I recently started I storytelling project in my school and I named it English story reading - students for students. I got the idea from Irena Slapar, a fellow teacher and one of the lecturers on a seminar I attended a few months ago, and decided to give it a try.
Here's how it goes: eighth and ninth grade volunteers come to extended day program twice a month and read simple short stories in English. Even though our extended day program students have little to no knowledge of English, they have no trouble following the stories. The stories I choose for them are all simple and illustrated, and I tell the volunteers to use gestures and facial expressions as much as possible while reading the story.
So far, everyone loves the project. The older students get a chance to try themselves as teachers and excel at a language activity even if they're not great in English while younger students get valuable language input AND a have great time. :)
