Story Sample: “Eran's Morning Talk”
By Sara Shalom
Note: This story was originally written in Hebrew. Every effort has been made to match the original level of vocabulary and syntax in the translation, but it is possible that this English version is at a slightly higher or lower level than the original.
In Eran's class, each day begins with a short talk. All the children like this time. They sit in a circle, on two carpets in the middle of the class, and one of the kids tells a tale. The other children listen and ask questions.
“Who wants to talk today?” asks the teacher, Michal. This is the way the talks begin each morning. Eran listens to the talks about the interesting things that happen to his friends. He loves listening to these stories. Each morning after the talk, Eran thinks, “That's really interesting. What can I talk about?”
One morning Dorit told the other children, “On a vacation I took a trip with my parents to the Negev area. The Negev is a desert and it's very hot there. The plants that grow there dry out fast because of the heat. Here, I brought you thorns from the Negev.” Eran listened and thought to himself, “That's really interesting. What can I talk about?”
One morning Oded said, “I read a real and beautiful story. It's about a boy who loved to take care of animals. The boy grew up, learned medicine, and today he is an animal doctor.” Oded showed the class the book and the pictures inside. Eran listened and thought to himself, “That's really interesting. What can I talk about?”
One morning during the talk Dan surprised the other children. He brought in a covered cardboard box. Dan carefully put the box on the carpet and asked, “Who knows what's in the box?” The children looked, and Dan took the cover off. Eran cried out, “A turtle! There's a turtle in the box. What a nice surprise!” Dan took the turtle out of the box. The turtle walked around the class, and the children laughed. Dan told everybody how he found the turtle, and Eran thought to himself, “That's really interesting. What can I talk about?”
Eran did not say a thing at the morning talk. He thought to himself, “What story should I tell? I want to say something interesting and unique. I want to say something that will surprise the other children and Michal, the teacher. But I don't know anything interesting to talk about!”
One morning Michal said, “Do you remember, children? Today we will stay after class to prepare a show. I hope you told your parents about it.” Eran said immediately, “I can't stay! Today is Monday, and every Monday I go to a Judo class after school. I even bring my Judo clothes to school with me.”
Ronen asked Eran, “Are there special clothes for Judo? Can I try them on?” Revital asked, “What do you learn in Judo class?” Eran was surprised. He had been going to Judo class for almost a year, and he didn't think it was anything special.
Eran told the children about the Judo class. He demonstrated some of the moves he had learned. Eran showed his white Judo suit and wide belt, and helped Ronen to try them on. Eran kept on talking, telling the others that “in two weeks I will participate in a tournament.”
The children were amazed. They looked at Eran with wide and curious eyes. They asked him a lot of questions. Some of the children even asked Eran to teach them judo moves, and he promised to teach them during recess.
After a while, Michal said, “Good, Eran, the morning talk was very interesting, and I wish you luck at the tournament.” Eran smiled. He was pleased. He realized that all this time he had been telling an interesting story for the morning talk.
“Eran's Morning Talk,” written by Sara Shalom, from the Step by Step book series, produced by the Centre for Educational Technology, Israel. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.