‘What’s the Story?’ – Galway Adult Basic Education Service
by Elaine Clifford at Killarney ABE
It all began when I read an article by Alison Jones, Galway ABES, in Literacy Matters – Winter 2015. My ALO, Mary Concannon, gave me a copy of this article – ‘Making the connection: some ideas for blended learning’.
The article was interesting and informative. I was particularly interested in trying out ‘What’s the Story?’ www.gabes.ie web-based programme in my teaching. I emailed Alison Jones who provided whatever support I needed to get started on this project.
‘What’s the Story?’ is a web-based programme developed by a tutor in Galway and Roscommon ETB. Killarney ABE learners have many stories uploaded to this programme and they enjoy using this to enhance their literacy skills. The process – the learner writes a story, we proofread and edit if required, the learner types it and emails same to me. I then email the learner’s story to Alison Jones who uploads it to the ‘What’s the Story?’ website. Alison Jones is hugely supportive with regards to uploading stories and general tips about using this website.
You can read these stories by accessing the following:
– Select ‘What’s the Story’ option which is available on left-hand side of the screen
– Click on ‘What’s the Story’ hyperlink
– There are 3 levels to choose from and the levels are based on the number of words in the story (100, 200 or 300). Killarney ABE learners have stories in each level.
– There are many ways to use this resource with your learners. For example, ‘hide Dolch words’; ‘hide selected words’; ‘Very Easy up to Hard’.
This website is continuously improving and there is a ‘What’s the Story’ app now available which I cannot wait to use with my learners.
