book's a play!, The

Teaching Pre K-8, Mar 2001 by Cook, Carolyn

A five-day plan guaranteed to transform your students into a class of budding playwrights and actors

The classic children's books How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Beauty and the Beast and Madeline have all been adapted into television shows and movies that children enjoy just as much as the books that inspired them.

Well, there's no reason why you can't do the same with classic tales in your own classroom. Why not let your class adapt their own favorites into plays and even into videos? It's an educational and enjoyable way for students to work together on projects that they choose and plan themselves. For my class it was also a great week-long lesson that developed both reading and writing skills.

Here's a day-by-day outline of how I did it.

Day 1. A good way to start is to have each of your students name a favorite book he or she has read recently, either in class or at home. After you list all of the books on the board, explain to the students that they'll be turning some of these books into short plays. What's more, they'll be acting out their own plays for an audience.

You'll probably have a lot of titles listed on the board by the time all of your students have come up with their favorites. This means, of course, that you and the kids will have to narrow down the field considerably. How many books should your class work with? Three, four or even five is about right, but a lot depends on how many groups you want to use.

Once the books have been chosen, let each student give his or her first and second choices of books he or she would like to adapt.

Often, when I do this project, I find that there are a lot of children who want the same book. The solution? Easy. I put all of their names in a hat and let them draw. This seems to me to be the fairest way.

Day 2. Plan to have all of the books in the classroom. Some students will probably have volunteered to bring a book from home. That's great - but just to be on the safe side, have a backup handy in case they forget.

On this day, I gather the students together and read the selected books so that the whole class can enjoy and review them. For the upper grades, who often choose longer books, I save time by just reviewing the main points of the book

Day 3. Before I divide the class into small groups, I explain to the students what they're supposed to do. First, they read their book through as a group. They then work together and decide how they want to act out the book for the class. They must make sure that everyone in the group has something to do and lines to say. After they figure that out, each student writes the lines he or she is to say. During this stage of the activity, you'll probably need to walk around and monitor the groups as they work.

Day 4. Have the students practice in their groups. If they ask about costumes or props, I usually tell them they can only use the bare minimum - in other words, something that's crucial to the story.

On this day, I also have the students work on programs to hand out. I explain that a program is something that tells the audience the names of the characters, the names of the actors and the title of the play itself. I give them an example and have them each make a program for their play. I encourage them to liven up their programs by drawing and coloring pictures. Their homework that night is to practice the lines they've written.

On the last day, which is usually a Friday, we take a big block of time at the end of the day to perform our plays. We put all the chairs in rows, just the way they are in a theater. Before each group performs, two students pass out the programs for that particular play, one program per student. Also, before the play starts, you can announce the book and read the program aloud with the audience. When the actors are finished, they bow and are applauded by the audience.

Many benefits. This is a fim activity that gets everyone involved and helps the books really come alive for students. It shows them how books are adapted to other art forms and also gives them experience in how a play is put together. Students use both reading and writing skills, and create their plays through cooperative learning.

The activity can be used at many different grade levels. I've used an "author's" theme with primary grade children in which each student created a play based on a Jan Brett book or a Bennett Cerf book to celebrate the author's birthday. It was great!

Students in the upper grades can put together shortened versions of their favorite books. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, this will teach them more about the main ideas of a book and help them learn what editing is all about. Also, in the upper grades, students can be given more latitude in making their own costumes and scenery.

But no matter what grade level you teach, or what version you use, this is an educational project that will keep your kids motivated from start to finish.

One final suggestion: If at all possible, try to have a video camera ready for the big moment when your students are "on stage." You never know what you might catch on tape but, chances are, it will be more than good.