How to talk about setting in English for kids?
The setting is an essential component of the story as it provides the location to conduct various events. Before teaching children to talk about settings in English, they need to understand the setting in literature. The few essential elements of a setting include-
- Geographical location
- Time
- Historical period
The main component of the setting is the geographical location where the events are taking place. Depending on the author's imagination, it might be any place, including a room, a sea, or even a specific country. Developing the skills in kids to talk about settings will firstly require the child to become fluent in English and enrich their vocabulary to express their thoughts effectively.
Some practical activities to teach kids talking about setting in English include:
- Describe a place like a park you visit together, or local shops, classrooms, etc.
- Give them practice questions to identify the setting in a scene.
- Read stories with your kids more often to develop the skills in kids to talk about settings.
- Encourage daily English speaking, even at home, to enrich your kids' vocabulary to use effective words and adjectives to talk about settings in English.
The comprehensive curriculums of our courses aim to develop overall creative and critical thinking skills in children. PlanetSpark provides the best class to talk about setting in English. The creative writing course for children focuses on children's effective reading and writing skills early. The reading comprehension part of the course gives practical knowledge about the setting and characters so that the students can critically appreciate a story. Our curriculum is highly activity-based, and hence, every student gets immense opportunities to practise their skills with the help of various activities, worksheets, and learning projects.
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What is the importance of the setting in a story?
Besides the characters and themes of a story, its setting also plays a crucial part. The children need to talk about the setting effectively to appreciate it critically. The story's setting provides important context about where the story's events are taking place and what time in history has been chosen by the author to frame the narrative. This is why the importance of the setting is immense while understanding the themes. The setting of the story answers the following questions:
- Where are the characters based?
- What time of year/ or what is the season described in the story?
- At what time in history are the events of the story taking place?
- Is the historical context of the story affecting its theme?
These questions help in analysing the story. For children talking about setting might not be easy initially, but anything is possible with practice. Firstly, you need to develop their fluency in English so that they can effectively communicate their thoughts in front of people. They would need a powerful vocabulary to talk about the settings in English. Encourage them to speak English as much as possible and develop their reading habits to spark their imagination. Try describing some recent events of your life or the places you visit that might interest them, making it easier for kids to talk about the settings in English.
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What do you mean by the character and setting of a story?
The characters and settings are essential components besides the plot of the story. They develop the theme and help move forward the story's action. Spotting the characters and setting of a story by students helps them analyse the story effectively. Talking about the settings in English, kids need to identify the place of action in the story. A setting is a geographical location where the events are taking place. Depending on the author's imagination, the story's setting might be any place like a room, a park, a sea, or space. The setting of a story helps readers identify where the characters are based, and sometimes their actions are also affected by the setting.
Although talking about setting in English, kids not only focus on the place where the events are taking place, they also have to focus on the period in history when the events are happening. In many cases, culture also becomes a component of the setting. Thus, to develop the skill of talking about setting in kids, parents need to enrich kids' vocabulary and their fluency in English to express their thoughts clearly. It is also necessary for the kids to develop a good reading habit, and it will also add up to their practice of identifying the setting in each story.
Similarly, characters are also essential components of a story as they carry out the action and progress the story along the plotline. There can be many characters in a story, or the story can even progress with just one protagonist. According to their role, characters are identified as major, minor, protagonist, antagonist, flat, round, etc. Both the setting and the characters play a major role in the critical analysis of a piece of literature.
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How do you develop skills to talk about settings for kids?
If your child is interested in storybooks and literature and if you see their future as a creative writer, you need to train your child from an early age. For kids, talking about settings in English will not be an easy task initially, but they will be prepared to embark upon their literary journey with confidence through regular practice. Here are some useful ways to develop the skills of talking about settings for kids:
Enhance the communication skills of your kid
To talk about settings in English, primarily, your kids should have fluency in the English language. Suppose the kids are not comfortable with the language. In that case, they will hesitate to express themselves even if they have great ideas, which will hinder their personal and academic growth. For talking about setting in English, kids need to have a great vocabulary to communicate their thoughts using effective words.
Enrich their vocabulary
To develop the skills in kids for talking about settings, you need to enrich their vocabulary. Motivate them to learn new words every day. Speak with them in English, and ask them to describe their daily events in English so that they can discover new and effective words to express their thoughts. Talking about settings in English requires impressive adjectives and vocabulary to paint a clear picture for the listeners. So, practice their English speaking skills every day to enhance their vocabulary.
Reduce shyness
To develop the skills in kids of talking about settings, primarily encourage them to talk about different topics that interest them. Some kids are shy from their early childhood years, and if not encouraged to talk, they might not feel motivated to talk in public about anything. You can reduce their shyness by making it a routine to ask them how their day went and make them feel comfortable to open up.
Read stories with them every day.
Talking about setting in English for kids might be challenging initially, but they will master the skill in no time with regular practice. Sit with them and read together at least one story every day and ask them to recognise the characters and setting of the story. This will develop a good reading habit in your kids, and they will gain new perspectives every day.
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Story setting examples for kids.
Settings play a crucial role in creating an atmosphere for a story. Look at the examples below to develop the skill of talking about setting for kids. Each example defines a different aspect of the setting.
Harry Potter: The novel is admired for its magnificent setting. Most of the book's action is held in Hogwarts. This is where all the magic occurs. Remember when Harry Potter leaves Hogwarts during his vacation, and he is not allowed to perform any magic as it is against the rules. Moreover, the setting of Harry Potter sets out the theme of magic and mystery in the novel.
The Great Gatsby: The geographical setting of this great American novel is New York. But the main thing to note is its temporal setting, that is, the time in history chosen by the author to frame the story. The Great Gatsby is set in the 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, which brings forth the main theme of the American dream in the novel.
Pride and Prejudice: Although there are multiple settings in this novel by Jane Austen because of the range of characters in the novel. But the main action is taking place in Pemberley, Netherlands. This is where Elizabeth resides with her family, and thus it can be termed a personal location or an individual setting.
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Frequently asked questions about settings and characters in a story.
1. How do you explain a setting to a child?
The setting might be any place where the events are taking place. It might be any room of a building, a boat, a classroom, or a historical place. For children talking about settings might be a task in the beginning. To develop the skills of talking about settings for kids, you need to practice with them regularly. Read stories with them every day and ask them about the events' settings. You can also describe the places you visit and events of your life to teach kids how to talk about setting in English.
2. What is the importance of setting and characters in a story?
The settings and characters of a story are critical elements to appreciate a story critically. The story's setting enables a reader to understand where the events are taking place, that is, the story's location. After understanding the story's setting, the reader also gets to know about the time in history that the author has chosen to frame the narrative. On the other hand, Characters act the story and move the plot forward. They are sometimes influenced by the setting as well.
