account and log-in.)
Coloring sheet: docs, pub


Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4pPoP0O     (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

Tuesday, December 02, 2025

Big Dog... Little Dog by P.D. Eastman


Once againI've already done this book before as part of my Storybooks ESL Listening, but I was doing it for a Kindergarten class recently, and so I found it useful to convert it into another format.  I found a copy of the book online here.

In my class, we read through the book together as an all class activity.  Then we did a compare and contrast worksheet. [It's actually all contrast.] I also created a coloring sheet (using Google Gemini) for fast finishers.

Supplementary Material:
Google drive HERE
Google Slides: slidespub
Compare and Contrast sheet: docs, pub
Coloring Sheet: docs, pub
My video HERE


Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4pKNzHt      (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss


I've already done this book before as part of my Storybooks ESL Listening, but I was doing it for a Kindergarten class recently, and so I found it useful to convert it into another format.  I found a copy of the book online here.  I also used screenshots from a Youtube video that counted all the wacky things.

In my class, I did most of this as an all class activity, but for the final wacky count, I gave students each a copy of the page, and they tried to circle all the wacky things, before I revealed the answers.

Supplementary Material:
Google drive HERE
Google Slides: slides, pub
My video HERE
I also found coloring pages can also be found at this link here.



Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JSeC4p      (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

Friday, April 05, 2024

The Gingerbread Man and The Stinky Cheese Man: Write Your Own Twisted Fairy Tale

(TESOL Materials--Time FillersWritingStorytimeInteresting Input plus Production Prompts)

Google Drive Folder HERE
Slideshow: slides, pub
Worksheet: docs, pub

This is the latest entry in my Interesting Input plus Production Prompts collection.
The input is a reading of The Gingerbread Man (link to PDF HERE).  Then, I ask my students how the story might be different if the Gingerbread Man was made out of stinky cheese instead.  Then we go to the Stinky Cheese Man (link to picture book HERE--skip to p.36.)
Then the production prompt is for students to write their own twisted version of a famous fairy tale: docs, pub.
In my class, they were having trouble thinking of ideas, so I gave them a few more examples from the Stinky Cheese Man book.  First, I asked them if they knew the story of the Frog Prince.  They said they did, and I asked the class to tell it to me.  Then, I showed them the version on pages 18-19.  I did the same thing with the Ugly Duckling (p.14-17) and The Princess and the Pea (p.12-13), etc.
In fact, once I got thinking about it, there's no shortage of examples of subverted fairy tales out there:
This Playlist of Fractured Fairy Tale Cartoons, for example, could also be used as input.
In fact, as I thought about it, I remembered I had even written a subverted fairy tale back in 6th grade: The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood--which I then went on to film and add to my Storytime collection.

Think of a well-known fairy tale or folk tale.  Retell the fairy tale, but give it a twist to make it different than the original


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Saturday, March 30, 2024

The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood: ESL Listening Story Time



[Notes: This is a story I wrote in 6th grade.  I had originally posted it on my other blog, Literary Endeavors, over here.  I am now repurposing it for my Story Time: ESL Listening Project.
I had previously flirted with the idea of posting my turning my old childhood stories into Youtube videos a couple years ago, and ended up deciding against the project.
But, I'm making an exception in this particular case, because this particular story lines up so well with one of my Interesting Input plus Production Prompts ideas, specifically the idea for students to write a subversion of a well-known fairy tale.  (I'll post about this soon.)  So in the process of thinking about subversion of fairy tales, I naturally thought of my own contribution.]

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/e8e7WgW6wQk

The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood


I am the "so-called" big bad wolf in the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Let me tell you the real story.

One day when I was feeling bored, a chubby little girl was skipping through the woods, eating as she went. "Where are you going little girl?" I asked.

"I'm just going on a picnic," she said as she flung her red cape around her shoulders.

At this point I was so bored I was willing to do anything. "Can I go on the picnic?" I asked.

"Sure, the more the merrier," chimed the little girl. We went to a nice quiet river and began to chow down. The little girl must have had eyes bigger than her mouth because she had packed enough food for days.  There were lots of fruits and vegetables and healthy food, but the little girl just ate all the candy and nothing else. I ate nothing because it was all people food, and I just waited patiently for the picnic games to begin.

After the girl had polished off the last piece of candy, she shook my paw, thanked me for coming, and started back to her house.

"Isn't your mother going to be mad when she sees that all you ate was candy?" I called out.

She froze. "You're right," she said. "As long as I'm in the area, I'll drop the rest off at Grandmother's house."

"One more thing," I added. "Aren't we supposed to play games? I didn't come to the picnic just to watch you eat."

"If you're so big about games," she said, "then we'll play 'Who can get to Granny's house first'. I'll go this way, and you go that way, and the first one who gets to Granny's house wins."

It was a dumb game, but I was so bored I was willing to do anything. I ran like the wind, and would have won except that on the way I saw three houses, a straw house, a stick house, and a brick house. I went to the straw house and…

...Well, that's another story altogether. Anyway, to sum it up, I ate two pigs, and almost got cooked myself after a narrow escape. The point is, because of this little detour I came to the house last.

Meanwhile Little Red Riding Hood had gotten to the house first and went inside. Her Grandmother had recently had plastic surgery done. But the surgeon was an amateur, and he had had equipment problems, and the results were that poor grandmother had ended up looking very weird. Because of this she was not feeling well and was lying in bed, trying to recover.

Little Red Riding Hood went into her grandmother's hut. "Oh, Grandmother, what big hands you have," said Little Red Riding Hood.

"The better to hug you, my dear," answered the grandmother.

"Oh, Grandmother, what big eyes you have."

"The better to see you, my dear."

"Oh, Grandmother, what big ears you have."

"The better to hear you, my dear."

"Oh Grandmother, what a big mouth you have."

"The better to eat you, my dear." Then they both laughed, because Grandmother had been joking.

Just about this time I arrived. When I walked through the door, Grandmother saw me and jumped out of bed in a fright and ran around the room screaming. Little Red Riding Hood, upon seeing this, thought that maybe Granny had really lost it after all, and hadn't been joking about eating her.

A Woodsman heard the commotion, and ran into the house. Seeing everyone running around, he naturally assumed the wolf was to blame, and cut my stomach open. Two little pigs came running out of my stomach, and I blacked out.

Little Red Riding Hood thought I would be hungry now that my lunch had run out of my stomach, so she filled up my stomach with rocks so I wouldn't be hungry.

I awakened to see the woodsman with his axe standing over me, so I decided to play dead. Fortunately, everyone bought it.

When Little Red Riding Hood got home, she ran to her mother and said, "You'll never guess what happened. I was bringing food to Granny's and--."

"I thought you were going on a picnic. You were bringing food to Grandmother's house? Why how sweet," her mother interrupted.

"And I met this wolf after we went on a picnic--"

"Picnic?" Her mother asked.

"I mean after I met him, he wanted to play a game, so he went one way and I went the other and I got there first, but Granny had turned into a wolf and I said, 'Grandmother, what a big mouth you have," and she said, 'The better to eat you my dear.' I thought she was kidding at first but then..."

And she told the rest of the story.

Well, you know how mothers are. The mother drew her own conclusion from the story, and told all the rest of the mothers. And that's how the story that you know came to be.


Sunday, March 17, 2024

That's Good! That's Bad! by Margery Cuyler and David Catrow: Storytime and Writing Prompt

(TESOL Materials--Time FillersWritingStorytimeInteresting Input plus Production Prompts)

Google Folder HERE
The Storytime slides are here: slidespub.  (The images come from this Youtube video here.)
I also created a sequencing activity for this story (cut up and then have the students put this in the correct order): docs, pub

I came across this story, and I thought it would be a great little addition to my Interesting Input plus Production Prompts collection



The follow-up writing prompt is here: docs, pub

That’s Good! That’s Bad! Write your own story


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