December is not only the month of Christmas, it is also the month to take a trip into short stories. When we think about reading, great novels often immediately come to mind. However, short stories deserve special attention. In a few pages, as in a short but intense journey, they arouse emotions and evoke unexpected moods. The journey begins very far away, with the Nasreddin Stories. Watch the video inspired by one of his adventures to teach how to use English language expressions correctly.

Let’s not get too far from the fascinating oriental atmosphere and go to the heart of the Tales from the Thousand and One Nights stories to discover one of the most told stories in this collection, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. With the lesson plan you will be able to involve the class in reading and stimulate the imagination of the students both by working on the text and by observing the cover picture, which captures their attention in a world of colours, scents and rich literary traditions.

To get to Oscar Wilde‘s era you can get acquainted in a video with Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and enrich the vocabulary. If crime is the genre you like then the A Study in Scarlet video is for you too.

December is also the month of Christmas. Does everyone get better? Judge for yourself from the video of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. If there’s one challenge in December, it’s choosing Christmas presents, and The Ransom of Red Chief‘s Listening activity says how difficult (and surprising) it can be. But let’s end twelve months of storytelling, words and excitement together with a New Year’s Eve video for 2021!