Read True Stories Page 4

teachers doing professional upgrading. The names in the stories have been changed, of course, so the works appear to be fictional.

  Because the official language of Mozambique is Portuguese, the voice of the new generation there has not been heard in the English-speaking world. The group "Mozambican Writers" speak about both traditional life and modern life, urban life and rural life, and about the interface which they inhabit.

  They also hope to provide some authentic reading materials for students learning English in Mozambican schools. At the moment there is a lack of things to read that are both interesting and culturally relevant. The books in this series can be downloaded for free by any teacher with internet access.

  In the Classroom

  Here are a few suggestions for using these short stories in a Mozambican secondary-school classroom. These students have been learning English for some time, but will not have had much active practice in speaking or writing. The fact that teachers often will not have enough printed texts for everyone can be counter-balanced by the fact that Mozambique has a strong oral culture, so that listening to and retelling stories is a familiar activity.

  1. The teacher reads the story aloud, and then poses a series of questions, but only one at a time, perhaps on the board, for groups to discuss.

  2. Let good students read the story aloud to small groups, followed by discussion in the group.

  3. The teacher reads part of the story aloud, and groups then discuss how it would continue, and report back to the whole class.

  4. Read part aloud, or print enough copies for students to share, and then ask them to individually write their continuation of the story. Then they can read their work aloud, in small groups.

  5. Using two stories at once, divide the class in half and give each half one story. They can work on getting to know their story in small groups, and then retell it to members of the other half.

  6. When the students have worked on several stories, ask groups to decide which one they like best, and why, and present to the whole class.

  7. Students read, or listen to, a story, and then in their groups share anything they know of that is similar, from real life.

  8. Give an opening situation, on a theme from this book, and ask pairs of students to create a story out of it using their imagination, using common local names.

 
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