In addition, teachers set up temporary centers which relate to the elements of the story for the week. For example, one center may have games involving bears. Another may be set up with shelves like a department store. The work done at the centers provides extension and generalization of skills taught in minilessons elsewhere in the curriculum. Using well-written stories captures the imagination as well as provides a model of how a plot develops and flows.
Stories enrich vocabulary with vivid, colorful, well-chosen words.
In retelling stories they have heard told and read to them, their unconscious knowledge directs their language production. One week we used the following activities which were built around Corduroy. Figure 5 shows activities at the centers while Figure 6 provides a listing of the songs used. In addition, the material recorded on cassettes and videotape was used for viewing by the children. Music and song are excellent for providing additional information for ESL students, and we have observed how they join in the chorus of songs when they do not know the words.