Tom's mother's birthday

Mum’s Birthday

Cast: Tom (teenage boy)

          Courtney (teenage girl)

          Mike – Tom’s father

          Jane – Tom’s mother

              

A plain brick wall and paved area. A girl, Courtney, is leaning against the wall watching a boy, Tom, try to do skateboard tricks.

TOM:  This skateboard’s rubbish. Good thing I’ve ordered a new one.

COURTNEY: Think a new board’s going to help, do you…They don’t come with special magic powers, you know…

TOM: Ha ha. I’m a lot better than you.

COURTNEY:  I’d like to come to your house. Why don’t you invite me to meet your parents?

TOM: Yeah I will, one day…not today, obviously.

COURTNEY: And why not?

TOM: Well, you know, it’s my mum’s birthday, and she’s having a party later, so you can see it’s not the best time.

COURTNEY: Hmmm, I see…What have you got her anyway?

TOM: Who?

COURTNEY: Your mum!

TOM: Oh, oh no!

COURTNEY: You haven’t got her anything have you?

TOM: Yeah, ‘course I have…it’s just that….

Tom’s phone rings

TOM: Hang on… Ok, I’m coming Dad yeah I said, I’m on my way.

(To Courtney) Gottago, see ya.

Tom leaves..

A living room, with a Happy Birthday banner hanging up. Mike, Tom’s Dad, is just putting the phone down.

MIKE: Right, he’s on his way.

Jane, Tom’s Mum, is preparing party food.

MIKE: I’m sorry love, I really did think he’d come back on time, and on your birthday too.

JANE: Oh don’t be too hard on him. He’s probably with that girl we saw the other day. I wish he’d bring her over.

MIKE:  Oh, I don’t know about that. That boy needs to spend less time with…girls, and more time studying, otherwise he’ll never get his exams..

JANE: Oh Mike, he’s not that bad.

They hear the click of the front door and look up. Tom comes through the living room door.

MIKE: There you are. Come on, we’ve got a lot to do before everyone gets here you know. Are you giving your Mum a skateboard for her birthday? I hope you managed to get her a present this time..

TOM: The thing is, Dad…

They are interrupted by Jane calling out

JANE:  Hallo Sweetheart, we’re putting up balloons, why don’t you come and help?  (Tom comes over) Tom starts to blow up balloons. The doorbell rings.

MIKE: I’ll get it.

Mike goes out.

JANE: Who can that be?  We’re not expecting anyone yet. Are you expecting anyone Tom?

TOM: No, of course not.

Mike comes back in with Courtney, who is holding two extremely large wrapped parcels in her arms.

TOM: Courtney? What are you doing here?

Discussion Prompts    (30 seconds)

What happened next?

How did the different characters react to Courtney’s arrival?

Was Tom pleased that Courtney had come to his house?

What did the parcels contain?

Who were the parcels from?

Had Tomforgotten his mum’s birthday, or is there another surprise for her?

Write the story

a letter by Tommaso

HI JENNY ,

  

HOW ARE YOU ?  I HOPE THAT YOU ARE FINE  AND I’M VERY PLEASED TO RECEIVE YOUR VISIT  NEXT MONTH  IN VERONA.

WHEN YOU  ARE AT  THE AIRPORT  YOU SHOULD TAKE A BUS  HEADING TO THE STATION; THERE IS ONE EVERY 20 MINUTES. OTHERWISE, OF COURSE, TAXIS ARE ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY, BUT I KNOW THAT YOU DON’T WANT TO PAY TOO MUCH ! 

AS YOU HAVE REACHED THE RAILWAY STATON,  I’LL BE THERE IN MY CAR TO TAKE YOU TO MY HOUSE.  

THE WEATHER FORECAST SAYS  THAT IT’S NOT GOING TO BE TOO COLD BUT YOU NEED TO PUT A SWEATER INTO YOUR LUGGAGE AND, AS IT WILL PROBABLY RAIN, YOU SHOULD TAKE AN UMBRELLA WITH YOU AS WELL.

YOU DON’T NEED TO BUY ANY PRESENT, I’M JUST HAPPY FOR THE VISIT.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND LET ME KNOW THE DATE OF YOUR TRIP.

BYE BYE

TOMMY J  

a formal letter by Daria

Dir Sir or Madam,

I am Daria Evangelista and I am writing in response to the job advertisement concerning film club organizers that I saw on the noticeboard of my local language school. 

As I read the advert, I thought immediately that I was the suitable person for this job. I am 17 years old, I've been studying English at school for 12 years and I've been to England and Ireland many times to attend English courses. For example last summer I attended a one-month English course in Dublin, which gave me the opportunity to improve my English very much. In December I am taking my First Certificate in English exams and I'm studying very hard to prepare for it too.

I am a collaborative person and I like working with other people to create or organise something as a group. Especially I am very proud if my work is well done!

Moreover I like watching all kinds of films and I attended a one-year cinema course at school four years ago, so I know the different techniques used to make a good film. Sometimes I also watch films in English with my friends: we believe that is better if you watch a film in the original language so that you can better appreciate it!

This is all I wanted to say for now;  if you need some further information about me, don't hesitate to write me.

Yours faithfully,

formal letter by Cecilia

Dear Sir / Madam,

 
I am writing because I saw your advertisement in the Sunday Times magazine I was reading yesterday and I found it very interesting. I am 17 and I've been studying English for 11 years but I know that there's always something new to learn.
 
This is the reason why I am interested in a two-month English course at your school, that is to improve my knowledge of English and learn new words and new grammar structures. I am quite good at grammar but I need to practise my spoken English more, so I would like to do a few hours of conversation.
 
I would prefer to attend the school 4 days per week, 4 hours a day and I'd like to start my course next Tuesday, if this is possible.
 
I like English, and languages in general, very much and I also find studying other countries' literature very interesting.
 
I hope to receive your answer soon.

Yours Sincerely. 

story by Lorenzo

When he found his seat on the plane, Sam recognized the person who was sitting in the seat next to his.   His face seemed familiar to him but he he couldn’t remember the name and who he actually was. Despite this he was terribly nervous, he was sweating and his heart was beating like a drum. 
During the flight Sam tried to concentrate, trying to remember why that person was so frightening to him. The man looked like any other normal man, he was wearing a smart black suit and dark sunglasse even if the plane was well lightened. Sams’ eyes stopped on the man’s case. The case was the thing Sam was most scared of. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to bring to mind memories about it but the only ones were fragmentated and confused. It seemed as if someone had cleared his mind in order to prevent him from rememebering. He tried again. Suddenly terribly images came to his mind. He was lying senseless on a cold surface with strong lights all around him that didn’t let him see well. The man was standing near him, smartly dressed like on the plane, with an inexpressive face. The man opened the case and took out a strange object, it looked like a gun but it was much more complicated. The man said : -I know what I want, you were really useful- and shot to his head. Sam felt a terrible sorrow; he was crying and shouting while that strange objet was cancelling each memory of that moment. Sam opened his eyes and realized that he was still on the plane. He was terrified while the the man next to him turned and with a cold smile said: -do you remember me, Sam?-.

letter by Irene

Dear David,
 
You don't have to thank me, it was such great fun for me and my family having you here! We all had a great time last week!
 
I'm really happy you too enjoyed this week and found it interesting! Maybe just one week was too short to see and do all the things I had planned, for example climbing the little mountain behind my house, visiting the stones museum and also making a trip of two days in town and there visit the old and huge cave together. So next time you should stay here longer, two or even three weeks! 
 
My family loved having you here, they found you very kind and polite, and they have already asked me when you are come back! If you could send me the photos, it would be great for us to watch them together.
 
Actually, I'm a little busy with the school now, as you know, we started just a week ago but I already have got quite a lot to study.. I hope I will be able to come at Halloween. I guess we've got a few days off school. It would be great, to visit the area of the Foggy Lakes during Halloween time! I'll ask my parents, and in my next mail I'll let you know for sure.
 
Best wishes,
 
Irene

The holiday of a lifetime, by Greta

Last summer I went to London for three weeks on  a study tour. It was amazing, an unforgettable experience!

I left from Milan airport on 19^th July with an Italian group of 17 boys and girls; we made friends immediately! When we arrived there, we discovered our host houses weren’t so far from each other and so we could often meet!

On the third day we met the other  students attending our school: they were Russians and Chinese. We were all divided into different levels and activity groups. So, the morning we studied at the UCL and the afternoon  we visited the city. At the weekend, we also went to Oxford, Brighton and Stonehenge. 

In London I visited many museums, like the National Gallery and the Natural History Museum, but also many attractions, like the Tower of London, Madame Tussauds and London Eye! But what I liked most was Westminster Abbey: it was  beautiful!

We left London on 8^th August; I love London and I hope to go back there soon! But I hope also to meet my friends again, Italians and not... maybe, for a new holiday in London!

story by Filippo

When he found his seat on the plane, Sam recognized the person who was sitting in the seat next to him. He was sitting right next to his friend Paul! It was at least a year they hadn’t seen each other and so Sam wasn’t that surprised that Paul couldn’t recognize him. It was in that moment that he decided to play a prank on him.

The fact is, that Sam is really good at making his voice sound different, and so he decided to start annoying Paul using a fake voice, in order not to be recognized. At first, he just asked him some pointless questions, just to check out if the whole thing was working. When Sam realized that he wouldn’t BE recognized, the real prank began.

He started talking to Paul, pretending a really kind voice, about  all the topics he knew Paul couldn’t stand most, but it didn’t seem to work. Sam was really disappointed, and didn’t know what to do at that point, but then he had one last idea: to slap Paul’s neck, as they always used to do when they were really close friends, right before Paul’s twin Anthony moved to Jamaica. As soon as he thought that, he stopped, with his hand already in the air: Jamaica was exactly where the flight was directed!

After that time, he was so scared that the same thing could happen again that he never played one more prank on a friend!

Research shows that young people today are not as healthy as they were twenty years ago. Why is this and can we do anything about it? by Doina

Recently some researches have shown that young people are sicker than their parents were even if lots of contagious sicknesses have been cured. 

There are many reasons, but the most important one is that they do not workout enough and the diet is completly wrong. As a matter of facts many teenagers eat junk food without limits while they are playing video games or watching TV, and that's bad. Also the consumption of alcohol smoking habit have increased damaging young people's health.

The situation was very different twenty years ago. Indeed there weren't the fast food or take away restaurants that we have. People lived closer to nature and they did more physical exercise.

Finally I think that what we can do for them is this: we can give them advice and explain the risks and just hope they will understand and begin having a healthier lifestyle, for their own life.

letter by Chiara

Hi Elise,

I'm very happy  you are coming here very soon. We will have a great time together. Verona, as you know, is really a fantastic place!

I think that it is not a problem to find my apartment. You only must take the bus to Badia Calavena and get off before the bus turn left. There at 2:35 pm it will be a bus to Cazzano, take it. I will be waiting for you at the bus stop. The bus ticket costs 4 € and is valid for the 2 buses.

As for the weather, now it's sunny and hot. I think that it will be cold if it rains. .In Italy October is always a strange about weather.

If you want to change money there isn't any problem: you can do it at the airport.

I can't wait to see you!

With love,

Chiara

letter by Arianna

Hi David,

I really enjoyed reading your news from England! First of all let me say that my family also miss you a lot. We spent such a great week together, and you were so nice with my parents that my mum cried when you left! Do you remember that?

Well, feel free to come whenever you want! And next time it will be nice to spend a lot more time together! Oh, please, could you send me the photos you talk about in your letter? I’m very curious and I’d like to see them.

Lastly I would like to thank you for your invitation to visit you in London! Well, I have just talked to my parents, and they’ll probably let me visit you! I don’t know exactly when I could come, but we’ve got a lot of time and we’ll find the right period.

That’s all for now, write me soon!

bye bye, Arianna.

story by Emma

Carla was very excited as she opened the letter, she had expected it for months. She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad, but she was surely nervous. “ If  they write to me it means that they are interested in me but if everything is right they wouldn’t need to write a letter.”

Everything had begun when she had applied for a scholarship with Columbia University to play basketball there. She had been playing basketball since she was 5 years old, it had always been her passion, her reason for living. She had always been the best basketball player in the school and, of course, after a month, she had received the letter where the University granted her the scholarship. She was excited, her last year of high school was almost ended, and she was looking forward to her fantastic future.

Unfortunately her mother, Sue, had got ill; doctors hadn’t recognized the disease, they didn’t know what to do. So Carla had decided to shelter her mother in a special hospital, that was very expensive, but it was the only solution. Carla’s dad was dead and her mother was unemployed so Carla had had to find somewhere the money by herself. [She had begun by working as a shop assistant but she earned too little money and the doctors had finally discovered what was her mother illness but to recover it they needed a lot of money. She couldn’t give up now that her mother was about to heal.]

The solution had come at the final match of the basketball championship: the manager of the opposing team offered her 3000 dollars to fail the basket.

“3000, my mother healthy again”, these words were still echoing in her mind when she accepted the proposal. She didn’t do the basket and she had 3000 dollars in her pocket.

Her mother was healthy again but after a month she had received a phone call from Columbia University and a strict voice had said that they had discovered everything and that they were not interested in a cheater.

 And now here was another letter with the emblem of Columbia University.