Handout

1. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
Whatischildren’sliterature?
Itisliteraturewrittenforchildrenandnotnecessarilybychildren,althoughsometimes
childrenmayanddowriteit.
Toentertheworldofchildren’sliterature,onemustentertheworldofsong,play,anddance;
theworldofbrightcoloredbookswithbeautifulillustrationsfullofsurprising,mysterious,
andfantasticelementsofeverydaylife.
Children’sliteratureblendsyourdreamswithsufferingandthusseekstodevelopchildren’s
imaginationthroughriddlesandrhymes,laughterandhappiness;throughfairytalesand
moralizingfables;throughmodernscience-fictionandaccountsofheroicdeedsordeedsthat
contrasttheactionofthegoodchildwiththebad.
Thenatureofliterature
Basicallychildren’sliteratureencirclesnarrativeslikefablesandmyths,fairytalesandstories;
plays,poetry,andtraditionalliteraturesuchasriddles,rhymes,sayings,etc.
Whatisanarrative?
Theyarethemostextensivetypeofliterature,inadditiontobeingachronologically-based
story;anarrativeisanexpressionofapeople–itsvalues,itstraditions,anditscustoms.
Whatismyth?
It’sanoldnarrativeboundtotheoriginofpeoplethatattemptstoexplainnaturalphenomena
andissaturatedwiththesupernatural,fablesareshortpopularmoralizingsermonsinwhich
theycharactersareanimals. «TheTortoiseandtheHare»
Fairytales
Thecharactersinfairytalesaregenerallychildrenoryoungpeopleofmarryingagewhoact
andareportrayedlikechildren;theyhavebutoneoutstandingfeature:theyarebigorsmall,
weakorstrong,beautifulorugly,obedientordisobedient,goodorbad,modestorproud,etc.

2. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
Theyareeasytounderstandandthe childdoesnotgetlostincomplicatedplots.Thesettingis
neverdescribedindetail;itisfeltorsensedintuitively–fairytalesareabsolutelychildren’s
favorite.
Theater
Inthetheateralltheactionispresentedinadialogueformwhichisnotintendedtoberead:it
isintendedforliverepresentationonthestage.Itcanberepresentedbychildrenoradults,but
onlyfortheamusementanddelightofchildren.
Throughparticipationinplaysthechildlearnstomemorizeandrepeatlanguagewiththe
expressionofnaturalspeech;learnsbodyexpression,languageuse,enunciation,voice
projection,vocabulary,etc.
Poetry
Poetryisyetanothercategoryofchildren’sliterature. Children’senthusiasmforpoetrymakes
theanswereasytofind,forbeforetheystarttoread,theyhavestartedtoappreciateitthesame
wayourancestorsdid:aurally,throughear. Andlikeourancestorswhodidnotread,children
reactwithgreatjoyandpleasurewhentheyhearselectionsinverse. «Sayitagain,sayit
again!»
Meetingtheneedsoftheyoungstudents
TomeettheneedsoftheyoungEFLstudentthroughchildren’sliterature,theteachermust
identifytheobjectivesofthelesson;generallythesearepredeterminedbytheschoolinascope
andsequenceofobjectivesforagivenagegrouporgradelevel.
Thenextstepistofindthestory,fable,poem,etc.,thatwillhelpattainthoseobjectives
Thefollowingsuggestionsareusefulinmakingthedecisiontouseorrejecta selection:
1. Istheleveloflanguagetoocomplicated?Canandshouldthelanguagebemodifiedto
matchthestudents’levelofcomprehension?
2. Arethelanguagepatternseasytouse?

3. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
3. Canrepetitionoflanguagepatternsbeaddedwithoutdistortion?
4. Isitsuitablefordramatizationandroleplaying?
5. Doesitutilizethetwoworldsofchildren,therealworldandtheimaginary?
6. Istherethepotentialforintegratingcultural,cognitive,affective,andpsychomotor
objectives?
Oncetheselectionismade,thelessoncanbeplanned.
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood’s mother says, “Little Red Riding Hood! Come here. Take this basket
to your grandmother. There are sandwiches and there is a cake in the basket. Be careful!
There is a wolf in the forest and he is very dangerous.”
Little Red Riding Hood walks in the forest. There are many big trees and beautiful flowers in
the forest and the birds are singing. Little Red Riding Hood likes flowers and she picks them.
She doesn’t see the wolf hiding behind the tree. The wolf is thinking!
The wolf meets Little Red Riding Hood. He says, “Hello,”
“Hello,” says Little Red Riding Hood.
“Where are you going?” asks the wolf.
“I’m going to my grandmother’s cottage”
“Oh! Where does she live?”
“She lives in a cottage in the forest.”
“That’s nice. OK. Goodbye. See you later.”
“Bye-bye!”
“Bye-bye!
The wolf runs to Grandmother’s cottage. He knocks on the door.
“Who’s that?” says Grandmother.
“It’s me!”
“Who’s me?”
“It’s Little Red Riding Hood!” says the wolf.
“Come in, dear!”
The wolf goes into the cottage and eats Grandmother. The wolf gets into bed. He waits for
Little Red Riding Hood. He is hungry!
Little Red Riding Hood dances and sings in the forest. At last she comes to her
grandmother’s cottage.

4. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
She knocks on the door. “Who’s that?” says the wolf.
“It’s me.”
“Who’s me?”
“It’s Little Red Riding Hood,” says Little Red Riding Hood. “Come in, my dear.”
Little Red Riding Hood goes into the cottage.
She looks at the wolf in bed. “What big ears you’ve got, Grandmother!”
“I want to hear you better, my dear”, says the wolf.
“What big eyes you’ve got, Grandmother!”
“I want to see you better, my dear!”
“What big teeth you’ve got, Grandmother!”
“I want to eat you, my dear!”
The wolf jumps out of bed and eats Little Red Riding Hood.
A man comes. He has an axe. He kills the wolf. Grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood
jump out of the wolf. The end.
Follow up:
 Prepare interview questions for Little Red Riding Hood for a local newspaper
 Ask the students to work in small groups to briefly tell the story of “The Little Red
Riding Hood”.
 Give out dialog cards to 4 different pair of students in the class and ask them to look
over the words and use cut our drawings, playdoh or Cuisenaire rods to represent the
characters and things.
Dialogue card 1
LRRH: Oh grandmother, what big ears you have!
Wolf: All the better to hear you with, my dear
Dialogue card 2
LRRH: Oh grandmother, what big eyes you have!
Wolf: All the better to see you with, my dear
Dialogue card 3
LRRH: Oh grandmother, what big nose you have!
Wolf: All the better to hear you with, my dear
Dialogue card 4
LRRH: Oh grandmother, what big teeth you have!
Wolf: All the better to eat you with, my dear

5. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
The Tortoise and the Hare
One of Aesop’s Fables
Once upon a time there was a hare who, boasting how he could run faster than
anyone else, was forever teasing tortoise for its slowness. Then one day, the irate
tortoise answered back: “Who do you think you are? There’s no denying you’re swift,
but even you can be beaten!” The hare squealed with laughter.
“Beaten in a race? By whom? Not you, surely! I bet there’s nobody in the world that
can win against me, I’m so speedy. Now, why don’t you try?”
Annoyed by such bragging, the tortoise accepted the challenge. A course was
planned, and the next day at dawn they stood at the starting line. The hare yawned
sleepily as the meek tortoise trudged slowly off. When the hare saw how painfully
slow his rival was, he decided, half asleep on his feet, to have a quick nap. “Take
your time!” he said. “I’ll have forty winks and catch up with you in a minute.”
The hare woke with a start from a fitful sleep and gazed round, looking for the
tortoise. But the creature was only a short distance away, having barely covered a
third of the course. Breathing a sigh of relief, the hare decided he might as well have
breakfast too, and off he went to munch some cabbages he had noticed in a nearby
field. But the heavy meal and the hot sun made his eyelids droop. With a careless
glance at the tortoise, now halfway along the course, he decided to have another
snooze before flashing past the winning post. And smiling at the thought of the look
on the tortoise’s face when it saw the hare speed by, he fell fast asleep and was soon
snoring happily. The sun started to sink, below the horizon, and the tortoise, who
had been plodding towards the winning post since morning, was scarcely a yard from
the finish. At that very point, the hare woke with a jolt. He could see the tortoise a
speck in the distance and away he dashed. He leapt and bounded at a great rate, his
tongue lolling, and gasping for breath. Just a little more and he’d be first at the
finish. But the hare’s last leap was just too late, for the tortoise had beaten him to

6. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
the winning post. Poor hare! Tired and in disgrace, he slumped down beside the
tortoise who was silently smiling at him.
“Slowly does it every time!” he said.
Follow up:
Storyboard
Title:
Author:
Illustrator:
ThePrincessandtheBowlingBall

7. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
Once upon a time there was a Prince. And this Prince’s dad and mom (the King and Queen)
somehow got it into their royal heads that no Princess would be good enough for their boy unless she
could feelapeathroughonehundredmattresses.
So it should come as no surprise that the Prince had a very hard time finding a Princess. Every time
hemetanicegirl,hismomanddadwouldpileonehundredmattressesontopofapeaandtheninviteher
tosleepover.
WhenthePrincesscamedownforbreakfast,the Queen wouldask,
“How did you sleep,dear?”
The Princesswouldpolitelysay,“Fine,thank you.”
AndtheKingwouldshowher thedoor.
Now this went on for three years. And of course nobody ever felt the pea under one hundred
mattresses. Then oneday the Prince met thegirl of his dreams. He decided he better do something about
it.Thatnight,before thePrincesswenttobed,thePrinceslippedhisbowlingballundertheonehundred
mattresses.
When the princess came down for breakfast the next morning, the Queen asked, “How did you
sleep,dear?”
“Thismightsoundodd,”saidtheprincess.“ButIthinkyouneedanothermattress.IfeltlikeIwassleeping
onalumpasbigasabowling ball.”
The King and Queen were satisfied. The Prince and princess were married. And everyone lived
happily,thoughmaybe not completelyhonestly, everafter. The End.
(Selectedfrom TheStinkyCheeseManandotherFairlyStupidTales byJonScieszka&LaneSmith)

8. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
Follow up:
Read "The Princess and the Pea"
Have three cushions, place a small round object (like a marble) under one of the
cushions. Have one child sit on each of the cushions and see if they can guess which
has the pea under it.
TheTwelveDancingPrincesses
Once upon a time there was a king who had twelve beautiful daughters. The strange
thing about them was that every morning their shoes were found to be worn off as
if they had been dancing all night.
The king was puzzled and announced that whoever would find out where the
princesses went every night could marry anyone of them. Many kings came to try
their luck but they all failed to find the secret. An old soldier heard about this and
decided to try his luck. He went to a sorceress, who gave him a cloak that would
make him invisible. She also warned him not to drink the wine, which one of the
princesses would bring for him.
Then the soldier went to the king. The king received him with full honour. At night,
a feast was organised where the princesses served wine to him. He secretly threw
away the wine and pretended to be asleep. The princesses, thinking that the soldier
was asleep, went underground through a trap door. The soldier put on the cloak
that would make him invisible and followed the princesses. He saw the princesses
entering a beautiful garden.
Then, twelve princes came in twelve boats and took the princesses to a castle across
the lake where they all danced the whole night till their shoes were worn. The
soldier saw the same happenings three nights in a row.

9. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
On the fourth day, he told the king about the place where the princesses went every
night. As proof, he showed one of the golden cups from which they drank wine. As
his reward, he chose to marry the eldest princess.
The End

10. Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA
Presenter: Ms. Cynthia Márquez
Using children’s literature in an EFL Classroom
There’s a new kid on the block,
And boy, that kid is tough,
That new kid punches hard,
That new kid plays real rough,
That new kid’s big and strong,
With muscles everywhere,
That new kid tweaked my arm,
That new kid pulled my hair.
That new kid likes to fight,
And picks on all the guys,
That new kid scares me some,
(That new kid’s twice my size)
That new kid stomped my toes,
That new kid swiped my ball,
That new kid’s really bad,
I don’t care for her at all.
References:
• Marie E. Barker, the University of Texas at El Paso, article appeared in the English
Forum
• Sandra Mckay, Literature in the ESL classroom
• Forum, Volume 33 Number 1, January 1995, The Stinky Cheese Man and other fairly
stupid tales by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
• Storytelling with Children, by Andrew Wright, Oxford University Press.