Don't be 'Chicken' 

“Chicken” is a short story written by Kathy Stinson, an award-winning author for young people, which magnificently deals with adolescents' first sexual experiences and pregnancy in such a realistic way that teenagers will easily be able to identify with. 

The plot revolves around two teenagers, a girl and the new guy from B.C. Bram, that are painting a church basement alone and he proposes her to play 'Chicken'. The game consists of a challenge, in which one of them puts a finger on the other person’s forehead and moves it down and the first one to say ‘stop’ is the chicken. Although the girl knew that he has just been a daddy and that her mother had warned her that being alone with a boy like Bram was asking for it, she accepted. The open ending is what makes this story even more attractive.

I am convinced that this story is a powerful tool to work with our students, because the topics are of their interest and at the same time, we will give them (and perhaps ourself) the possibility to do away with taboos. Moreover, Stinson's writing style catches the attention of any reluctant young reader. You can not miss it!

Do you know about this?

The Dog and The Shadow

“A bird in the hands is worth two in the bush”, or ask the dog from one of the classic Aesop’s Fables, “The Dog and The Shadow”, published in 1972.

 The story is about a dog that loses his piece of meat for being greedy. Short, funny and with a clear moral, this fable is a wonderful tool to work with values in the classroom.

A classic that never fails, make sure to have it in your bookshelf!

CHOOSE YOUR PAIR STORY

This is the thread for you to mention the chosen stories for your pair assignment. Remember your story must come from a book different from the one already used.

Speak out Loud

123 Fake Street

Springfield

1718

President

BBC Network

Shipstreet

London

S1345 PT

Mister President of BBC network,

                We address you to present our newest TV proposal. We have been working on a show aimed at teenagers.

                The show will have different sections such as interviews, games, sketches, music and relevant issues all of them connected with teenagers’ interests.

The title of the programme is going to be Speak out Loud since we believe this name fits perfectly with teenagers need to express themselves in an appropriate environment.

An important feature our TV show has is the fact that the hosts will be adolescents. We discuss this idea among our staff and we all agree that the expected audience will feel identified or even connected when seeing somebody of their same age, having their same interest or sharing the same dress code.

As regards the sections of the show, it will be divided into three segments.

Ø  First segment: Interviews of a famous personality.

The interviewed will talk about his/her adolescence which in time will create a bound between the interviewed and the audience since they may see reflected on the experiences told by the interviewed.

Ø  Second segment: Games of the week/month/year

In this section there will be a game which is going to be analyzed by a member of the audience who may be selected at random from the public or selected via internet by submitting a video on the YouTube channel of the TV show. This will promote the interaction among viewers and hosts.

Ø  Third segment: Music

Different musical genres will be chosen by the audience by mean of the vast social networks such as, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, etc.

We are very grateful of your time and we welcome the chance to work as part of the channel. We deeply believe we may contribute to your TV network.

Yours sincerely.

CLG

W. T. F?

Ituzaingó, May 3rd 2015.

Dear Mr President

                We are writing to present an idea for a new TV show. Our proposal consist of a weekly TV programme based on teens’ everyday life.

Ø  The name of the programme will be “W.T.F” (What The Fuck?)

Ø  The genre will be comedy/drama.

Ø  The setting will be located in a school where controvertial topics, which are appealing to teens, will be included  in each chapter. Some of them are sex, drugs, alcohol, love, pregnancy, etc…..

Ø  Each chapter will last an hour, including commercials, at 10:00 pm.

Ø  Every episode will contain a conflict which will be solved by the end of it.

Ø  The main characters will be performed by teenagers and the cast will be completed by well known adult actors and actresses.

After having made a deep research on TV programmes and on adolescents’ needs, we got to the conclusion that our TV channels  do not have programmes that really deal with teenagers´real life experiences and interests.

                                         Hoping to hearing from you soon.

                                                                                                             FUTURE COMPANY.

Lookin' 4 My Place

1900 Mansilla street

Ituzaingó

Buenos Aires

Brooklyn Broadcast Company

New York

13 April 2015

Dear President Smith,

I am a member of a company called “Young future” who worked hard on a great project, and I am writing in order to present it. It is a soap opera named ‘Lookin' 4 My Place’ and it focuses on teenage students who attend their last year of secondary school.

This tv show is intended to last from March to December, and the topics to be developed are urban tribes, sexual experience, teenage pregnancy and homosexuality.

The plot centres on Matias, a boy who is the new one at school. He was brought up in a gay family and this is why his mates bully him most of the time. He finds shelter in Agustina, a beautiful girl who looks forward to being a mother to leave home. Agustina has a friend called Paola who is scared of experiencing sexuality due to her moral values, imposed by her parents. The most polemical character is Dylan. He is the oldest in the course since he has retaken it twice. He is a member of a dangerous skinhead gang in the school. Not only teachers but also students leave him aside of the school community.

As the story develops, Paola falls in love with Dylan. This is a conflict because this romantic relationship between these opposite characters will be more than rejected by Paola’s parents and commented among their classmates.

‘Lookin' 4 My Place’ will be appealing for the adolescent viewers since the tv show explores the relationships between the four main characters during their last school year. 

I enclose a sample of this magnificent plot for you to have a copy and I look forward to hearing from you shortIy.

Yours faithfully,

Young Future.