Active learning - Story telling

Children learn in many different ways and have different learning styles. Opportunities for children to experience language through song and rhyme, storytelling and games offer children ways to interact with the new language and with one another in a dynamic and social environment.

Through active methods and physical response children feel safe to explore and experiment with the new sounds. For those who prefer to listen and observe, they absorb the new language by watching others and gradually increase in confidence, until they too are joining in, responding to what they hear and see and engaging with others in short conversations and role-play.

Joining in story

A visiting teacher introduces and tells a new story in German about a cat to the class, using a soft toy to present the title. Children join in saying the key sentences and words while performing actions and sound effects. Children are able to tell some of the story themselves by using previously learnt language and by reading some of the words.