The Bunny in the Green Hoodie and the Whale in the Woods

Last year, my classroom filled with laughter as a man-sized bunny in a green hoodie stumbled through a forest, pursued by a whale on legs. The kids had invented these characters themselves—right down to the red eyes of the bunny and the absurdity of a whale who prefers hiking to swimming.

What started as a simple storytelling activity turned into an epic, evolving adventure, all told in English. And for a group of monolingual Czech kids, that’s no small feat. This project was rooted in TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), but with my own creative twist.

Turning Stories into Projects

Inspired by the expert training of Blaine Ray, the creator of TPRS, I’ve been using repetitive story-asking techniques to help kids feel more confident using English. But to keep them truly engaged, I let them take the reins.

We started by brainstorming characters, giving them personalities and motivations. Canva's AI tools helped us generate visuals of the characters, which made the whole process feel more real. The kids loved creating their own dialogue and scenes, which we recorded using nothing more than my phone. Holding up printed character images like puppets, they made their creations "speak."

The result? A hilarious, memorable story that they kept wanting to build on. And the more they repeated the phrases and structures, the more natural their English became. It was repetition, but with purpose and creativity.

Why It Works

Teaching English to a monolingual group of children can feel like pushing a boulder uphill. They rarely hear English outside the classroom, and they often don’t see it as relevant to their lives. But storytelling changes that.

It’s immersive. Their characters live in English-speaking worlds, even if only for a short time. They want to communicate to keep the story going.
It’s memorable. No one forgets a giant bunny with red eyes or a whale hiking through a forest. The humor and absurdity make the language stick.
It feels meaningful. They’re not just repeating vocabulary; they’re using it to build something of their own.

This project taught me that creativity and laughter are powerful tools for teaching English. And they’re tools that any teacher can use. Whether you follow TPRS strictly or adapt it to suit your own style, inviting kids to create and share their own stories makes the language come alive.

Would you try something like this with your students? What wild characters would they come up with?