I've done a few lessons where Korean folktales/stories are used. The students loved them and it went down well. They were also happy to learn stories from around the world.

Korean horror stories during halloween was a big hit. My lower level students were especially active and were really excited when they recognised the stories their friends had chosen and really vocal and detailed - in English - when they thought someone had the stories wrong.

[edit]I forgot to mention I teach at a middle school so the age difference might change things.

OK, I did the lesson. It went most excellently with the high level classes, and not so well with the lower level classes, so I changed the material (which I have also attached).

Here's the format:


Split the class into 6 groups of 5 students each.

Explain that each group will read a different folk story, try to remember it. After this, each member will mix with 5 members from other groups and re-tell the story (without the paper). Each story will be re-told, and afterwards the original groups will re-group, try to remember each story, and we will have a quiz.
Read -> Mix -> Tell the story -> Listen to other stories -> Regroup -> Quiz

Allow the students 10 minutes to read their stories, in their groups. They can use dictionaries or teachers to translate words or phrases they don't understand.

Then give each student a number (one person in each group is number one, one is number 2 etc.). They need to stand up and mix into their new groups in accordance with their numbers. Each student tells their story to the rest of the new group, only using English. Emphasize that accuracy is not the goal, but the ability to get across the main idea of the story. While listening, students can jot down notes if they like, to remember key points. I gave 20 minutes for this part (3 minutes per story) and was surprised at how well they focused on listening to their classmates and how much they enjoyed telling the stories.

After 20 minutes, students return to their original groups and have 5 minutes to compare notes. Each student will have now heard a slightly different version of the other groups' stories, so they'll argue over facts, but this is also fun for them, so I allowed it to get a bit noisy.

Then we held the quiz for 10 minutes (12 questions). I asked some simple ones ('why did the rabbit lose the race?') and some more pointed ('how many days did the bear and the tiger need to stay in the cave?'). The winning team got half melted choco-pies.


Note: For the mid-low level classes I changed the material to a simple synopsis of some influential people. I did this because they read much slower than the higher level kids, so the first time i did it , it flopped as we didn't have enough time to read all the stories. The class worked in the same format using the 'influential people' slips and went very well.

I used international Cinderella stories once for phrasing and public speaking practice for a university class. (Can't recall the website I got them from, though.) I gave each student a story from a different culture, and the differences seemed to hold the students' interest since they weren't listening to the same thing over and over again.

Yeah it was quite a bit of work to get everything together but it was totally worth it - the students spoke more and focused more than any class yet.

I'll use this format again; I was thinking of using it for a health and advice unit coming up soon