AND THEN? is a new and exciting program idea that encourages imagination and creativity in students. In a world where, too often, pictures are more important than words in storybooks, and in where young people spend much of their time watching pictures on TV or video, there is a real need to awaken and encourage imagination. In the AND THEN? programs, the author, Esta de Fossard, reads aloud a story or poem of her creation. Esta stops reading just before the ending, and the words "AND THEN?" invite the listeners to create their own endings.

The AND THEN? collection includes stories (each under 500 words) and poems that are exciting, funny, mysterious, dramatic or challenging. None of the stories, however, is horrifying or includes any involvement with crime. Because there are no pictures accompanying the stories or poems, young people are able to imagine the characters to be of whatever race and age they choose and in whatever location they choose.

After creating their own endings to the story or poem, the young writers are invited to read their endings aloud. These oral presentations encourage young people to read clearly and effectively. Esta de Fossard is a trained and experienced actor and radio and TV presenter. Young listeners can learn a lot about effective oral presentation by listening to and watching her read.

Videoconference Outline

• Story Time: An Introduction to AND THEN?
  The presenter, Esta de Fossard, will introduce herself and the AND THEN? concept.
• Story Shape, Characters, New Words
  What is a story shape? Esta will review this concept with students and illustrate where her reading of the story will stop and students will be invited to be an active story contributor. Esta will also answer any student questions about the "AND THEN?" process.
• Introduction to the Story
  Esta will review the premises for the story, including title and characters. Any potentially troubling vocabularly will be reviewed as well.
• Story Reading
  Esta will read the story aloud.
• Writing Time
  Students will have about 10 minutes to complete the story writing portion of the activity. During this time, teachers should select one student to read their ending aloud.
• Presentation of Story Endings
  Each site will have an opportunity to share one students' work.
• Poetry Time
  Esta will briefly introduce poetry and explain the rhyme scheme of the poem students will be working with during the program. She will then read the poem and invite students to complete it using the ryhme scheme or simple sentence form.
• Student Writing
  Students will have 6-7 minutes to write their own endings to the poem. During this time, teachers should select two students to read their ending aloud.
• Poetry Cafe
  Two students from each site will be invited to read the poem with their ending aloud.
• Wrap-Up

Pre-Videoconference Activities

AND THEN? does not require much in the way of advance activities. However, it would be helpful for teachers to:

• Remind students of the meaning of fiction
• Talk with students about the importance of imagination.
• Explain to students that they will be listening to a fictional story that is incomplete. The reading of the story will end with the words "AND THEN?" Students will be invited to create their own endings to the story. The story will be no longer than four minutes in length and they will have ten minutes to finish the story with their own ideas.
• Teachers might perhaps use the story shape diagram to explain to their students just how a story works and to show students the point at which they will be invited to take over and complete the story.
• Explain to students that they will also be invited to complete a poem, and remind them of the rhyme schemes that many poems use.

About Esta de Fossard

Esta de Fossard-Nelson , MA, MEd, was employed for 10 years at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs as a Senior Advisor in Entertainment-Education (E-E). Prior to that she was an independent international contractor in the field of education and Entertainment-Education. She  recently returned to independent contracting and teaches E-E at Johns Hopkins Baltimore campus, and at the Zanvyl Krieger School of Advanced Communication in Washington DC. She has more than 20 years experience in E-E programming in the developing world, having worked in more than 50 countries. She is widely experienced in radio and television writing and production and has been a consultant to Discovery Channel, NPR, and Barney programs. She is the author of more than 50 published books, including training manuals for E-E; school and college text books in Literature, Writing, Grammar, Logical Thinking; and children's books. She is a prize winner in the Australian Children's Book Awards. De Fossard teaches Behavior Change and Education through Entertainment and Intercultural Communication. Information courtesy of Johns Hopkins University.