 A number of years ago, I attended a powerful session at the NJTESOL conference. The presenter shared her experience working with younger ELLs and literature with a specific focus on how she had employed a series of hand gestures to teach and story elements for elementary students.
Language teachers understand the value of kinesthetic movement (TPR) and how enhances linguistic growth. Many years later, even though the class was cancelled after our first day due to low enrollment, I remember beginning commands in French for "sit down" and "stand up" because they were connected to movement. (There is evidence that gestures enhance second language acquisition. If you are interested, here is one academic paper: The Role of Gesture in Second Language Learning: Communication, Acquisition, & Retention.) Inspired by that conference session and the understanding of the power of movement, I created a resource to help my students improve their understanding of story elements like setting, characters and conflict by using hand gestures. Here is a Google Doc with story elements and corresponding hand gestures. (In English and Spanish.) Please let me know if you try this in your classroom! See also: Activities and Strategies for Story Elements (with downloads)
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