Reading sessions and storytelling are fantastic ways to teach a new language. Are you looking for ways to make your storytelling sessions more interactive? Worry not! We’ve got just what you need.
Through our Book Lovers’ Program for Schools, our storytellers have promoted the joy of reading to countless students over the past ten years. As a result, we have tons of tips and tricks to make your storytelling and reading sessions more fun and interactive!
The storybooks used in this article are from the Best of Indian Children’s Writing List. These books have been specifically chosen for their engaging plots and diverse characters. Another important criterion is how well they work in classrooms during storytelling and reading sessions. All of these books are guaranteed hits with the children they’re aimed at! (Read more about our Reading Levelling Process here).
So go ahead and try these stories out in class!
We have previously written about how language learning needs to be aided by activities. To recap, in the BLPS method we split our process into 3 broad steps:
1. Pre-storytelling Activities
2. Storytelling & Book Reading Sessions
3. Post-reading Activities
Session Plans for Level 1
1. Annual Haircut Day
Story Theme: Change
Author: Rohini Nilekani
Publisher: Pratham Books
Price: ₹ 40
Summary
Sringeri Srinivas has grown to become a beloved character among our students. In this book, he is in desperate need of someone who will cut his hair on his annual haircut day. His barber is busy, so he asks anyone who has a cutting or chopping tool to cut his hair for him. He requests his wife, his tailor and even his carpenter, but everyone’s too busy to help him out. Finally, a very unlikely source solves all his problems.
Pre-storytelling Activities
Act out the different professions introduced in the book and ask your students to guess who you are. For example, use a sawing motion to denote a carpenter. Use the same action during your storytelling and your kids will instantly recognize the character.
Storytelling & Reading
Annual Haircut Day is an incredibly fun and silly story that kids will definitely enjoy. It’s one of our favourite books for reading sessions! You need to exaggerate Sringeri Srinivas’ frustration at not finding someone to cut his hair. Surprise your kids with the ending by using a tiger mask at the right time. Take your storytelling to the next level by wearing a wig. You can remove it during the ending to denote how Sringeri Srinivas loses all his hair. Your kids will go crazy.
The story itself is very simple, with lots of repetition. The answer to Sringeri Srinivas’ question is the same throughout. After the first two times, ask your kids to answer. This way, they will be fully involved in the story.
Post-reading Activities
Since there are multiple professions introduced in this book (barber, tailor, carpenter), during reading sessions, ask your kids what they want to be when they grow up. Have a discussion on the different tools they use to cut or chop. The barber uses scissors, his wife uses a knife, and so on.
Click here to download activities for Annual Haircut Day from our Level 1 activity book.
2. Ramya’s Snack Box
Story Theme: Friends
Author: C G Salamander
Publisher: Ms Moochie Books
Price: ₹ 150
Summary
The Ramu and Ramya Series are written in rhyme and rhythm with the goal of helping little learners’ read independently. The first book of the series, Ramya’s Snack box, gently explores the concept of sharing without being overtly moralistic.
Pre-storytelling Activities
You can start the reading sessions with a discussion about everyone’s favourite foods. Ask your students to describe their favourite snacks. They will go crazy trying to come up with the most delicious snack.
You can give them a shape and ask them to find a food item that fits that shape. For example, a Samosa would be a triangle-shaped food.
Hook your students onto the story by using sound. Put some items into a snack box and rattle it. Ask your kids to guess what’s in the box.
Storytelling & Reading
Like with all storytelling, exaggeration works like a charm! Exaggerate the reluctance with which Ramya shares her snacks, and definitely overplay her hunger. Spend time on her emotions and describe the roller-coaster of feelings in which she goes from surprised to mad to hungry, and finally, to sad.
Kids love the way Ramya’s friends help her out at the end, and the satisfying ending leaves them itching to read the book.
The colourful pictures, illustrated by Chetan Sharma, adds to the magic of the book. During reading sessions, you can take your kids on a picture walk as a way to transition from listening to the story to reading independently.
(Learn more about picture walks here.)
Post-reading Activities
After the storytelling and readings are done, ask your students to talk about instances in their life where they’ve shared something with others, or when someone else has shared something with them. This is a good way to reiterate the ‘moral’ of the story, without forcing it.
Click here to download some fun activities for Ramya’s Snack Box from our Level 1 activity book.
Session Plans for Level 2
3. Gajapati Kulapati
Story Theme: Animal Stories
Author: Ashok Rajagopalan
Publisher: Tulika Books
Price: ₹ 150
Summary
Written and illustrated by Ashok Rajagopalan, Gajapati Kulapati is about a lovable elephant who keeps getting into hilarious situations. This is a series of 3 books, all of which are universally loved. Written in simple prose, the stories are fun to perform and make for great reading sessions.
Pre-storytelling Activities
Ask your students to tell you about their favourite animal. Wait until one kid shouts out ‘elephant’ and quickly transition into the story about the lovable elephant, Gajapati! If no one mentions elephant, you can prompt your kids by asking leading questions such as ‘What about bigger animals?’ and so on.
Another great activity that kids will love- Animal sounds!
While this has the possibility of getting out of control, kids will truly enjoy being asked to make different animal sounds. Give them a list of animals and end it with elephant sounds.
Storytelling & Reading
In the first book of the series, Gajapati catches a BIG sneeze! Involve your kids in the story, just like Janaki Sabesh does in this video!
You can also use stick puppets and put on a little show for your students.
The book has simple language that the kids will love to read out loud. Ask them to repeat after you or encourage them to read it on their own.
Post-reading Activities
With younger students, we use a lot of creative activities that will keep them involved in the story. For this book, you can print out elephant templates like these and ask them to colour it in. You can give out a list of animals and ask your kids to draw them in their natural habitats.
You can also ask your students to imagine what it would sound like if their favourite animals sneezed!
4. The Night Monster
Story Theme: Family
Author: Sushree Mishra
Publisher: Karadi Tales
Price: ₹ 399
Summary
The Night Monster is a beautifully illustrated picture book published by Karadi Tales. Avi’s fear of the night-time leaves him unable to sleep. Noticing this, his sister urges him to write a letter to the ‘Night Monster’ that’s keeping him awake. Avi does, and lo-and-behold, he receives a response!
Pre-storytelling Activities
Start the session by having a discussion about your students’ deepest, darkest fears. Ask them what keeps them up at night and how they overcome their fears. (Just make sure it doesn’t get too morbid, or it might land you in hot water with their parents!)
If you want to keep things light, ask them about their favourite horror movies. Talk about the different monsters they’ve seen in these movies and try to come to a consensus on the scariest monster of them all.
Storytelling & Reading
One fact that can never be disputed is that kids LOVE horror stories. The Night Monster will terrify your kids (in a good way, of course) and delight them in equal measure. So, set the mood accordingly. Close the windows, turn the lights off and start talking in low whispers. Exaggerate the sounds of the Night Monster, the shadows it creates and the fear that Avi feels.
The story ends on a light note, where it is revealed that the person replying to Avi’s letters is his sister. And the Night Monster turns out to be an owl. Make sure your storytelling reflects this change in tone so that your kids will not be too terrified to read the book.
Post-reading Activities
Continue the discussion on fears. Ask them if Avi’s fear was justified. Talk about why he was afraid of the dark.
Help your students conquer their fears! Ask them to draw the scariest monster they can imagine. Then ask them to draw a scene depicting the monster being slain. You can ask them to write down some animals that they find scary. What will they do if they come face to face with those animals?
Click here to download some activities for The Night Monster from our Level 2 activity book.
Session Plans for Level 3
5. A Silly Story of Bondapalli
Story Theme: Kings and Queens
Author: Shamim Padamsee
Publisher: Tulika
Price: ₹ 150
Summary
This book definitely stays true to its name. The story is silly, funny and a guaranteed hit with all age groups! It is about how the Bonda came to be (fictionally, of course). The story follows a prince who hates anything cooked by the Royal Chef. Eventually, the Chef inadvertently creates the magical Bonda- the one dish that the prince loves! So much so that they rename their town ‘Bondapalli’.
Fun fact: Bondapalli is an actual village in South India!
Pre-storytelling Activities
Any food story should include an activity about your students’ favourite foods. This will immediately hook them onto the story and get them salivating. During your storytelling, incorporate the dishes they mention.
You can also ask your students to guess what food item you’re talking about, based solely on the descriptions.
Post-reading Activities
You can ask them to talk about the yuckiest food items they’ve been forced to eat (be prepared to hear a lot of vegetables!) Ask them why they don’t like it and what they would do to improve the taste.
The story can also be turned into a small skit, depending on the age group of your kids. You can split them up into groups and give them one scene each to perform. Help them out if they need it, but give them the space to explore the story on their own.
Storytelling + Reading
The story itself will easily lend itself to a great storytelling session. You can make it even better by exaggerating the funny scenes in the story, such as the prince’s reluctance to eat the yummy food (use your students’ favourite foods here!) or the Chef’s fear of being executed. Voice modulation will also work well here. Use a royal voice for the King and Queen and a timid voice for the Chef.
The beautiful illustrations (by Ashok Rajagopalan) can lend itself to a picture walk. Do this after the storytelling so it will be like a mini recap of the story. This will make it easier for your kids to eventually read the story on their own.
6. Angry Akku
Theme: Learning a Lesson
Author: Vinayak Varma
Publisher: Pratham Books
Price: ₹ 40
Summary
Akku has had the worst day at school. Even Appa’s yummy buttermilk and crunchy vadas don’t make her feel better. Appa tries to find out what happened that made her so angry in the first place. And by allowing her the space to explore her feelings, he makes her forget to be angry!
Pre-storytelling Activities
Talk to your kids about what makes them angry. Is it waking up early in the morning, or being forced to eat veggies for dinner? Ask them how they react when they’re angry. What do they do to feel better?
Storytelling & Reading
The story of Akku’s anger can be narrated very simply. You can exaggerate Akku’s distaste for all the nice things Appa points out to her. When Appa asks her to draw about the bad thing that happened in school, you can draw the same on your blackboard.
You can also introduce the story through a read along. Walk your kids through the illustrations. See if they notice the colour of Akku’s ‘anger’ changing from dark red to a mellow pink.
Post-reading Activities
Start a discussion with your students about Akku’s reaction to her bad day. Was it justified? Ask them how they felt about Appa asking Akku to draw.
Ask your kids to draw the worst thing that happened to them. Use this opportunity to talk to them about positive anger management methods.
Conclusion
You might have noticed that I didn’t elaborate too much on the reading part of the session plan. I feel that this part needs to be uniquely tailored to the level of each class, and if possible, to each student. Have a mix of the different types of reading methods so as to not bore your kids. The books listed here, and most picture books, in fact, are great when they’re read out loud.
Feel free to use these activities as templates for any book that you’ve chosen. Just remember to keep the activities as connected to the story as you can.
Read more about what to look for while choosing a book here.
Also read: 5 Session Plans with BICW Books for more storytelling ideas.
Confused about what book to pick for storytelling? Need more advice on how to create classroom activities based on storybooks? Want more session plans for other BICW books?
We’re happy to help!
Write to us at go@getfreadom.com!
Also check out other children’s books from the Best of Indian Children’s Writing (BICW) Collection!
fREADom App
A productive screen time app for ages 3 to 12, that focuses on improving English Language skills.
fREADom LIVE
Online English classes for ages 5 to 12. Proven methods for children to improve academic performance and confidence.
2 comments