Find the Stage Directions in a Play, The Rainy Day Fort

Assign the parts and read the play aloud twice, the second time with expression. Ask children to act out a stage direction or two with their voice and face. Then do the questions on page two and check them with the answer key.

Read a play about cousins in a blanket fort, then find and copy stage directions for actions and sounds. A play has a cast (the characters), scenes (parts set in one place and time), dialogue (the words characters say) and stage directions (notes in italics that tell actors what to do). The directions on the page read: Read the play aloud with a group. Then, turn the page. On page 2: Read each question. Then, circle or write the answer. The answer key covers the questions on page 2.

Yes, both. We made it for 3rd Grade children's stories, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with reader's theater. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Reader's theater is reading a play aloud in parts, with no costumes or sets. Each child reads one character's lines, which builds fluency and expression. The 3rd grade scripts have two to four parts, so a small group can read one together.

Stage directions are the notes in italics, set in parentheses, that tell actors what to do or how to say a line, like (pointing at the cage). They are not read aloud as dialogue. Several sheets ask children to find or copy them.

Give each reader a part and read the script once quietly, then read it aloud together. On the second read, ask readers to show the stage directions with their voice and face. Then turn the page for the questions.

Yes. All six 3rd grade reader's theater sheets have an answer key for the questions on page two.

6 printable worksheets, all free to preview. Downloads are included with a ClassWeekly free trial, and every page prints on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.

These are written for 3rd Grade students, roughly ages 8-9. Many teachers also use them a grade up for review or a grade down as an extension, so use the preview to judge the fit for a particular child.

Yes. Each one shows the Common Core code it covers on its own page, so you can check the alignment yourself rather than taking our word for it.