Brian's Selection of Classroom Stories

This website has a collection of almost 200 stories for teachers and trainers. On this page, I’ve included some of my favourites – especially the ones that can be spun out into a 5 or 10 minute story. While some of the stories are quite short and can just be used illustrate a point, many of them can be told in a much longer narrative style. These provide great listening practice and a way to really engage students.
As they are written, some of the stories may appear quite short. Use your imagination and creativity to expand them and to add interesting details. I often use the split-story technique to tell the stories. In other words, I start the story and break off at a place where students are really wondering what is going to happen next. Then I go onto another activity. If you do this, be sure to finish the story at the end of class or the students may not allow you to leave!
And as always, if you have any more great stories for teaching, please share!

1. The General
2. The Obstacle in Our Path
3. Exam Questions
4. Two Wolves Within
5. The Carpenter
6. The Blue Butterfly
7. Rich and Poor
8. Treasure
9. The Four Minute Mile
10. The Hospital Room
11. How Much do You Make an Hour?
12. Sir Lancelot and The Essential Question 
13. Mountain Climbing
14. The Fisherman and the Businessman
15. The Cinderella Communication Complex
16. Krishna
17. Starfish
18. The Rose
19. The Egg
20. The Key
21. Good or Bad?
22. Taming an Elephant
23. That’s Right
24. The Drum
25. The Axe
26. Knowledge
27. The Farmer
28. Centipede
29. Two Monks
30. Buddha and the Heckler
31. Iceskating
32. Harvard Students
33. The Beggar and the Judge
34.  Words of wisdom from the Hodja
35. Educating the Donkey
36. The Bear
37. The boy who banged a drum
38. Always Be a Deaf Frog 
39. The Giving Tree
40. The Cracked Pot
41. The Car Dealer
42. The Mousetrap
43. The Mule
44. The Jigsaw
45. Life Is Like a Cup of Coffee
46. Two frogs in the milk
47. A turn of the screw
48. The Eagle’s Egg
49. The carrot, the egg, and the coffee bean
50. The Seeker of Truth
51. A Meeting of Minds
52. Heaven and Hell
53. Dandelions
54. The Two Drops of Oil
55. The Traveller
56. The Desert
57. Gandhi and the Boy
58. The Watermelon
59. Is it full?
60.  Rose
61. Death Valley
62. School is Boring
63. Beth Gellert
64. Buddha and the Gift
65. The Bear and the Factory
66. The Christmas Ham