This page features downloadable powerpoint and stories for Elementary EFL teachers to use in their classrooms. Also there are a number of links to good sites. Scroll down and check it out!
Original Children's Stories
ABC Fast Phonics
Children's Storybooks Online
Illustrated Classics for Younger Children
Read-Write-Think - a website containing various lesson plans
Toondo A cartoon building website
Korean Elementary Teacher Worksheets
Children's Site British Council --Little Red Riding Hood and more...
Reggie Hart formerly worked at Korea National University of Education in the IETTP.
Below is a sample of a story for teenagers written by one of Hart's students. Special addition to Reggie Hart's EFL cafe.
Fishy Kiss
By Deena
“I grew up on the coast when I was a child. My father was a captain of a fishing boat. My father and my mother both loved each other. I was so happy with them. I used to play on the beach with my father.
But my happiness didn’t last long. One day, it was very stormy. My father rowed out into the sea to catch fish. But just a boat came back to shore. My father never came back again. So I lived with my mom. My mom had to find a job to make a living. My mom did everything to feed and clothe me. At first, she delivered newspapers and milk and yogurt every morning. And she also sold fish at a fish shop. I hated it very much. It looked very dirty. One day, I stopped at a fish shop as soon as I saw my mom working there. I was so ashamed. I pretended not to know her."
The lecturer could not speak for a while. She seemed to be remembering her mother.
She paused, lost in thought, and started again.
“My mom
was always healthy and strong. She was even as strong as men. She also smiled
every day. I loved my mom, most of all, her smile. I really loved her until she
started working at a fish shop. After she started working at a fish shop,
whenever I got close to her, she smelled bad. The smell came from fish. I could
not stand it. I did not want to stand close to my mom. I was like a fool.”
The
lecturer continued with tears in her eyes.
“She had no work in bad weather, so she gave me a ride to school. It was an old truck carrying fishes. I was ashamed. I wanted to walk to school. But, my mom always wanted to drive me. That was her love that I never knew. That was her real love.”
The lecturer eventually broke down into tears.
In time, she got better and continued again.
“Whenever she drove us to school, I felt like everyone was watching and laughing at our old, smelling truck. I wanted to sink through the floor. But she never knew my mind. As soon as I got off the truck, I wanted to run away from her. But I could not. My mom waited for me with lowered window, turning her cheek, and said ‘Give mom a kiss! Study hard today!’
I was getting tired of her ride, her kiss, her constant nagging. I finally decided not to give or get a kiss from her any more.
As usual, on a rainy day, the old truck surely stopped right in front of the main gate of my school, my mom surely waited for me, turning her cheek. Right at that moment, I turned my head away, and shouted ‘Please, stop it. That is enough. I never wanted to kiss you.’
She was so shocked. Her face turned white.”
The lecturer started to cry in her hands. She cried and cried for so long.
“She never showed me tears even when my father passed away, but she showed them that day.
She also said to me ‘Yes, you are right. I did not know your mind. I will never kiss you again. Study hard today’.
After school, I came straight home to ask my mom’s pardon. The room was so dark, and the light didn’t work at that moment. I set light to a candle. I called my mom. I looked all around. I called my mom loudly again. But there was no answer. I could only hear the rain outside the window. My mom suddenly passed away.
She just left me ‘Study hard today.’
That’s why I am here. I studied hard every day. Whenever I missed my mom, I studied very hard. Whenever I wanted to ask my mom’s pardon, I studied hard again and again. That’s why I am here as a writer of Fishy Kiss. I still miss my mom’s kiss, my mom’s old truck, my mom’s scent, her wonderful fishy scent. And, especially today,
I really miss my mom’s kiss.”
Reggie Hart's EFL Cafe is your one-stop shop featuring EFL tools for teachers and students.
