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Creating ‘Killer’
Language Lesson
‘On The Fly’
Are Your Language Lesson Plans
A Waste of Time That Hinder
Your Student’s Progress?
Brought To You By
David A. Bailey, Jr
www.EXLteachers.com
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storage or retrieval system without express written, dated and signed permission from the EXLsite or its author.
David’s primary goal is to help language students set clear language learning goals and
develop a strategy to reach those goals through the EXLsystem.
"Incredible!!! This is the closest word I can find to describe the EXL System. - Kelli Gomes
“I am a teacher too...and I think that the best and most profitable investment I have made in
this time of economic crisis was coming in contact with you.” - Harethon
"I am your student here in Imperatriz, and take great pride in saying that in the short time I
have studied here, my learning has tripled." - Jefferson
“After having seen various other materials on the web...nothing else comes close to your
system.” - Andre Souza
David has been using the power of storytelling to help his language students become fluent
and proficient speakers for almost ten years now.
David also has a membership site just for English students at EXLenglish.com where he
provides complete vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and expression lessons each month
taught through mini-stories...along with lesson dialogues, extra reading stories, music
exercises, tests, and live webcasts.
When he’s not working, David is found spending time with his family (lovely wife Rau and
two beautiful daughters) or resting in his hammock under a mango tree enjoying the sunny
tropical rainforest weather.
Sponsored Link
http://EXLteachers.com/webinar123
Introduction
Let me begin by making what may be a shocking statement to you if you are the type of
teacher who feels it is of paramount importance to spend hours upon hours of lesson
preparation before ever entering the classroom.
I said that planning was only educated guesswork. Does that mean that you should never
plan anything? Of course not. Planning is an important part of a teacher’s job.
However, we need to put it into the proper perspective. It’s simply ideas of what you think
your students need to know. The real question is...
“Are You Flexible Enough To Change Your Lesson In The Middle of The Class
If You Can Tell That It Isn’t What Your Students Need?”
If you make an ‘educated guess’ and then find out half-way through the lesson that
something is wrong...what are you going to do about it?
Will you stick to your lesson plan and teach it anyway...or will you teach them what they
need and want to know?
Anybody else ever get the impression that the majority of the language material created in a
‘planning’ room...go against the grain of the way children learn their mother-tongue.
In other words...is the verb ‘To Be’ and the indefinite articles the first thing on the list of
items that children learn to speak? Of course not.
Nothing wrong with a good curriculum...good material...and a good method mind you.
But the real issue is your student’s learning here. Not my material...my plan...or my method.
When I first started teaching English as a Foreign Language in a big name franchise...I would
get extremely frustrated with the fact that I would plan a lesson that they had already
learned previously...
Or that the activities in the book were way too advanced for the level the students were at.
There were basic skills lacking in the students that the curriculum had not yet covered.
So the students felt ‘stupid’ for not being able to do the activities required properly.
Now if none of that bothers you...then you can continue to plan your lessons the way you
always do -- regardless of how your students feel or what they need to know.
But it was important to me that my student ‘got it’...AND that they were able to use it right
away...as in the same class.
So, yes...let me just say again for the sake of everyone ready to lynch me for what I’ve just
said that...‘YES, I do believe that proper planning is important’.
But if I’m going to plan something...I want to make sure that it is as flexible as possible.
And I also want to spend the majority of my time and energy where it’s really important.
I don’t want to go into class...totally exhausted from my planning...and give a really boring,
unenergetic class.
Do you understand what I am trying to say here? If so...then I believe you feel the same way
and want to be a more effective teacher too! Right? So, let’s move on.
After about six months of trying to teach grammar and force students to ‘speak’ the new
language I was teaching them...I had had it.
I decided that teaching was just not my bag of beans. So, I turned in my resignation.
A while later, I was invited to substitute at another school that had a totally different style of
teaching.
And even though I was only there a few short weeks, I could see an enormous difference in
the results the students were getting.
I actually considered asking for a full-time job there...but I knew the school was having some
financial difficulties and decided against it.
It was a good thing...because soon after the school closed down and the owner
‘disappeared’ without having paid the other teachers.
However, I realized that it was possible to teach a new language and see positive results.
So, decided to do so some serious research and find out about other language teaching
approaches, methods and techniques.
Teaching On My Own
Since I lived in Brazil, people who knew that English was my native language were constantly
asking me to help them learn to speak it.
So, I figured I could put what I was learning to the test. No reason to just believe what I
read. I could put it to the test myself.
I had already learned the hard way that teaching grammar was a big no-no. And I soon
realized that the ‘conversational approach’ was just a little too frustrating for my students in
their situation.
They would ask for a conversation class -- these were beginners mind you --- and so I would
say, ‘Okay! Let’s talk. What do you guys wanna talk about?’ And they would choose some
random topic like ‘food’.
It’s always a good topic...since I like food and most my students do to. So, then I would start
asking them questions about food or tell them something or try to do an activity...and they
would sit there with a blank look on their face.
So, then I tried a bit of mnemonics...and that was interesting. Some of the students - like the
geniuses of the group would pick it up and really learn fast -- however it was a little too
complex for the average language learner.
Do You Know Why MOST Students Really Want To Learn A New Language
I also learned something else that was really interesting during this time...which was that
something like 54.5% of my students only wanted to learn a new language like English to
become more ‘culturally refined’.
Yeah, really crazy...but of all the options on the survey we ran on the site like ‘getting a new
job, traveling abroad, etc’ -- over half were learning a new language just for the fun of it.
That was a really eye-opener to say the least.
So, I knew that most my students were sick of trying to learn to conjugate the verb ‘to be’
and I knew they wanted to learn how to talk. I was also really interested in Stephen
Krashen’s theories on language acquisition.
It was only one more step before I was hooked on Total Physical Response. My students
loved the sheer simplicity of the learning process. They listened to my talk. Then they saw
me doing something.
Then it was just a simple matter of associating the words with the actions and objects...so
there was no translating to slow down their thinking process.
And yes...if your students are translating all the time...it’s really going to slow down their
results and their fluency which is what they are really after.
So, anyway after a couple of weeks of TPR at the beginning of the year...we had a short
vacation. It was ‘Carnaval’ (Madi Gras) weekend...so all my students were traveling.
I was just enjoying a nice relaxing weekend with my girlfriend at the time (now my
wife)...not even thinking about work and minding my own business -- when I had a major
epiphany.
Don’t you just hate that? Something so obvious just walks up to you and slaps you upside
the head so hard that you can’t stop thinking about it.
Anyway...back to the story...Rau wanted to go visit a friend of hers who had just had a baby.
So, we hopped on my motorcycle...an old, black Honda XLX...and headed off.
We got there, greeted everyone...and sat down on the couch. Rau was talking with her
friend about some really interesting ‘lady stuff’ in good old-fashioned ‘woman-ese’.
I had no clue what they were talking about...although I’m sure it had to do with babies,
diapers, make-up, men, and other such things.
So, I was sitting there politely...half-tuned into their oh-so-interesting conversation and
watching the little kids that were playing nearby.
There was a girl that was probably about 5 years old...and her little kid brother who was
probably ‘two-ish’.
Anyway, they kind of had their eye on this tall, white, blond-haired, blue-eyed creature who
had invaded their home from a safe distance away close to their mother’s side.
But after a while I guess they realized that I was pretty well behaved and wouldn’t bite.
So, they started to inch their way closer in my direction. They soon warmed up to me and
started tell me all about themselves and their little lives.
The older child, a girl, started telling me about their favorite TV shows...and other such
things that are important to a five-year old her age.
And as I watched them...I soon began to observe that her little brother repeated everything
he heard her say. It was really weird at first because it was like there was an echo in the
room.
However, since his vocabulary was somewhat limited due to his age...he would condense
everything she said. It was like he was giving me a ‘Cliff’s Notes’ version of his sisters stories.
It was really interesting to observe because I realized that he was simply practicing what he
was learning. He would listen to his sister...then he would mimic her...and reproduce what
he was learning.
The little wheels and cogs in my brain started turning. I spent the entire weekend thinking
about that event. And soon, I couldn’t wait for the weekend to be over so I could test out
some new theories on my students.
In the following days and weeks, I would tell my students a short story and then have them
retell it in their own words. I would have them do this first in pairs...and then to the group.
And the results were simply amazing. Several things were going on with them:
1. The students had lost their fear of speaking - they were simply making up a story as
they answered questions they were asked about the story.
2. They were practicing what they were learning - they were answering questions,
retelling the stories, and talking about the events.
3. They were having fun - the focus was no longer on them having to come up with
things to talk about or give away personal details. They could make things up.
Through my continued research, I realized that there was already a method that had been
developed around this idea by Blaine Ray several years earlier called Teaching Proficiency
through Reading And Storytelling (TPRS).
I ordered several books from him to perfect my teaching techniques...and I loved the results
I was getting with my students.
Now, before you think I’m going to haul off on you...and become a TPRS evangelist on you
and try to convince you that this is the best or only method you should use...
Relaxxx...
This is just another item in your bag of tricks as a language teacher. I like the method...I love
the results...but I am a VERY eclectic teacher. Okay! Let’s just get that straight for the
record.
I want you to realize that this is just a tool for teaching. And like any tool...you have to use it
for the right job!
Just like a carpenter...you’re not going to use a hammer to cut wood...and you’re not going
to use your saw to hammer a nail. Got it? Good.
Obviously...it has its limitations...so this you’re not going to forget everything you learned
about teaching previously.
So, with no further ado...let me share with you 5 reasons why you should add mini-story
lessons to your bag of tools and tricks.
Have you ever noticed how we communicate with stories? I ask you how your weekend
went...and you’ll tell me a story about what happened and what you did.
Story-telling is just a natural part of the language. Your students are already familiar with
stories. It is an ancient and well-loved feature of any language. And as a teacher, you can
harness this same attention-grabbing power to teach a new language.
I love making up stories in class with my students. They are so easy to create on the fly. I’ll
start off the class asking them about their weekend or vacation or some other random topic
that comes up.
They’ll usually start off telling me about some crazy even that took place.
And then it is so easy to branch off from there and make up a story about that event that is
personalized to them and their lives.
The students give you the story...and the details come from their own lives.
You just make the mini-story a little crazier and funnier than theirs and add in more specific
details. How hard is that?
Remember how I mentioned earlier that ‘planning is only educated guesswork’? Well, with
mini-stories...there is absolutely no guesswork involved. How’s that you ask? Simple.
I tell a story. If I use a word the students don’t know...they ask me what it means. If they
want to add in a detail, but don’t know how to say...they ask me how to say it.
With mini-stories...you don’t have to try and guess what new vocabulary words to teach
them. They will tell you what they need and want to know because it is about them and
their lives.
Sure, I have workbooks full of stories and lessons about Joe, Aaron, Joyce, Dan, Joan, and
Amy. But when I go into a classroom...I don’t tell them a story about some dude named ‘Joe’
who takes a trip to China.
I start off by asking them if they have ever traveled abroad. And then I tell my story about
that student and his destination.
Later, they can read the story about Joe and understand it...just because have learned it in
class.
But they still feel like they own it...because it was told in class about them and their lives.
Teaching with mini-stories is extremely powerful...because they aren’t limited to any single
level. You can make up one story and teach it to many different levels of students.
You can teach a single story to beginners, intermediate, and advanced level students. I can
tell a story about Joe at a very basic level to beginning students...and then turn around and
tell the exact same story to some advanced level students.
How’s that you ask? Well, it’s relatively simple. The only things that change are the amount
of details you fit in and the kinds of questions you ask them.
With advanced students...you can get them to give you a lot more detail...and you can ask
them complex questions...which you can’t do with beginners.
But the basic storyline is the same. Some guy wants to travel. He makes a reservation. He
gets on the plane. And his dream vacation turns into a nightmare.
The rest are just details limited only by the creativity, imagination, and level of your
students.
And the best part is that there is no pressure on you to make up a good story...because it is
their storyline. It’s all about them.
This is what I love about mini-stories. Every single thing that you teach your students is
framed in the mini-story.
You can teach vocabulary, grammar structures, pronunciation, and even idiomatic
expressions through the story.
You don’t have to make any of it up. The vocabulary is based totally on the theme. For
example...if you are teaching a story about a student traveling to England...then you are
automatically going teach them words about traveling. Words like plane, reservation, train,
etc.
Wait a minute...did you just notice that. We also just focused totally on words with the ‘long
A’ sound as in ‘plane’, ‘reservation’, and ‘train’.
And you can tell the story in any verb tense or using any grammar structure you want. Once
they understand the basics of the story...then you can tell it in a continuous tense, a perfect
tense, or even a perfect continuous tense.
Every time you tell the story they will hear those vocabulary words...the grammar
structures...and the pronunciation of the sound you are focusing on.
And every time they retell the story...they will be practicing those same things themselves.
Say ‘goodbye’ to the days when you taught something to your students one class...and then
they couldn’t remember it by the next class...because they will be practicing everything you
teach them immediately and efficiently.
So let me show you what a sample mini-story looks like...then we’ll talk about how to make
up your own.
Flip the page over to see a sample mini-story lesson with the answer key.
Sample Mini-Story Frame For You To See How This Looks In Real-Life
Here is a recent mini-story that I made up for my students. You can see where each of the
vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and expressions that I focused on are in the story are
located by using the answer key below.
There was a very hairy guy named Larry. He was living in Carefree, Arizona. He was so ugly and
scary-looking that his momma had thrown him down the STAIRS when he was a baby. She didn’t
take good CARE of him, and she always made fun of the way he looked.
He was also a real loser, but he didn’t CARE. He never did anything well. The best grade he ever
got in school was a D+. He was considered mentally impaired by his teachers. They just let him
pass so he would get out of their hair.
He was treated unfairly by his classmates who tortured him. They were always making his life
miserable by pulling out the HAIR on his head. They had pulled out so much of his hair by seventh
grade that he was almost bald. And as time passed, things were only getting worse.
Every day the neighborhood BULLY did TERRIBLE things to him. One day he would beat Larry up.
Then another day, he would lock him in a barrel. Other times, he would give Larry a swirly by
sticking his head in the toilet and flushing it.
Then one day, Larry GOT HIMSELF IN A REAL PICKLE. Larry was STARING at the bully’s girlfriend.
The bully was becoming very jealous. He had glared at Larry. Then he picked Larry up over his
head and pile-drived him in the hard concrete.
Larry’s arm and three of his ribs were broken during the fall. Then Larry’s face was rubbed in the
MUD. And the word ‘LOSER’ was tattooed on Larry’s forehead by the bully with a permanent
marker. Poor Larry lay in the mud, he swore that things would change.
And that’s basically it. You can see that we are focusing on the ‘air’ sound in the mini-story
above to improve the student’s pronunciation.
We are also focusing on the use of ‘auxiliary verbs’ for the grammar structure because we
already taught them the ‘continuous’ and ‘perfect’ tenses in previous lessons.
The rest just falls into place naturally as you teach the class. We have a few common words
to focus on that they may not know yet.
But even so, we’ll teach whatever words they want to know when we are teaching the class.
The story allows you to focus on the 3 key areas you students need to develop fluency and
proficiency.
And at the same time the story simply frames what you teach your students...and provides
totally flexibility to teach to your student’s needs.
And the best part is that you can use the story above to teach whatever language you want
to. I could use the same story above to teach Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, or whatever
other language you want to.
Just adapt the expressions and grammar structures to the language you are focusing on. It is
so simple. Yet the sheer simplicity of it is what makes these mini-story lessons so powerful.
By the way, if you want to learn more about these three key
areas that you should focus on as a teacher...you can
download my free report on the topic called ‘Three Keys To
Speaking A Language Fluently And Proficiently’ at
http://EXLenglish.com/threekeys
Here’s the deal. I do love to teach stories on the fly. Some of my best stories have been
created while ‘winging it’ with my students. And I don’t like to waste time on planning...
I don’t want you to fly off to the other extreme and never plan another lesson again.
Planning properly does have its merits. And it can make your teaching sessions a whole lot
easier and less stressful. Just keep a proper balance.
Once you do ‘wing’ a good story...make sure to write it down somewhere safe. You can use
it over and over again with future students.
And once you get the swing of it...you can plan very effective mini-story lessons that are so
‘spot on’ what your students need that you don’t have to change a thing.
Once you reach that point...you will be a real mini-story master...a black-belt, ‘ninja-lesson’
planner of sorts.
And actually...the truth is that I really love the whole planning process. Sometimes even
more than the actual teaching itself.
It is so much fun to come up with many crazy, random, funny ideas for stories and lessons.
I love to actually plan them out...test them on my students...and then create material
(workbooks, audios, videos, exercises, tests, etc) that my students can study on their own.
There are so many things that you can do with your mini-stories and lessons.
We currently have a team of six people working on creating these mini-story lessons as we
plan them, create them, test them on our students, and then create the materials.
Below you can see a list of some of the materials we create. You can model them yourself or
add you own ideas.
Or you could just simply join our VIP Teacher Club and start using our ready-made lessons
and mini-story resources at http://EXLteachers.com/sto
But I’ll tell you more about that later. Right now I want to show you what we create for our
English students online.
This Is What Our EXL Team Creates Each And Every Month
Here is a list of some of the material I like to create for my students for each mini-story
series at http://EXlenglish.com/members
And when I say ‘a whole lot more’...I really mean it -- because there are so many activities
that our teachers add-on to these resources in the classroom.
You can watch a video I just recorded the other day of an English teacher named
Mauricio...and a simple activity that he used to really engage his students actively in the
story.
I have already listed off a whole series of spin-off activities that you can use with these mini-
story lessons.
I will be including that list in my next report where I explain my proprietary 4-step B.E.T.A
system for creating powerful, flexible mini-story lessons.
Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that we’ve mastered the art of creating mini-story
lessons yet. However...
We have boiled the whole process down into 4 easy steps (that you can either plan or
create ‘on the fly’) as you can see on the mindmap below:
Step #1
Step #2
Step #3
Step #4
So, if you would like more help with your planning your mini-stories let me know.
I’m currently in the process of detailing the whole process in a series of reports that will help
you become a mini-story lesson expert in just four easy steps like I do.
Now, don’t worry...I’m not gonna try to sell it to you here in this report....because it’s not
even totally ready yet.
Later, when all is said and done...we’ll sell it online complete with audios, videos, and
webcasts for some grossly, over-inflated price like everyone else does with these kind of
useful information products online.
However, we do have some of the worksheets, guides, and webcast recording already
available for download in the VIP Teacher’s Club at http://EXLteachers.com/blog/
The webcast is a recording that lays out the complete 4-step process when I taught it to a
group of about 20 other language teachers from around the globe like Russia and India.
And wait till you watch it and see how excited they got about half-way through the session.
Actually, this is just a bonus for joining my VIP Teacher Club...because the real value in the
Teacher Club comes from the complete mini-story lessons that I provide you with.
Join the VIP Teacher Club today and you will also get these extra bonuses absolutely FREE!
All Of The Items Above Are Available For Download Right Now As FREE Bonuses In The VIP
Teacher Club At www.EXLteachers.com/sto
Sidenote: These bonuses are being offered free as part of the VIP Teacher Club right now at
the time of this writing on October 15, 2010.
However, they will be removed once completed...and we start creating a new series of
reports in a few weeks.
So, if you are interested in this information...make sure to get them right away by joining
the VIP Teacher Club. ;)
Resource Directory
VIP Teacher Club - New membership section for language teachers who want access to our
complete mini-story lesson plans and resource each month. Use this link to sign up at a
special discount http://EXLteachers.com/sto
Free Report For Teachers - If you are interested in teaching language lessons online to make
some extra cash...or using webinars just to get more students then you need to read this
special report ‘Create BIG Paydays With Teleseminars & Webinars’ available for FREE at
http://EXLteachers.com/webinar123
Free Report For Your Students - Discover the ‘Three Key Areas Of Focus To Become A Fluent
Speaker’. You may print this report off for your students or just add it to your blog if you like
from http://EXLenglish.com/threekeys
EXLenglish VIP Member Club - This is where we provide our unique mini-story lessons for
our English students. We are also starting an affiliate program where you can make a
recurring commission (month after month) off of any of your students who join the club at
http://EXlenglish.com/members
Mini-Story Lesson Activity Idea #1 - Here is a great idea for an add-on activity that you can
do with your mini-story lessons that requires no extra planning or work on your part at
http://exlteachers.com/blog/86/english-language-teaching-mini-story-idea-1/