Workshop Stories   These stories were created by the participants of the TESOL 2001 workshop. They have given permission for classroom teachers to copy these stories for their students. In fact, you can personalize them or improve on them. The participants wrote great stories, but they did not have a lot of time. I have edited them slightly.     Below are the stories created during the 2001 TESOL workshop.	We encourage you to participate with us! Send your stories. Look over the handout on teacher-created stories and write your own story or make some practice worksheets for these stories. Please send them to me and I will post them. Please make sure they are your own originals. When you send them to this website, you are agreeing to allow others to copy and change them for classroom use, but you hold the copyright so no one else can publish your work. Thank you for respecting each other. These stories are for adults, but we welcome stories for children as well. We will set up a separate page.  Download the stories. You can download the reader for free.
Lifeskill Theme: Medical   Maria is working in the kitchen. The children are playing outside. The door is opening. José is running into the house. "Mama, Mama," he says. "Carolina is smiling and chewing a yellow flower." Maria is very worried. She is carrying Carolina. She is running into the house. She is looking for her English class notebook. She is looking for the poison control number. She is dialing the number. She is telling the person about the yellow flowers. She is holding the phone and waiting. The person is telling Maria the flowers are safe to eat. Maria is hugging Carolina. She is crying. She is so happy. Carolina is saying, "I'm hungry!"   Editorial comment: This is short and simple. It is a situation everyone can understand, even if they have not been introduced to the poison control center. In fact with a breif introduction, this might be a good way to explain the use of that service. Can you follow this with some interactive tasks, roleplays, information about poison control, or practice worksheets?	Lifeskill Theme: Transportation   Juan and Maria live in L.A. It is 5:00 and they are stuck in traffic. Maria is going to have a baby. "Hurry," says Maria. "I think the baby is coming!" "I can't move," says John. "There are too many cars." John drives onto the shoulder and honks his horn. He waves his arm out the window and shouts, "Baby! Baby!" Juan and Maria hear a police siren and see flashing lights. "Oh, no!" says Juan. "I have to stop for the police." The officer asks for Juan's driver's license. Juan replies, "Baby, baby!" and points to Maria. "Oh, no!" says the officer. "Follow me!" She jumps on her motorcycle and drives ahead of Juan. They arrive at the hospital in 10 minutes. Maria shouts, "The baby is coming! We're just in time!"   Editorial comment: Excellent use of story features. They ran out of time, so I added the last sentence. Would someone like to continue the story? Do you have an activity to go with this page? Could you make up a practice worksheet?
Lifeskill Theme: Family Life   Beth is not happy. Her family is going to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving, but she does not want to go. She wants to go to her boyfriend's house for Thanksgiving. Beth says, "I don't want to go to Grandma's. I want to go to Billy's house." Her father says, "Beth! You are 16! You don't want to disappoint Grandma. You have to go." Mom, Dad, and Beth are driving to Grandma's house. Beth is pouting. Mom and Dad are talking about Grandma's delicious pumpkin pie. Beth is still pouting when they arrive at Grandma's. Grandma gives Beth a big hug and says, "Happy Thanksgiving. Guess what! I have a surprise for you." Grandma takes something out of her pocket and gives it to Beth. Now Beth is not pouting. She is smiling. (Why is Beth smiling? What do you think?)  Editorial comment: I especially like the idea of talking about food in the car. I would add more of this. I would also add smells in the car because Mom has probably prepared some food as well. The word "pouting" and "disappoint" may have to be explained at this level. You can do that, but to avoid explanation in the story, you can use actions to imply attitudes. For example, I would say, "Mom, Dad, and Beth are driving to Grandma's house. Beth is not talking. Mom is talking about Grandma's delicious pumpkin pie. Dad is talking about Grandma's hot rolls. Beth is not talking." Unfinished stories can motivate students to respond. However, I wonder this time if the group just ran out of time. Would you like to continue it? I think a story about Thanksgiving should be finished by someone who knows about the holiday. What else can you add about Thanksgiving?	Lifeskill Theme: Shopping   Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Carolyn has a great present for her husband. Carolyn's husband does not have a present for her. He is nervous, but he has an idea. "Let's go to the mall," he says. "You are going on a trip, and I want to buy you the perfect dress." Carolyn is happy. They are at the mall. Carolyn sees a sale. She is walking to the sales rack. She is looking at a black dress, a purple suit, and a red blouse and skirt. She is taking them to the dressing room. She is trying it on the black dress. She is showing her husband. The dress is too big. She is trying on the purple suit. She is showing her husband. The jacket is just right, but the skirt is too small. She is trying on the red blouse and skirt. She is showing her husband. The blouse fits, but the skirt is too long. Her husband looks at his watch. He says, "That's beautiful! It is the perfect color for Valentine's Day." Carolyn does not want to buy the red blouse and skirt, but the store is closing in 5 minutes. Her husband is nervous! Valentine's Day is tomorrow and he doesn't have a present. He says, "Please buy it. You can shorten the skirt." Carolyn looks at her husband. She looks at the red blouse and skirt. She says, "Let's buy it." "Happy Valentine's Day" her husband says.  Editorial comment: This really happened to Carolyn. She was concerned about the length of the story, so we went over it after the session. I suggested some changes and took the liberty to make them here. I hopr that's okay with the others in the group. It was not necessary to shorten it, but I added a pattern of repetition and some story features that make the story predictable and fun. It's a good story! Carolyn, did you shorten the skirt?