Story Time
Story Time
Horváth Szana Dorina and Szabó Nikolett
Part 1: The Game
Level & Learning Outcomes
Through participating in this game secondary school students can practice finding evidence and the main idea from the speech of their group mates, so it challenges students to listen for specific words or information and for the overall concept of the speech.
The first part of the game challenges students to use their writing skills in order to create their own stories.
The game is designed for intermediate students.
Materials needed
board-marker
worksheet (Appendix) Printable Worksheet
Object of Game
To get the most points by using as many symbols and by finding out as many symbols of the other pairs as possible. As well as finding out the main idea of the stories of the other pairs.
Rules of Play
Students pair up.
Every group draws a card that tells them a topic (for example: witness of a crime, witness of a supernatural phenomenon, witness of a historical event, witness of a natural disaster)
Students tell the stories as witnesses and the listeners act like investigators trying to pay attention to the details.
The pairs receive a paper with symbols on it. They have to pick at least 5 symbols.
The pairs have to create a story, based on their topic, and symbols they’ve picked.
The pairs have to pick a challenge card (for example repeat every third word; tell your story in rap; speak with an accent; include sound effects; tell the story backwards), and tell the story according to the challenge.
Roles of the story tellers and listeners:
Scorekeeping
Part 2: Reflection
In general, our peers seemed to enjoy the game. They came up with creative and fun stories, and they enjoyed listening to each other’s stories as well.
The symbols could mean different things, if participants put them in different context. However, this game has the possibility to be narrowed down to a specific topic, we want the students to practice. We imagined using this game with Intermediate level students, but it can be used with higher level students as well. Since this game requires coherent writing and speaking, it is only suitable for Beginner level, if it is narrowed down to a specific, certainly learned topic and vocabulary, because if some students use more advanced language elements, the others won’t understand the story, and their confidence might decrease.
We’ve realised that one flaw of this game was, the part where students had to put the symbols in order. The storytelling was so fast, that the listeners could barely select the symbols used, and they didn’t have time to put them in order at the same time, and we cannot expect them to remember the story after only one listening. Our scoring system was overcomplicated. It was difficult for us, teacher to keep track of all the things participants could get point for, and we ourselves got confused as well.
We tried to design the game including all 8 core drives. We gave epic meaning to the game, by putting participants into roles of the witnesses (storytellers) and investigators (listeners). The challenge cards made the story telling and listening more interesting and challenging. We added this element to make it more challenging for our peers. The participants had the autonomy to choose the symbols they’ve wanted to include in their stories. Participants had the chance to cooperate within pair-work, while creating and telling the stories, while also competing with other pairs.
I had an opportunity to try a different version of this game with an Intermediate class I teach. We played it as a whole class activity. The symbols were projected on a smart board, but they were covered and numbered. Students had to pick a number, and use the random symbol under their number. The epic meaning of this game was that they were time travellers, who came back from the future telling someone of their choosing about the future. I choose this context because I wanted them to practice future tense. Everyone had to listen to each other in order to create a coherent story and be able to cooperate. They seemed to enjoy this game pretty much. -HS
The symbols used in the game were not connected to a particular topic. In another version it may be useful to give students symbols from a specific topic in order to practice also the vocabulary they have learnt. This version concentrated on the (at least) intermediate students general writing and listening skills.
As I saw the students, I believe that the game was a joyful activity, students created their own stories with fun and listened for the stories of their peers with curiosity.
What I have realised is that there were many symbols, and it was quite difficult to mark them for the first and only listening, because the reading speed of the students was quite quick. As students couldn’t mark all the symbols used by the other pairs, they couldn’t get any point for guessing the correct order. Concerning the scoring, the scoring system was too complex so it meant difficulty to give points correctly, because we forgot that pairs could get points after those symbols which were not guessed. But it was impossible to keep track which symbols were those that none of the other pairs guessed.
We tried to design the game considering the 8 core drives. The roles of witnesses and investigators gave a sort of an epic meaning or calling to the game, students had to use their creativity to build up their stories, and they received constant feedback by earning points. The challenge cards made the story telling and listening more interesting and challenging. Students also had choices and autonomy in the game because they could choose the symbols that they wanted to use in their story. The members of the pairs cooperated with each other and competed with other pairs. The stories of the other pairs made students curious and the voting for the best story at the end made the game unpredictable. SN
Part 3 Appendix
Appendix: Work sheet
Order of symbols:
Group1: Group2: Group3: Group4:
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