Interactive Stories for Beginner ESL
These photocopiable group stories focus on vocabulary building along common themes and stimulate discussion through controversial questions in the areas of relationships and ethics. Thematic Jigsaws 1 and Thematic Jigsaws 2 contain the same stories, at different levels. Click here for how to order the book.
Themes addressed in both books include:
- family
- health (a skiing accident, a car accident)
- transportation (driving, taking a bus and taking a plane)
- immigration and the stages of adjustment
- shopping (buying a dress and returning it after having worn it)
- personal descriptions (including hair vocabulary: dyed, permed, trimmed)
- banking (exchanging money, cashier theft)
- housing (furnishing an apartment and a break-in)
- daily routines
- gender roles and housework (including adjectives of frequency)
- Christmas (the beloved story "The Gift of the Magi")
Each of the stories found in Callan's Thematic Jigsaws 2 are found in Thematic Jigsaws 1 but at a lower level. Click on the image below so you can see the beginner level version of the story followed by the intermediate level so you can compare:
Here below is the Gift of the Magi Story. Feel free to click on the images below to download it to try in your class, for something different at Christmas time. If you are not experienced in using jigsaws in your class, check out this page and watch the video first.
