My Stories

Turn On the News By Nate Feldman Brian is in his living room. He is watching his favorite show on TV. His wife Elizabeth comes into the room. Elizabeth: You have to turn on the news. Brian: Why? What’s going on? Elizabeth: My favorite actor is in town. He is doing a performance at the university. Brian: The show isn’t over. Elizabeth: Come on Brian. Turn on the news! Brian: All right. Brian turns on the news. It is a news story about Elizabeth’s favorite actor. Elizabeth: It’s too quiet. Turn it up. Brian turns up the volume on the TV. News: The performance will be going on from 6:30-8:30 tonight. There are still tickets available.….. Elizabeth: Oh, we have to go Brian! Brian: I’m not in the mood. Elizabeth: Come on Brian! This is a once in a lifetime event. Get up, put on some nice clothes, and let’s go! Brian: All right. You are lucky I get along with you most of the ...

Getting Ready for the Test By Nate Feldman Mr. Ericson got to class shortly before 7 AM.  It was the day of the final exam for his 10th grade history students at Middlewood High.  The students came to class around 7:30.  The test was starting at 8 AM.  "I hope everyone is getting ready for the exam," Mr. Ericson told the students.  "I'm getting so nervous," said Andy McPeake.  "This exam is going to be hard." "I'm not getting so nervous," said Mathilda Williams.  "I am so nervous!"  Mr. Ericson smiled at his students.  "Take it easy," he told them.  "You will all get good grades if you studied hard."  "I need to get a good grade," said John Burrell.  "I want to get a good job.  I want to get good money.  I want to get a good house." "OK, OK," said Mr. Ericson.  "You will get it all.  Just get out your pencils and get ready.  We are going to get started with t...

Give Me the Money By Nate Feldman Carlos gave his friend Sam $100 one month ago.  Carlos wants Sam to give the money back.  He goes to Sam's house. Sam: Hey Carlos.  How are you?  Come in. Carlos: Where is my money? Sam: What money? Carlos: I gave you $100 last month.  Please give it back.  Sam: I can give you $25 now, and I'll give the rest next month.  I promise. Carlos: I want it all now. Sam: Come on man.  Give me a break.  I'm having problems now.  Take it easy on me. 

Someone Took My Wallet By Nate Feldman It is a normal day at the police station. Officer Richards is sitting behind his desk. He is having a cup of coffee and taking it easy. Suddenly, a man comes into the station. He is distressed. “Officer,” he says. “Someone took my wallet.” “OK,” the officer says. “Where did this happen?” “I was taking the train to work,” the man says. “When I got off the train, my wallet wasn’t there. Someone took it.” “OK,” says officer Richards. “Are you sure someone took it? Maybe it fell out.” “No, there was a man taking the train with me. He ran into me. He put his hands on me and said he was sorry. I think he took the wallet then .” “ OK,” replies officer Richards. “Did you take a picture of him with your phone or something?” “No, unfortunately not,” answers the man. “This case may take time to solve then,” says officer Richards.

Late for Class (Uses of "take") Marcus is a student at college. Today, the students are taking an important exam, but he is late. He comes into the class. The professor gets up and goes to Marcus. Professor: We are taking an exam now. Why are you late? Marcus: I’m sorry. It took me 1 hour to get here. Professor: 1 hour? How long does it usually take you to get here? Marcus: It takes 30 minutes, but today it was raining. Professor: Do you drive here? Marcus: No, I take a bus. The bus today was really slow. Professor: Well, take a seat. You only have 40 minutes left.

Class Dialogue Activity with Uses of "Come." By Nate Feldman Situation: Someone comes over to your house. They are selling something. Use the verb come in different ways to have a conversation with this person. Example: Speaker 1: Hello? Who is it? Speaker 2: I am selling cookies. Speaker 1: OK, come in . Speaker 2: Thanks. Speaker 1: What cookies do you have? Speaker 2: I only have chocolate cookies. Speaker 1: How come ? Speaker 2 : I don’t know. Speaker 1: OK, I will have 1 box. Speaker 2: Thank you. Here are your cookies. Speaker: 1: Thank you. Come over again. Speaker 2: Yes, I will come back .

Cookies For Sale By Nate Feldman  Adam is at home. He hears a knock at the door. He goes to the door and opens it. A young girl is there. Her name is Alexa. She is selling girl scout cookies. Adam: Yes, may I help you? Alexa: My name is Alexa Smith. I come from girl scout troop number 514. Are you interested in buying some girl scout cookies? I have all of the flavors: smores, thin mints, shortbread, and peanut butter cookies. Adam: Sure, come in. I love girl scout cookies. Alexa comes into Adam’s living room . She carries her boxes of cookies in a brown grocery bag. Adam goes to get his wallet. He comes back with it. Adam: How much is it per box? Alexa: $5 a box. Adam reaches into his wallet and a $20 bill comes out. Adam: I’ll take four boxes. One of each kind. Alexa reaches into the bag and hands him one box of each type of cookie. Adams hands her the $20. Alexa: Thank you for buying ...

Making Trouble By Nate Feldman Dylan and Jesse are friends.  They want to make trouble.  They have an idea. "Let's make a cake," Dylan says.  "Let's make a cake and have a big party.  We'll make the cake with chocolate, vanilla, and all of the normal ingredients.  But, we'll make this cake with something unique: the hottest jalapeño peppers a person can find." "Yeah," Jesse says with a smile.  "It will make people's mouths burn." "Yes, it will," Dylan responds. Jesse pauses.  "It will also make people angry at us," he says. "Yes," Dylan agrees.  "But, it will make us laugh so hard!"

Making Things By Nate Feldman Edwin is making a video about his family.  He goes to his kitchen.  His mother is there by the stove. "Hi Mom," he says.  "What are you doing?" "I'm making dinner," she says to the camera. "My mother does the cooking for us," Edwin says on the camera. Next, he goes to his father's office.  His father works from home.  He opens the door.  His father is in a chair.  He is talking on the phone. "Hi Dad," he says.  "What are you doing?" "I'm making an important phone call," he says and points Edwin to go out of the room. "My father does his work from home," Edwin says. Edwin goes outside and walks across the street to his sister's house.  Her backdoor is unlocked, so he walks in.  His sister is at her kitchen table in front of her laptop.  His sister is a teacher. "Hey Julianne," he says.  "What are you doing?" "I...

Doing Nothing: A Short Play By Nate Feldman Dan and Bradley are roommates in a small house.  One weekend morning, Dan goes downstairs and sees Bradley lying on the couch in the living room.  The room is a mess.  There is clothing, food, and papers lying everywhere.  Dan and Bradley have an argument. Dan: Bradley!  What are you doing?! Bradley: I'm doing nothing man!  Dan: I can see that.  Do some housework!  This place is a mess.  You don't do anything ever! Bradley: That's not true!  I do some things. Dan: Yeah, what do you do? Bradley: I do the groceries sometimes. Dan: Yeah, I give the money, and I do the cooking.  The only thing you do is eat and make a mess!  I do all the cleaning afterwards! Bradley: You also do all of the complaining.  Have some fun for once! 

The Suggestion By Nate Feldman "There is no way I'm going to do it!" The previously pleasant lunch conversation between the two colleagues turned icy cold quickly.  Pete and Morris sat directly across from one another, staring fixedly at the other.  "He isn't going to bite your head off," Pete said without losing his composure.  Morris took a bite of his sandwich and swallowed nervously.  He put the sandwich down.  He picked up a white paper napkin and wiped his face and balding head.  He didn't respond. "That's all I did to get what I wanted," Pete continued.  Morris grimaced.  "That's because he likes you," he said in an agitated and slightly louder voice.  He appeared flustered.  Pete's eyes darted to the right briefly to see if anyone was paying attention.  He looked back at his co-worker. "Sometimes I think he hopes I dig my own hole so he has an excuse to get rid of me," Morris continued...

The Class Party The classes at Riverdale Elementary School always have a party at the end of the school year. The room is always decorated very nicely, and the children have a lot of delicious food at the party. This year, the third grade teacher, Mrs. Smith, says everyone has to bring something from home. “You all have to bring food, decorations, drinks, or utensils from home,” she tells them. “Do our parents have to cook the food?” asks one of the students. “No,” answers Mrs. Smith. “They don’t have to. They can buy it from the store.” “Do our parents have to come?” another student asks. “No,” answers Mrs. Smith. “They don’t have to. But, it will be nicer with them here.” “Do we have to bring presents for you?” another student asks. Mrs. Smith is shy. “Of course, you don’t have to.” Next, Mrs. Smith hands out a piece of paper. “You have to write the thing you are bringing on this,” she tells them. The students...

Brandon Williams’ Busy Day Brandon Williams has a busy day all of the time. Before he leaves his house, h e has a big breakfast. He always has oatmeal, fruit, yogurt and a cup of coffee with his breakfast. He has his own company, so he has a lot of responsibility. At work, he always has a meeting at the beginning of the day with his employees. He and his workers have many assignments, but he likes his work, so he always has a good time there. The workers are happy, too, so they don’t have problems. He usually has lunch in his office. He often has a sandwich and a salad for lunch. Sometimes, he has lunch with his workers. Brandon has a job at a local university. On some nights, he has classes there. He has many students in these classes. Sometimes, he works too much, so he doesn’t have time with his family. He also has a headache sometimes. But, Brandon is happy most of the time. He has a nice day.