50% OFF READERS' THEATER SCRIPTS HOLIDAYS and SEASONS BUNDLE - 10 scripts

This 50% OFF Readers' Theater seasonal bundle will ensure that you are set for holiday celebrations with your class ALL YEAR LONG! These no-prep, high-interest scripts give you all the ELA and drama fun you need for the year's biggest holidays. Get 10 scripts for the price of 5!
-- 8 of the 10 scripts are whodunnit mystery scripts where students not only get reading fluency practice but also exercise their critical thinking skills to hunt for context clues to some perplexing mysteries.
-- 4 of the scripts are whole class scripts with 26 roles; the other 6 are for smaller groups of flexible sizes.
-- All of the scripts finish with written questions and journal reflections. Most also include extra activities that work perfectly for fast finishers, such as mix and match seasonal jokes.
Holidays and seasons included
Fall

Winter
Spring
Summer
Halloween

Thanksgiving

Christmas (2)
St Valentine's Day

End of the Year

An explanatory note on the advantages of Whole Class Scripts
The 3 whole class scripts in this bundle are designed for TWENTY SIX readers! This keeps all of the students together in one place and fosters classroom community, rather than dividing the class into smaller reading groups. The whole class is kept busy reading the frequent EVERYONE responses together. These responses include making sound effects, such as applauding. The EVERYONE responses foster excitement and engagement. Usually the disadvantage of whole class scripts is that students don't get as much opportunity to speak as they do in small groups. The EVERYONE feature removes this disadvantage. In addition, all of the students have individual reading parts of approximately equal length.

For classes smaller than 26, give students two roles.

Previews

Please take a peek at all of the individual script previews. Each contains pages taken from the script that reveal the style and tone of each play.

Fall Whole Class Script: The Power Outage Mysteries

This funny and engaging story includes two mysteries AND a storm that your students create primarily with their rubbing, clapping, clicking and snapping hands. While the classroom is in darkness during the brief power outage caused by the storm, two things happen before the lights come back on: a pet is freed and a cake is stolen. The first whodunnit to unravel is who let the class gerbil out of his cage. The gerbil is not a class favorite - the students think he makes their classroom look too juvenile - but their attitude changes after he vanishes. The second whodunnit is the identity of the birthday cake thief. Don’t worry: tween sleuth Jean Yuss and her friend Knowlan (AKA Nolan Dobbs) will help your students to solve these mysteries!

Halloween Mystery Script: Mystery of the Halloween Thieves
This funny, high interest story is about a Halloween in which a sister and brother known for being ‘unmotivated’ (some might say lazy!) have a much more active 31st of October than they had hoped for. They have to track down TWO Halloween thieves, one at school and one during an evening trick or treating. Phew! They definitely need your students’ help to solve the clues.

Students not only have to assist in the solution of the two mysteries, but also have to discuss and write on six questions and complete a journal entry. The resource includes two fun extension activities: a page of mix and match spooky jokes and a Halloween ‘Find the Missing Objects’ detection activity.

Readers' Theater Thanksgiving Mystery
The Mystery of the Vanishing Turkey is about the theft of a family’s mound of turkey leftovers. Which desperate family member, driven mad by turkey tacos, turkey meatballs, and turkey bolognaise, stole the leftovers container from the fridge? The clues seem to point to 11 year old Daisy and 13 year old Darius, but is it really them? Mom won’t rest until she knows!

To track down the turkey thief, students will have to disentangle three major clues. To end the activity, students discuss and then write on six questions, complete a journal entry and design a ‘Where’s Waldo?’ style drawing for a fellow student to locate the turkey leftovers container. There is also a mix and match Thanksgiving jokes activity, and a word search.

Christmas Script: Rude Alf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Perfect for performances to other classes, or even the whole school. Bring the Santa spirit to your classroom community! The script introduces them to the TRUE story of a much loved character. There was no such reindeer as Rudolph. He was called Rude Alf by his fellow reindeer because he was the rudest reindeer of them all. Students will discover the real story behind his famous nose, and why he had to lead the reindeer through the fog. Two seasonal activities - Christmas riddles and a seasonal word search - complete the entertainment. This humorous play will be a tree-mendous jolly holly hit! It requires students to do some reflection and writing, including giving peer and self feedback.

Readers' Theater Christmas Script: Chilly the Snowman

This fun winter Readers’ Theater Script introduces Middle School students to the TRUE tale of a much loved Christmas character. A lot of fake news surrounds the legend of Frosty the Snowman - including his name - and this amusing script will reveal the real deal. In a merry morality tale, students will learn how a cold-hearted snowman transformed thanks to the kindness of an elf child. This amusing script will give students practice in reading aloud, comprehension and writing, while having lots of fun. 5 different extension activities are included, such as a word search and a page of mixed up Christmas words to unscramble.

Whole Class Winter Mystery: Mystery of the Missing Phone
This funny and engaging story, set in a classroom, includes a set of small mini-mysteries and the Mystery of the Missing Phone. Don’t worry: tween sleuth Jean Yuss (the name says it all) and her friend Knowlan (AKA Nolan Dobbs) will help your students to solve these mysteries! Your students will also enjoy an immersive snow experience in scene two by miming throwing snowballs, building snowmen, and making snow angels. Ensure that the students are spread out from each other for maximum fun.

The first mini-mysteries simply require your students to work out which students in Ms Taken's class are telling lies while playing the game Two Truths and a Lie. The central mystery is much more complex. After their frolics in the snowy school yard (led by trainee P.E teacher Mr Jim Shortz), the fictional class discovers that a phone has been stolen. Strangely, the phone's screen has a crack so large that its owner compares it to the Grand Canyon. Why would anyone want to take a phone like that....?

Valentine's Day Script: Mystery of the Anonymous Valentine

The Mystery of the Anonymous Valentine readers’ theater script will entertain your Valentine's crazed students and require them to perform inference tasks to solve clues. This high interest 9 page script is written for 11 readers but the number of readers can easily be contracted or expanded, depending on how many groups you wish to have. This funny yet realistic story, set in a Middle School classroom, is primarily about the identity of an anonymous Valentine writer. After your students have made their guesses on the provided answer sheet, the writer is revealed by 12 year old ‘detective’ Matt. Quickly, a second mystery follows: who stole the Valentine’s candy stash?

Again, your students have to read carefully to work out the culprit before the ‘big reveal.’ Perfect for engaging ELA reading or Valentine's drama performances!

Spring Whole Class Mystery: A Muddy Mystery
This engaging whodunit concerns the wrecking of a Middle School class’s seedling growing Science Fair experiment. When the class returns from exercising in the school yard, devastation awaits. Soil and watering jars have been knocked over - deliberately? - and MUD coats the furniture and floor. The quietest students in a lively, punny class come under suspicion- and solve the mystery!

An exercise session on the third page of the script, led by ELA teacher Mr Reid Enright (pun absolutely intended!) is perfect for classes that need to get out of their seats! The script is particularly suited to classes that prefer realistic characters, using modern dialogue. Its punny fun makes it ideal for use in the analysis of comedy.

Summer Whole Class Mystery: The Sports Day Mystery
Your students will be 'whodunit' detectives, performing inference tasks to solve clues. Written questions and activities (including a script writing assignment) will keep your students busy long after the script reading. The coloring borders will keep fast finishers engaged.

PLOT

This funny and engaging story, set at a summer camp, focuses on a sports day accident at a summer camp. When the camp’s top athlete falls just as he is just about to cross the finish line and win the top athlete award, all of the campers suspect sabotage. Can your students help track down the culprit?

This engaging whodunit requires your students to not only identify the culprit, but also to quote the clues that they used to track down the culprit. They have to explain WHY- what motivated the sabotage?

End of the Year Mysteries: Double Trouble
The script gets its title, Double Trouble, from the TWO mysteries that the stars of the script -twins Sloane and Sporty- have to solve on the last day of the school year. The first mystery occurs at school, when the end of year academic award that Sloane is expected to win vanishes. The second occurs in the evening at the baseball field when some cheating occurs. The twins enjoy solving nice, juicy mysteries, yet they can’t do it all on their own. Your students have to perform detection tasks too!

If your students enjoy these seasonal scripts, they will have fun with these three 'evergreen' mystery romps:

READERS' THEATER- MYSTERY OF THE DRAMA CAMP THIEF
READERS' THEATER SCARY MYSTERY MIDDLE SCHOOL SCRIPT
Readers' Theater - Mystery of the Stolen Laptop
For oodles of drama fun, try Drama Games for Middle School.
Students will also love the 15 tales in Mini Mysteries grades 5-8
OR select a bundle of ELA Games and mini-mysteries: Brain Teaser Bundle grades 5-8

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