3.

Giving responses/suggestions/advice to the characters of the story

After the story is finished, the teacher can ask pupils to give responses to the action of the characters or
write the ending of the story.
For example, after reading The Happy Prince, pupils may respond to the character by writing "I think
you are a very good prince. You are very kind and give everything to the poor people."
Another activity is to ask pupils to give suggestions or advice to a certain character in the story to solve a
problem or deal with difficulty.
For example, after reading The Hare and the Tortoise, pupils may suggest to the hare, "You should not
sleep. You should sit and rest for only 5 minutes but no more."
Critical Thinking and Creativity: Solve problems, make suggestions and comment on behaviour,
actions and attitudes of the characters.
Cultural Awareness: Depends on the nature of the story.















7. Rewriting the ending of the story
After pupils finish reading a story (or the teacher finishes reading a story to the class), pupils can be
asked to rewrite the ending of the story, i.e. happy to sad, sad to happy, or with a totally different
ending. It is unavoidable that some other parts of the story may have to be changed as well. Of course
this writing activity has to be preceded by some class discussion first. New vocabulary may have to be
introduced to enable pupils to do a satisfactory job. An example using the story of "Little Red Riding
Hood" will be given in the latter part of this unit. The abridged or changed version of the story can be
read by pupils themselves later.
Critical Thinking and Creativity: Suggest reasons for changing or improving the ending, identify
other parts that need to be changed as well after the ending has been rewritten, create a different
scenario, explore different solutions for the same problem, etc.
Cultural Awareness: Understand why the ending can be changed if the ethnic background of the
story is changed, what behaviour is unacceptable in the original story but is acceptable if the cultural
background is changed, etc.















7. Acting out (an episode of) the play
The story can be acted out as (1) a radio play which requires only voices (and sound effects), (2) a
puppet show which involves not only voices but the making and controlling of puppets, and (3) a real
play with or without sets and costumes. An episode of the play or the whole play can be acted out
depending on the time and resources available, and pupils'/teacher's preferences.
Critical Thinking: Select materials for the script, etc.
Creativity: Design props, sets and sound effects, etc.
Cultural Awareness: When designing the above and when acting out the play, pupils will be able
to identify and appreciate other cultures, customs and traditions better.











1. Predicting the plot of the story
This is an impromptu speaking activity. At a certain point of interest in the story, pupils will be asked
what would happen next. If pupils respond in Chinese for lack of the required language, teacher can
rephrase their ideas and pupils can then repeat. The predictions can also be written on the board for
pupils to see and repeat. They can vote on the most likely or unlikely prediction and tell why.
Critical Thinking: Reason, make predictions based on facts, evaluate predictions, etc.
Creativity: Encourage children to use their imagination to make predictions.

2. Telling the character(s) what to do
This is similar to the writing activity Giving suggestions/advice to characters of the story. This time it is
only verbal. This activity is best done at the most critical point of the story. Pupils can be asked to offer
solutions to the problem in the story. This activity promotes and challenges pupils to think critically
about how to help the characters in the story and to distinguish what is right from wrong, and what can
be done within one's power in a certain situation.
Critical thinking and Creativity: Think of the ways to help the characters in the story and give
creative suggestions.
Cultural Awareness: Depends on the nature of the story.