Lifelong fan and teacher with a question

[MamaEG]

Hey, I'm Erin, 34, from Atlanta. I have taught high school English for the past 11 years, but this year for the first time I am teaching English as a second language. Most of my students have been in this country for only a year or two, but I have several who are more advanced.

There is an old, watered-down interview with SK in my students' basic reading textbook, in the "Suspense" unit. I would love to introduce them to the actual work of the modern master of the genre before we attempt to tackle Poe and the like.

So my question is, what do you think is the best, simplest, most engaging SK short story, poem, or excerpt to use with students whose English proficiency is still quite limited? By the time they exit the ESL program I want them all devouring his entire library, of course, but...baby steps. Help?

 

[king family fan]

Welcome!

 

[no bounce no play]

Welcome

I like the short story Trucks. It's entertaining and the storyline is easy to grasp AND there's a couple movie adaptations

 

[Walter Oobleck]

Suffer the Little Children...your name, I hope, is Miss Sidley? Or maybe Here There Be Tygers. There is that shorter poem? For Owen? Or maybe Head Down...the essay. What counties are represented in your class?

 

[no bounce no play]

Welcome

I like the short story Trucks. It's entertaining and the storyline is easy to grasp AND there's a couple movie adaptations

I was going to say there's a movie adaptation and then I remembered there were two movies so please read "there's" as "there are" lol

 

[The Space Cowboy]

I'm quite partial to Beachworld.

Oh yes, and a hearty welcome to you.

 

[blunthead]

Welcome to the SKMB! Keep posting!

 

[blunthead]

I think perhaps an excerpt from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon or The Eyes of the Dragon.

 

[MamaEG]

Suffer the Little Children...your name, I hope, is Miss Sidley? Or maybe Here There Be Tygers. There is that shorter poem? For Owen? Or maybe Head Down...the essay. What counties are represented in your class?

Mostly Honduras, some from El Salvador and Mexico, one from Guinea and one from Nigeria.

 

[MamaEG]

Thanks for the ideas!!!

 

[staropeace]

The Raft

 

[GNTLGNT]

...Mile 81...

 

[skimom2]

I think perhaps an excerpt from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon or The Eyes of the Dragon.

I think these are likely the best suggestions. The problem with using Mr. King to teach readers unfamiliar with American English is that he uses a lot of slang and colloquialisms that might be confusing. Just a thought.

 

[The Nameless]

I'd say suffer the little children, like Walter, or for slightly longer stories possibly autopsy room 4, 1408, or the jaunt.

Welcome to the boards.

 

[Aloysius Nell]

The Body. The whole thing's too long, but what about pulling out the excerpts Gordie includes of the stuff he wrote later? As ESL kids, they probably already know all the dirty talk anyway! It can stand alone without the context of the actual Body story.

 

[Aloysius Nell]

Favorite SK short story...maybe Strawberry Spring. I loooove that one. I've read it 100 times and the last line makes me physically shiver. Every time.

 

[blunthead]

Suffer the Little Children...your name, I hope, is Miss Sidley? Or maybe Here There Be Tygers. There is that shorter poem? For Owen? Or maybe Head Down...the essay. What counties are represented in your class?

I don't recall what the story is about, but the title alone would rule it out in a class I was teaching.

 

[blunthead]

The Body. The whole thing's too long, but what about pulling out the excerpts Gordie includes of the stuff he wrote later? As ESL kids, they probably already know all the dirty talk anyway! It can stand alone without the context of the actual Body story.

My nursing class included a showing of Stand By Me, the reason being that the four young characters sK wrote about were in different stages of childhood development, a subject the class was studying at the time.

 

[Walter Oobleck]

I don't recall what the story is about, but the title alone would rule it out in a class I was teaching.

The title is biblical...Jesus' words. About a teacher, Miss Sidley, classroom situation, teacher, children. Seemed appropriate...like the others. Here There Be Tygers...that reminds me of that trough in the boys' room...Mr Darcy standing there at the end of recess waiting for all the feelthy little heathens to finish making a mess so he could clean it up. And For Owen is about going to school...the manner in which words have connotations beyond the simple and precise meaning...and Head Down is another...instruction in baseball...Head down...a goal...winning, proving oneself...and too, there is a touch of the idea that words mean more than what they say.

 

[blunthead]

The title is biblical...Jesus' words. About a teacher, Miss Sidley, classroom situation, teacher, children. Seemed appropriate...like the others. Here There Be Tygers...that reminds me of that trough in the boys' room...Mr Darcy standing there at the end of recess waiting for all the feelthy little heathens to finish making a mess so he could clean it up. And For Owen is about going to school...the manner in which words have connotations beyond the simple and precise meaning...and Head Down is another...instruction in baseball...Head down...a goal...winning, proving oneself...and too, there is a touch of the idea that words mean more than what they say.

The title just reminds me too much of Black Sabbath.