Reviews

Goalie Courage - freebie (tribute to Green)

I must thank you for the play you sent with your email. It was perfect timing - not only with happened with the English team, of course, but for my daughter, given the "misses" (she felt) she had at her last soccer game yesterday.  I actually had a read-through with her; she played the goalie's part and I played all the others. She "got" the lesson in it, so as I said, perfect timing - and thanks!

World Cup Assembly

Just read your assembly - what a lot of information about Brazil - I wonder why!!!!!!!!  It is really good, again, I learnt things about the world cup I didn't know.  I like the England fan idea, I think you get across the passion and the intensity of the need for England to win again.

Excellent stuff.  Nice big part for the referee, bet all the kids will want to be the ref for once! Especially as it involves a lot of blowing of the whistle.

"The 2010 World Cup. Children will love this chance to present to the school the inside story of one of the worlds largest sporting events. Smashing" 

World Cup Leavers' Assembly

I really enjoyed the play.  Some of the interplay between the characters is really funny. Think it is one of my favourites!

Ancient Greek Assembly

Dear Sue,

I am just writing to you to thank you for a fabulous script. Today was the day of our performance to the parents and other children of the school.

It was a huge success! All attending (hall was jam packed) enjoyed the show as it was funny, witty and informative. In particular the choice of music added to the enjoyment.

For your information, we found the lyrics to ‘Hole in the Head’ a bit inappropriate and replaced it with ‘Can’t get you out of my head’ by Kylie. We also shortened the play and left out the last part. Homer and his wife were a great success and we played the start of the Simpsons tune every time Mrs. Homer (with blue wig) came onto the stage. Very successful!

Our assembly took just over 30 minutes and we had 59 children performing.

Once again, thank you for the great script. I will have to do another assembly next year and I will certainly be looking at your web site for help!!!

Warm regards,

Gitta

New Year Resolutions Assembly 

enjoyed the asssembly - i like the way you moved it on from the usual  new year resolutions to the way we should really think of them. 

St. David's Day (Welsh) Assembly

I was thrilled with what you've produced and laughed out loud as I read. Elizabeth

Easter Story Assembly

Just read the play.  Very different to your assemblies but really good.  You get all the story in and put it across really well.  I think a few schools who celebrate Easter will appreciate this play.  I like the way you make Peter a central character as well.  You get all the main points in simple and straightforwardly which is quite a challenge because the Easter story is quite a complex one.  I did enjoy it.

Ancient Egypt Assembly 

I was lucky enough to witness, first hand, one of your fantastic plays come to life as a class performance. What I, and the children didn't know about the Ancient Egyptians by the end of the performance, wasn't worth knowing! It was hilarious, informative and thoroughly engaging. Children deserve to learn in innovative ways like this!  

Full Name: Fiona Watson

Ancient Egypt Guided Reading Scripts plus World Cup

Hiya Sue, that's fab, thank you so much. The scripts are fantastic and just what I was looking for for our Egypt topic this term. Thanks for the football stuff as well - the boys will love it!

Thank you so much!

Juliet

Tudor Explorer Assembly

I used your Tudor Explorer Play last November and it was great. Great music choices. Thanks again

Tiffany

Re: Ancient Egypt Guided Reading Texts

Thanks a lot!  I really appreciate those.  The kids have been having fun with the scripts.  They love the daddy was a mummy one.

I appreciate these products.  It saves me a lot of time.

Kindly

Jamie

Australian Assembly

This first one from a publisher I use:

Review of Australian Assembly

A short play giving a lot of information about the land down under: some history, some wildlife, some music and some facts and figures to round it all out.

This is another well-presented assembly from Sue Russell. There is the usual large cast size to accommodate a class group, with the many, small parts offset by having the two main characters who are onstage for the majority of the production. There are regular musical interludes to add interest, and any passages that contain recitation of facts, figures or histories are balanced by changing the speakers or having the characters react – I particularly liked the Swagman complaining there was too much dry information.

Since there’s so much to Australia, there is a sense that this is more of a mish-mash of facts, figures and events than some of the other assemblies. However, this idea is adopted within the piece too, with the narrator complaining that Australia is so big there’s an awful lot of information to cover.

To conclude:  a bright, fast overview of a big, big country and a good introduction to a school topic.

Re: World Smile Day play

Yes, had a quick read through - very good and made me smile!  

Lorraine

Yes I like it you get a lot of ideas into a short play - I like the variety with the jokes and the quotes and the proverbs from the different countries.  Hope it goes well

Claire

Sue, this is so brilliant, it didn't make me smile, it made me laugh! I love the line about happiness being perfume!!! Having quotes from all around the world adds to it as well.I would love to use this in assembly!!!!

Thank you for sending me a copy! 

Roman/Celt Assembly

The assembly was fantastic and so many parents commented on it,
 
Many thanks
Katie 

Spanish Assembly

You certainly do do a lot of research - this assembly has a lot of information and is just what assemblies need - when you 'do' a topic, you do lots of different aspects of it and this covers everything - again with new information for me.  

Victorian Assembly

The Victorian assembly went extremely well, the script was excellent and the humour went down very well. The length of the assembly was just right and perfect for what I wanted.

I have used the short one and adapted it slightly for my class. They are very excited!

It's a great service you offer - I shall be back!

Karen

MLK script

Hi Sue
Thanks so much for the resources, they are great! My class really enjoyed the MLk script so I will definitely be using it again.  

These scripts are just brilliant - an excellent addition to the classroom! They allow the children to learn the facts whilst "in role" and participating. Learning has become dynamic. I am using the Martin Luther King script with older, sometimes disaffected students as part of their Citizenship module. Mary Davey, Hull, England

I'm an 8th grade language arts teacher who sees your work as an opportunity to work on the students' reading skills and intergrate the curriculum at the same time.

Thanks again. I'm looking forward to St. Patrick!

Judy Campbell

Wow!
What a treasure mine I happened upon when I found your site!I look forward to reviewing these scripts! Yea!
Thanks so much,
Miggie Mustian
2nd grade teacher
Maybeury Elementary
Richmond, VA Henrico County Public Schools

Yes!  Please send me a copy of the Martin Luther King play. My students asked to do a readers' theater on him, and yours is the best! Rebecca Taylor

Thank you very much for the information and also the Martin Luther King script.  I am always on the look out for new sources for Readers Theatre.  The students love this type of format!" (Jennifer Fenrich)

From a Student 

Your website is really amazing. It's a brilliant idea to write plays for children to act out to help them learn about history. It would be wonderful if we could do something like that at school! Most of my friends don't really enjoy history lessons, and I think it's mainly because we only read the textbook and listen to our teacher. Because I'm really keen on history, I don't find the lessons boring at all, but I think that some people in class would enjoy history much more if in some of our lessons we acted out your plays! (Fiona, London)

We are going to do this play as a whole school, thanks! It is awesome! (referring to "Go Obama!")

St. Georges Day comments from Elizabeth in Australia

We had a thoroughly wonderful St George evening.  We drank mulled wine in earthenware goblets...Between the rich mixed vegetable soup and the pot-roasted beef with all sorts of trimmings, we did the plays-R-ussell (love it) play script to great acclaim. I had copied and bound and highlighted six sets of script and made a named- headband for each character so the audience could instantly recognize who was who. Our hostess, Mary, who is north country English, made a fabulous QE2 and the host, similarly English, played a strong Saint George.  I was the narrator, Dick played Winston Churchill, Ken (thehermit) was (appropriately) John Lennon and our PickPocket took the role of Will Shakespeare.  It all went down extremely well and we thank YOU very much for that.  An irreverently well written play, R- ussell!

Sue, I hope all your play scripts are received as well as this one was.  Everyone was most impressed.  All the best with all your future writing.

Cheers, Elizabeth

Re: Great Britain Assembly 

Hi Sue,

Really enjoyed the play, it certainly incorporates the greats of Great Britain and I learnt something about how the countries came to be linked together - never knew that. 

Good luck with the other plays

Claire

Christmas Spirit - The Conversion of Mrs Scrooge

Thanks for your efficient and helpful service. The christmas play looks really good and the inclusion of a word file is a great help. Fiona

Just to let you know that the assembly 'The Conversion of Mrs Scrooge" was a great success - thanks!

Best wishes

Sarah-Jane

Bonfire Night Assembly 

I enjoyed Bonfire Night. Like the change of venue for the gunpowder - good for an american audience as well.  Can just imagine a john travolta guy! Claire