ESL Lessons: Story Writing for Elementary Students

Step 1 ; The teacher should prepare the sequence of pictures so that the students can clearly see them. For small children, flashcards that can be stuck to the board are ideal. For older students, the pictures are best presented on a worksheet. This allows them to make notes and leaves no excuse for not finishing as the task can then be set as homework.

Step 2 ; Go through the pictures and try to elicit a verb for each one. Write the verbs on the board and encourage the students to make a note of them on their worksheets. For young children, the teacher will assume responsibility for recording the words by writing them on the board.

This stage can be turned into a game whereby students are awarded points for the most interesting verbs. With older students, a selection of verbs for each picture can be created, and the students can choose which one to use later on. This will ensure that the teacher doesn't have to endure the pain of reading 30 identical stories. (More if you are working in a less developed country with a higher number of students in each class.)

Step 3 ; This step is for good elementary students upwards, and should be ignored for small children.

Ask the students to convert the verbs from their present tense form, to the past simple tense form. Again, this step can be turned into a competition by awarding points for the fastest correct answer.

Step 4 ; The teacher should then try to elicit sentences from the students, using the past tense form of the verbs allotted for each picture. The teacher could try a "verbs into a hat" activity here, whereby students pick a piece of paper from a bag/hat with a verb on it, and complete a sentence. Alternatively, students can simply put up their hands to make a sentence. Points can be given for every correct sentence made, and extra points for the most interesting and creative sentences.

Step 5 ; Here, the youngest learners can write out their sentences and draw a picture to make a colourful display to put on the wall, or send home to mother and father. This either earns the teacher respect from their employer (and a pay rise? Probably not.) Or, "isn't he/she a great teacher" glee factor from the parents (which will hopefully get back to your employer, but probably still not result in a pay increase.)

The older learners can do a similar presentation, minus the picture and colouring (although you could try it, I'd be interested to know the reaction). At this point they will also need some guidance as to how to put the sentences into paragraphs.

Step 6 ; Ask some of the students to read their stories out in front of the class. This not only lengthens the time of the activity but also provides reading practice for the students (at least this is what I tell my boss when he sees me sitting down with a coffee, listening to endless stuttering).