This storytelling game is one of my favourite and children love it. As with other games, you play in partners and it works like this:
1. Establish what the words ‘fortunately’ and ‘unfortunately’ mean. Lucky/unlucky is a commonly understood explanation but stick to the new words.
2. Model the story game yourself first with a confident speaker of English. You start a story, any story, but saying ‘Fortunately….” And then you outline a fortunate event. For example (and one I used in my class), Fortunately, I made it to the bus on time this morning. Keep it short and simple.
3. Instruct the student to give the next step in the story but make it unfortunate. Unfortunately, the bus broke down because a tire burst.
4. You now continue the story but turn the events into lucky ones. Fortunately, I had just read a book about changing tires, so I knew I could help.
5. Unfortunately, the information in the book was wrong and you ended up making the bus worse so that it couldn't work again! (One of my students actually said that.)
6. Keep going, back and forth. The escalation in events will be perceived as automatically funny by the children and they will delight in knowing what is going to happen next.
7. From the outset, set the standard storytelling game rules – no toilet humour, no jokes at anyone’s expense and no violence.
8. An additional aspect to this game is to guide the children from just making one problem worse and worse. Instead, the story needs to move along to the next problem. Resolution – problem – resolution – problem. The sequence, escalation and continuation will help develop the student’s awareness of depth in story structure and plotting.
9. OK, so after all of that, ask the students to pick pairs and let them try. Remember to stop them and tell them to swap roles. They will love the game and ask to play it more.
10. Unfortunately we have to do other tasks now.
11. Ohhhhhh!
12. Fortunately, we can play the game again later/tomorrow.
13. Horay!
1. Establish what the words ‘fortunately’ and ‘unfortunately’ mean. Lucky/unlucky is a commonly understood explanation but stick to the new words.
2. Model the story game yourself first with a confident speaker of English. You start a story, any story, but saying ‘Fortunately….” And then you outline a fortunate event. For example (and one I used in my class), Fortunately, I made it to the bus on time this morning. Keep it short and simple.
3. Instruct the student to give the next step in the story but make it unfortunate. Unfortunately, the bus broke down because a tire burst.
4. You now continue the story but turn the events into lucky ones. Fortunately, I had just read a book about changing tires, so I knew I could help.
5. Unfortunately, the information in the book was wrong and you ended up making the bus worse so that it couldn't work again! (One of my students actually said that.)
6. Keep going, back and forth. The escalation in events will be perceived as automatically funny by the children and they will delight in knowing what is going to happen next.
7. From the outset, set the standard storytelling game rules – no toilet humour, no jokes at anyone’s expense and no violence.
8. An additional aspect to this game is to guide the children from just making one problem worse and worse. Instead, the story needs to move along to the next problem. Resolution – problem – resolution – problem. The sequence, escalation and continuation will help develop the student’s awareness of depth in story structure and plotting.
9. OK, so after all of that, ask the students to pick pairs and let them try. Remember to stop them and tell them to swap roles. They will love the game and ask to play it more.
10. Unfortunately we have to do other tasks now.
11. Ohhhhhh!
12. Fortunately, we can play the game again later/tomorrow.
13. Horay!