Every family has stories. Every fall, with a nod to Halloween and Day of the Dead, we go out and learn some of them. I ask my students to go home and talk to one of their relatives -- preferably some one old, maybe someone they don't see all the time, but even a parent works -- and ask that person to tell them a story. Then the students bring those stories into class, where they have a chance to both tell them and write them down.