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Texas ISD School Guide
Texas ISD School Guide







Short Stories for Teachers

Tell it All - Through Play Scripts
By:Carolynn Rogers

And then, and then, and then...How often have you heard younger children retell an event or story as a series of facts punctuated by the dreaded "and then"? Having our students present an oral retell in the narrative form helps them to develop an essential skill and it is worth the time and effort to teach them to abandon the "and then" format since it is little more than a bare bones sequencing activity.

What More Do We Want in a Retell?

Even in the shortest, and simplest of stories such as fables and fairy tales, there are elements that need to be noted to flesh out and add interest to the recount. A more complete telling would include not only the events, but also details of the setting, characters, emotion and some in some cases, a hint of the reader's / reteller's personal reaction. How do we encourage a fully detailed retell?

Play Scripts to the Rescue!

I have noticed that the greatest use of descriptive language, and emotional response displayed by children is during the retell of a schoolyard event in which they and their friends or enemies (for the moment) are the main characters in the story!

Picking up on this already developed skill, we can encourage students to put themselves into "the story" by writing short play scripts, taking on the roles and performing their way through the events. This can encourage a more detailed account including information about setting, character and emotion. It often leads to an interesting revelation of the students' reaction or point of view on the characters and events of a story.

Where to Start

Where to start with your students may depend on their experience with reading and writing play scripts. Provide examples of familiar stories (fairy tales work well) in play script format. Read through and discuss the differences between the narrative and play script versions. If your students are younger, it would beneficial to spend some time practicing the skill of writing dialogue.

e.g. change - Baby Bear looked at the broken chair and cried.

to - Baby Bear: (crying) Somebody smashed my chair!

Demonstrate for the students the different oral presentation of the two lines, the first as it would be said in a reading of the story and the second adding the emotion and voicing of Baby Bear. Give students the opportunity to read the two examples aloud and discuss the difference in presentation. Once you feel that students are confident in writing dialogue, give them an opportunity to write their own play script version of a short fable or fairy tale. Most students have little difficulty with this because television shows and movies have already given them an "ear" for dialogue.

As the students are ready and you wish them to do more formal play script writing, examine elements such as descriptive writing for setting and character notes, action and emotion cues etc.

When asking more experienced students to do a play script retell it is beneficial to have them use a chart to review and fill in pertinent information from the story. (Setting, Characters, Events) If students are ready, you could also have them include a column for their own reaction to specific characters, their actions and events, since this could effect how they write the descriptions and dialogue for certain characters.

Surface Versus Depth

From time to time, opt for the retell through student written play scripts. Encourage students to go a little deeper than 'just the facts'. It will add another dimension to reading response, so dive in and have fun!

More ideas for play scripts for school http://www.play-script-and-song.com/play-scripts-for-school.html and downloadable play script samples are available at Scruffy Plume's Play Scripts and Songs for Teaching.






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