– First, seat pupils in front of you on the floor where they can all see the pictures.  Pictures are vital to understanding, so children should be able to see them easily.

–  Next, show the first picture, and ask the children what they see. Then, have them name the animal or objects.  It is OK if the children use their language to reply but try to elicit the words in English.

–  Start the story using as much vocal and facial expression as possible, acting out the story with gestures wherever you can.

Exaggerate

–  Use dramatic voices to fit the personality of your characters.  Practise beforehand with high and squeaky, low and gruff, and any variation in between.  As well as the pitch, make the voice loud or soft, slow or fast, breathless, sad or happy.

–  Use gestures.  For example, hang your head in sadness or look worried and tearful. Alternatively, be happy, depending on the event in the story.  Then get the children to imitate the character  and look happy or sad along with you.

–  Now add animal noises or a song or rhyme.  For instance, in the Marching Ants (the fifth in this English story series,) you could create marching sound effects by drumming your fingers on a hard surface and have the children join in with you.  Indeed, sound effects can be vocal, instrumental, or improvised by clapping or tapping body parts.

Engage with questions

–  Ask some simple questions such as, “Where is the orange?” or “Is the lion hungry?”

–  Next ask the children to guess what will happen next, and they can do this in their native language.  The guessing game helps draw them in to be more curious about the story.

Keep things moving

–  If the children are engaged, continue to elicit vocabulary and the guessing game with each picture.  However, you may sometimes want to read the story straight through. Alternatively, stop to ask a few questions here and there so that the process does not drag on too long.  You can decide spontaneously, according to the feeling you have in the classroom.  Indeed, reading the story should be enjoyable, and you do not want to make a meal of it and spoil the fun by eliciting vocabulary the whole time.

–  It is not necessary to insist the children sit tight; as long as they are quiet, they will hear the English regardless.  However, if there is global restlessness, then you are probably  dragging the story out too much. In that case, speed up and move on to an activity involving movement as a change from the quiet sitting period.