If you’re wondering about which stories to share with your classes, in particular Years 3 and 4, you need look no further than the QCDA Schemes of Work, available to order as a hard copy from the QCDA website or to download from the Standards site.

The schemes (published in French, Spanish and German) contain a range of excellent stories suitable for young learners, providing enjoyment and stimulating language learning opportunities.

The stories also:

• link directly to the learning objectives of the Key Stage 2 Framework for languages
• offer opportunities for extended language work
• provide points of phonic focus
• have a range of activities that can be developed and extended

Examples include:

• Unit 5: The Four Friends French German Spanish
• Unit 6: Jack and the Beanstalk French German Spanish
• Unit 9: Sleeping Beauty French German Spanish
• Unit 12: The fable of the Wind and the Sun French German Spanish

Getting started

Typically, once you have chosen the unit and story appropriate for your age group, you might choose to adopt the following approach:

- Think about your seating of the children for the story: will they be at tables, or sitting around you at your feet?

- Explain to the children they are going to hear the story, and discuss what it might be about, generating enthusiasm and interest.

- Introduce the key vocabulary and structures of the story, either with realia, flashcards or an electronic presentation. The children listen and repeat and their curiosity is stimulated.

- Then the main bit….. tell them the story, with lots of expression and draw them in!

- You could then re-read the story, encouraging the children to join in as a chorus.

Development

Focus on the phonic points you wish to teach and encourage the children to repeat them. Then play a range of games with the sounds, such as asking the children to make a response when they hear the sound.

Distribute to pairs of children words, phrases or sentences from the story, cut into strips. Re-read the story and, when the children hear their word, phrase or sentence they wave it in the air.

Narrate the story (or ask someone confident in the language to do this for you) and let the children act it out. If you have costumes this could be huge fun and might even feature as a class assembly!

Take digital pictures and, using ICT, write brief captions to the story.

Above all else, you will be giving the children an enjoyable, stimulating learning experience and furthering their confidence and language knowledge.

Now, are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin. Once upon a time…