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!
- The General
- The Obstacle in Our Path
- Exam Questions
- Two Wolves Within
- The Carpenter
- The Blue Butterfly
- Rich and Poor
- Treasure
- The Four Minute Mile
- The Hospital Room
- How Much do You Make an Hour?
- Sir Lancelot and The Essential Question
- Mountain Climbing
- The Fisherman and the Businessman
- The Cinderella Communication Complex
- Krishna
- Starfish
- The Rose
- The Egg
- The Key
- Good or Bad?
- Taming an Elephant
- That’s Right
- The Drum
- The Axe
- Knowledge
- The Farmer
- Centipede
- Two Monks
- Buddha and the Heckler
- Iceskating
- Harvard Students
- The Beggar and the Judge
- Words of wisdom from the Hodja
- Educating the Donkey
- The Bear
- The boy who banged a drum
- Always Be a Deaf Frog
- The Giving Tree
- The Cracked Pot
- The Car Dealer
- The Mousetrap
- The Mule
- The Jigsaw
- Life Is Like a Cup of Coffee
- Two frogs in the milk
- A turn of the screw
- The Eagle’s Egg
- The carrot, the egg, and the coffee bean
- The Seeker of Truth
- A Meeting of Minds
- Heaven and Hell
- Dandelions
- The Two Drops of Oil
- The Traveller
- The Desert
- Gandhi and the Boy
- The Watermelon
- Is it full?
- Rose
- Death Valley
- School is Boring
- Beth Gellert
- Buddha and the Gift
- The Bear and the Factory
- The Christmas Ham