IT'S STORY TIME!
Write your very own story, with the help of our Young Storytellers crew! They’ll guide you through the process of writing a story, from start to finish, through this series of twelve videos. When you’re done, submit them to us, and you just might see them brought to life by professional actors or artists.
This free video series is brought to you through a partnership with AT&T.
Download this Educator Guide to adapt Story Time to your classroom or home. Resources and worksheets are available in both English and Spanish. This program is aligned with Common Core and CASEL’s SEL Framework, and integrate Social Justice Standards as outlined by Learning for Justice.
ALL EPISODES OF STORY TIME
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Episode 1: Your Writing Adventure Starts Now!
In this episode, you’ll discover what you’ll be doing over the course of these videos: learning how to write a 5 page story about things that interest you. Young Storytellers alumna Eliana Pipes shares about the benefits of our programs. And, you’ll learn how to create your own Young Storytellers name, a name that celebrates how you see yourself — because at Young Storytellers, you belong!
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Download Episode Worksheet: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, and Vira Lim
Special Guest: Eliana Pipes, Young Storytellers Alumna
Episode 2: Why Your Story Matters
We know you have a story to tell, and a unique voice to tell it. There’s nobody in this world that can tell your story in the way YOU can. In this episode, you’ll explore characters, settings, and goals that are important to you, and how they can shape your story.
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Download Episode Worksheet: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Special Guest: Natasha Rothwell, Actress & Writer, HBO’s Insecure
Episode 3: Why You Tell Your Stories
Stories can be used to convey ideas that are important to us, teach lessons to others, or help us to make sense of the world around us. If you could tell everyone in the world something, what would it be? In this episode, you’ll identify personally significant themes and lessons that you’d like to explore in your story.
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Download Episode Worksheet: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Special Guest: Ligiah Villalobos, Writer, Nick Jr.’s Go, Diego! Go!
Episode 4: The Brainstorm Inside Your Head
You have so many ideas in your head - brainstorming just helps to get them out! Whether you’re not quite sure what you want your story to be about, or you have so many ideas you can’t fit them all in one story, it’s ok. In this episode, you’ll learn how a brainstorm can help you come up with story ideas for your scripts.
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Download Episode Worksheet: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, and Vira Lim
Special Guest: Young Storyteller Jacob
Episode 5: Creating Your One Sentence Stories
Did you know that you can write a story in just one sentence? While you probably will write a lot more sentences than just one, you can tell people a lot in just a few words. Writing a one-sentence summary, or a logline, can help guide you as you write your story. In this episode, you’ll learn how to write a logline!
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Download Episode Worksheet: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Episode 6: How To Outline Your Story
It’s a bit easier to get to your destination when you know how to get there! In storytelling, we often use “maps,” or outlines, to guide us as we write, so we don’t leave anything out - or include too many things. This makes for a story that can be better understood and enjoyed by your audience. In this episode, you’ll learn how to create outlines, so that you have a map to write your story by.
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Download Episode Worksheet: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Special Guest: Mauricio Mota, Producer, East Los High
Episode 7: Format Your Story Like A Pro
There are many different kinds of story formats out there, and they’re all great and interesting! Here, we’ll be focusing on the screenplay. If you’ve ever watched a TV show, a movie, or a play, they were all written in screenplay format. This helps the people performing the story to know what’s going on and what to say. In this episode, we’ll teach you how to write in screenplay format, just like TV and the movies!
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Download a Sample Script
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Special Guest: Harry Shum Jr., Actor, Shadowhunters & Glee
Episode 8: The Big Thing That Happens Right Away
Exciting and memorable stories often start with a bang, or “the big thing that happens right away.” This tells your audience to listen up, because they need to find out what happens next! While you don’t need to do this in all your stories, you’ll learn how to use this trick in this episode.
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Special Guest: Marvin Lemus, Co-Creator, Netflix’s Gentefied
Episode 9: It’s All in The Details
You may have heard the saying “it’s all in the details.” Rich details make stories relatable, original, and memorable. They make your story unique, and build a world that your audience can really put themselves in. In this episode, you’ll learn how to use and add details in your own story!
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Special Guest: Chrissie Fit, Actor, Pitch Perfect 2 & Elena of Avalor
Episode 10: Building Excitement Through Obstacles
Do you remember the moments in stories that leave you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what will happen to the characters? All the obstacles that lead up to this moment, or the climax. This leaves your audience on the edge of their seats, wanting to know what will happen next. In this episode, you’ll learn to write your own!
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Download Episode Worksheet: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Special Guest: Franklin Leonard, Founder & CEO of The Black List
Episode 11: The End - How To Resolve Your Story
Whether it’s a happy ending, a sad ending, or an ending that isn’t really an ending at all, your audience wants to know how things turn out! As the writer, you get to decide what happens to all your characters - you just need to tell us about it. In this episode, you’ll learn how to write the resolution for your story.
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Special Guest: Robert Taylor, Writer, Netflix’s Spirit Riding Free
Episode 12: Sharing Your Story
Television shows and movies use titles and taglines to draw you in and give you an idea of what they’re about. This makes people interested in seeing or reading your story, and gets them excited about it. In this episode, you’ll learn to do the same for your own story, so that you can share your story with others!
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Download Episode Transcript: EN / ES
Featuring: Pilar Alvarez, Curtis Baxter, Vira Lim, and Tamara Sims
Check out these amazing art pieces based on student submissions, all created by our friends at CMD+Y Collective!
More Information About Story Time
Aligned with 5th Grade English Language Arts Common Core Standards and CASEL SEL Core Competencies.
Integrates Social Justice Standards as outlined by Learning for Justice.
Easily integrated into asynchronous or synchronous distance learning.
Modeled after our flagship program, Script to Stage.
For Educators
Educator Guide in English: direct download.
Guía para Educadoras en español: descargar.
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Have questions? Contact us!
Thanks to this amazing team for making Story Time possible!
Produced by: BELL THE CAT films
Directed by: Jeremy Scott Glenn
Director of Photography: Alex J. Rodriguez
Production Design by: Alexsandra Papoban
Editing by: Ian Moore
Original Music by: Ryan Nyberg
Additional Music Performance by: Dante Cimadamore
Theme Song by: Drennon Davis and Mike Nissen
Worksheet design by: Diana Molleda and Christine Morente
Transcription & Translation by: Translation Services
PR and Communications: Andre Fonseca & the FCA + BLKBX team
