The Smartest Giant in Town Storytelling Cards
Make your Smartest Giant storytelling sessions more exciting and accessible to your ESL young learners.
♦ Especially adapted, simplified text so it's super easy for you to tell the story in a way that your kids can understand and engage with.
♦ Useful prompts on the back tell you exactly what to say AND provide comprehension checks and ways to promote interaction.
♦ Super adaptable! Use them in storytelling, games, sequencing activities and more.
♦ Perfect for switching up the dynamics and keeping your kids engaged.
Ready for some Smartest Giant storytelling magic? Get your templates and lesson ideas here:
Or get them in The Smartest Giant in Town Activities Bundle. Incredible value!
What will my students learn?
These cards are great for mixed abilities and age groups because they let each child acquire the language they’re ready to. You can use them to focus on clothes, animals, objects and colours from the pictures, but you can also work on the adapted storytelling phrases. They’ll practise their listening skills, but will also have plenty of speaking opportunities in the interactive retelling. If you use them in games and sequencing activities, they’ll get even more speaking practice.
Below is a summary of the language you might focus on.
Principal vocabulary
- Animals: giraffe, goat, mouse, fox, dog
- Clothes: dress, sandals, shirt, trousers, belt, tie, socks, shoes, crown
- Objects/places: town, boat, sail, house, fire, tent, sleeping bag, bog, path
- Adjectives and superlatives: cold, windy, scruffy, scruffiest, smart, smartest, kind, kindest, happy, sad
Key story phrases and actions
- put(s) on; takes off
- George meets (a goat); George speaks to (the goat)
- What’s the matter?
- I can help you.
- You can have my…
- Oh, thank you! You’re so kind!
Song in the story
“My tie is a scarf for a cold giraffe. My shirt is a sail on a boat for a goat. My shoe is house for a little white mouse. One of my socks is a sleeping bag for a fox. My belt is a path across a bog for a dog.
La, la, la! I’m the smartest giant in town!”
What do teachers say about the resources?
Frequently asked questions
Yes, of course! Maybe you have the time and enjoy creating things, but it has to be said that being a young learner teacher can involve a HUGE amount of extra work making materials. Give yourself a break!
All my materials have been tried and tested in the classroom. As well as having almost 20 years of teaching experience, I am also a qualified trainer for the Trinity TYLEC (Teaching Young Learners Extension Certificate), so you can rely on the quality.
The provided activity suggestions give you plenty of ideas for how you can build a lesson around this resource. I’d recommend adding in another activity where they can make something to experiment with what they know. Check out my other Smartest Giant resources.
Yes, of course! I love using the story book too, but I find that changing the dynamics of how you tell the story means you can retell the story multiple times without the kids ever getting bored and restless. More storytelling opportunities means more repetition and more learning.
Once you’ve had a chance to use your materials, don’t forget to come back to leave a review. As a thank you, you’ll receive a 20% discount on any other resource : )
