Best Funny Stories

Oral reading and retelling, harnessing student interest by using narrative

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Everyone loves a good story. Especially if it is funny. Students will listen with interest, trying to understand an engaging story or joke.

What’s key is getting students to keep retelling “their” joke. Each time they try to tell it, without looking at their text, students improve.

Funny Story Teaching Recipe.

1. Find a set of stories at the right level for your students. One for each student. See our Best Funny Stories (subscribers download below). They are gems, written in simple English and each with a funny punchline.

2. The teacher starts by telling students a funny story with a punchline. However, ask 1 or 2 students to go out of the room while you do this (or put on earplugs). Ask students to listen and at the end they should try to finish the ending - guess the punchline. Use exaggeration, hand gestures, anything that makes for good storytelling.

3. Bring the students back into the classroom. Ask the students who heard the story and punchline to tell these students the joke. Help them as needed.

4. Give each student a story and tell them they have 5 minutes to read and understand it. After, they’ll have to tell the story to other students. But they’ll be able to read if they don’t remember it so well.

5. Divide students into small groups. A student in each group tells their story to the others, trying not to look at their text. At the end, they ask the students “What’s The Punchline?”. Continue until all students in the group have told their funny story.

6. Regroup the students. In their new group, students tell their story again. They’ll definitely improve! Continue with new groups, as time permits.

7. Finally, ask students which story was the best, the funniest, the most interesting. Get a few students who heard the story to retell it, because many students won’t have heard it during the group telling.

8. Laugh together. A class that laughs together, and learns together.

This is a powerful lesson using storytelling, and narrative and promoting both reading, speaking and listening skills!

Subscribers - access all content and download the full set of 20 funny stories and other materials. Or find on TpTs.