The third book chosen is“ The Wooden Horse”, the classic Greek myth written by Homer, which is for Upper-Intermediate Level. Myths and legends help children to design in their heads the concept of origin and purpose of the world and of ideals, which they may follow. The Greek army has been sent to Troy to recapture Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. The Greek commander, Odysseus, comes up with a tricky plan to get inside the heavily defended city.
Before reading, teacher shows pictures related to Ancient Greece( monuments, statues, artifacts) and the book’ s cover. The purpose is to guess the story and to say the names of the main characters. Teacher could also ask what are these characters famous for, expecting answers like beauty, cunning, epic journey. The discussion could go on about the Greek mythology and the Greek gods.
During reading teacher might ask some of these questions:“ Does Helen look happy to be Menelaus’ wife?”( p. 4),“ What weapons are the soldiers using? [ Swords, spears, bows and arrows.]“ What’ s stopping them from getting into Troy?”( p. 13),“ Why are the Trojans so happy?”( pp. 30-31),“ Would you stay angry with Helen, or would you be glad to have her back and go home?”( p. 45).
After reading, students might receive a worksheet with different kind of exercises: matching the words to the pictures, True / False, matching the halves, finding the mistakes. The writing activity might ask students to imagine how they could present the dramatic Wooden Horse story in a TV news report.
As a close-up activity, teacher might ask students why they think this is one of the world’ s most popular stories, trying to elicit words like love story, war story, a story of a clever trick. Follow-up activities play an important role as they develop students’ skills especially their productive ones such as writing( e. g. writing letters and postcards, notetaking, etc.) and speaking( e. g. interviewing, role-play, questionnaires, etc.). They“ should provide opportunities to extend and consolidate language or topics introduced through a story”. 6 Students can make a poster, a book, a collage, a greetings card or other things based on story, they can organize an event or play a part of the story. Students may express their own ideas in follow up activities that means that students’ creativity is encouraged.
In conclusion, using the Usborne Reading Program books for teaching stories at school can create a more positive attitude to learning English. They develop self-esteem, help children explore, share emotions and come to a better understanding of themselves. Students consider it a magical experience in which a goldmine of language may be learned. The Usborne Reading Program offers a wide range of teaching materials which simplify teachers’ work and provide a positive learning experience.
Bibliography: Ellis, G( 2006). Teacher competencies in a story-based approach. Munich: Langenscheidt ELT GmbH. Ellis, G and Brewster, J.( 2002). Tell it Again! London: Penguin. Ellis, G( 2010). Promoting diversity through children’ s literature. London: British Council. Goleman, D.( 1995). Emotional intelligence: why it can matter more than IQ. New York, Bantam Books. Gonzalez, N. P.( 2010). Teaching English through Stories: A Meaningful and Fun Way for Children to Learn the Language. Bogota, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, http:// www. revistas. unal. edu. co / index. php / profile / article / view / 13855 / 36809( last accessed 1 May 2017) Robinson, K.( 2016). Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That ' s Transforming Education. New York: Penguin.
6 Gail Ellis and Jean Brewster, Tell it Again!, London, Penguin 2002, p. 17 42