Jagan, India
Dear Juan,
It is really a thrilling thing to teach kids of that age with the help of stories. I think it helps to use some words from their mothertoungue so that it is easier for them to understand the vocabulary. I would also advise you to give synonyms and antonyms. But make sure they don't become the victims of the mothertongue influence which is a common problem in countries like India where English is used as a second language.
Wishing you success
Jagan

U.D. Pradhan, India
After you select your material and you could consider simplification. It's also a good idea to make workable chunks of stories depending on the theme or plot. You should try parallel and extension activities to check the children's understanding/develop vocabulary.

Mónica Moretti, Argentina
Dear Juan,
I used to teach childen when I took my first steps in teaching. It's so rewarding! Children are those open-minded little people who are always ready to do what you want them to do. As regards story telling in the classroom this is what worked for me; however, you have to bear in mind that groups differ constantly and what might work for one, might be a failure for others.

I chose a reader, preferably one students were not so familiar with and a short one.
I sat them in a semicircle (mind you I had 9 students in those days!).
If there were unknown words or difficult expressions in the reader, I adapted them to already taught vocabulary.
I started the reading section and every time a new character appeared in the story, I changed my voice and used a lot of mimicry so that students would immediately identify them in the story later on.
Once I finished the reading, I told my students they were going to listen to it again, but this time they would join me in the story. In a matter of seconds their faces and bodies turned into whatever the character demanded them to be. You can't imagine how happy and excited they were!

I hope you achieve your goals and I wish you the best!
Mónica

Sevda, Turkey
Hi! You can choose a story according to the content that you want to teach. For example, teaching the present simple tense through the content "what do we do in the morning?" There are a lot of stories that will help you with their use of certain structures/vocabulary (such as the present tense)..
Hope that helps you!

Soher Mostafa Ahmed, Egypt
I think teaching reading through a story is nice, specially when using ICT. There are a lot of ways, for example, having a powerpoint presentation of the story using cartoons, animation and voices. This way is attractive to childern as they like to watch it and interact with it. Another way is a web quest - and all childern like the net. You simply provide them with questions concerned with the story and they search the web.

Moe Moe Kyaw, Japan
If we want to teach stories to young children, we should be careful to choose the best for each individual group. For example, 'Snow White' and 'Cinderella' are the most famous tales in the world but are they the most appropriate? If we want to teach these tales, we should think about the students who live with stepfathers or stepmothers for example. There are many very good stories to choose from, and chosing the best one is the most important part of the process.

Md. Ziaul Karim, Bangladesh
Pictures are a really important tool to motivate the students. Before presenting a story to the students, you can show them some pictures related to it. Then you can ask them questions for brainstorming, e.g. 'What type of story do you expect looking at these pictures?' You will find them thinking and speaking enthusiastically. When you present the story they will see whether their prior thought was right or wrong. You can also get them to draw pictures after reading the story.