The home of school assemblies, class plays and guided reading play scripts for Key Stages 1, 2, 3 & 4.
With over 400 school assemblies scripts to choose from I hope you find what you are looking for.
If there are any themes/subjects ‘missing’, please don’t hesitate to let me know – I am always happy to write on request.
So, let me just say, welcome to my website!
It’s coming up to the beginning of Autumn Term 2023 and I am embarrassed to see the last date in my blog was … last Christmas! My New (Academic) Year Resolution will be to ‘keep up’ a little better but, in my defence, it’s not easy finding time when you are wearing as many diverse hats as are in my current collection: writer, TEFL tutor, Dance Instructor, Lecturer and Walk Leader – all of which take up a fair amount of my time!
Having said that, as an ex-teacher, I recognise just how feeble the above excuse sounds when taking into account the demands of a teaching career – which is why I hope my resources make life just a tiny bit easier, for all teachers out there – I take my hat – make that, all my hats – to you; you are all superstars in my mind.
Scroll down for topical suggestions on my school assemblies or click on My Plays above for the full catalogue.
NEW SECTION ON READER’S THEATER
Reader’s Theater is a great way of delivering drama .. without any hassle – no props, stage directions, time issues – any of the constraints of performance. Reader’s Theater is just reading – that simple! But it doesn’t mean a dumbing down of material – it’s just presenting it in a different way.
Reader’s Theater is big in America (note spelling!) but not so well known elsewhere. It is very similar to guided reading – small groups of readers bringing assigned characters to life. I already have a section on guided reading for use within the classroom; but Lockdown has opened my mind to the opportunities of Reader’s Theater for the rest of us – adults included.
I have just adapted my Dickens’ scripts to Readers Theater format and am hoping this ‘new collection of scripts’ will prove useful – for all ages – school children and adults alike.
NEW SECTIONS: KEY STAGE 3 and 4 RESOURCES
These will include scripts pertinent to English Literature G.C.S.E’s, AS and A2.
Whilst continuing to add to my KSI and II collection (of over 400 scripts) I am now turning my hand to KS III and IV script writing. This is a new venture for me and I am more than happy to receive requests/pointers/advice offered by any KS III & IV teachers; likewise from drama groups.
My first submissions are by Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities.
I will be working through other great classics plus a number of themes such as Climate Change, Future of Our World, etc. Again, requests on specific themes and books most welcome.
I have over 400 scripts on this website – all of which you should be able to find using the search facility. If however you have something more obscure in mind, or just need some guidance, please do not hesitate to contact me via email sue@plays-r-ussell.com. It might be quicker and easier and I am always happy to help! Sue
As orders have been a bit thin off the ground (zero for last 2 months!) I was particularly heartened to receive this review – gives me hope for future orders!
Second World War Guided Readers
Comment: “My students actually really enjoyed doing this. They love a good script in class.”
Rating: 5/5 (extremely satisfied)
and I have just received this from ‘an appreciative mum’! I normally get feedback from teachers so it was really nice to receive this! “Just watched my daughter in her class assembly this morning, about Chinese New Year. Fantastic assembly, so informative and such fun to watch too! My daughter loved performing in it and can’t wait until the next one!”
The following was a review and my response off TES which I would like to share. I’m always heartened by such feedback – fellow teachers will, I know, understand the importance of such encouragement!
Natural Disasters Assembly or Class Play
wowthehokeycokey said: This is a great resource. The children performed it as a play to their parents at the end of the topic. It also reinforced their learning, as the subject knowledge is presented in the most interesting way possible. I also used it as part of our learning about play scripts within that topic. Highly recommended and saved me a weekend of work trying to write one. Good suggestions for linking songs too. A lucky find for me as I didn’t expect to find a play about this. Thank you
My reply:
Thank you so much for taking the time to write – your review pretty much sums up what I aim to do through my writing – which is to bring the curriculum to life in a meaningful way i.e. covering what you teach in class and presenting, via the children, as a kind of round-up of what they have learned. I also, as a teacher, found that it gave even the least confident children the chance to shine – often quite a revelation how children rise to the occasion through drama. Thank you again. Positive feedback like yours keeps me writing! Sue Russell
I am always happy to ‘write on-demand’ so if you have any special requests re scripts I haven’t hitherto thought of, let me know!
Sue
| Just a final reference to free script I wrote on The Snow Goose last year. Brief Foreward from Sue Russell I came across a copy of The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico, in the library, at a time that I was feeling rather sad and fearful. 2020 has not been an easy year and I found the reading of this book a beautiful, uplifting experience. As a great fan of novellas, I found this one to be an absolute gem, embracing so brilliantly the wonder of nature and the power of good. It is, in my opinion, the simplicity of the writing (and I don’t mean that in a detrimental sense – conveying important issues in a few words is a skill held by few) that makes it so powerful and its message and descriptions so poignant. https://www.plays-r-ussell.com/shop/my-school-play-scripts/snow-goose-script/the-snow-goose-by-paul-gallico-adapted-into-a-play-by-sue-russell/ Our Children’s Mental Health At the beginning of Lockdown I wrote a school assemblies script around the story of Chicken Licken which deals with the subject of fear – in all its different manifestations. I would like to offer this KS II script to teachers to share with their students at this challenging time in the hope that it may give some solace and actual practical advice (including such suggestions as mindfulness). I have also just added a Key Stage One version – with an extension to the original script (found in Collection II of Key Stage One Quickie Fairy Tales) which covers fear in an appropriate wayr for these younger children. I have written many other PSHE scripts – the majority of my fairy tale adaptations deal with one theme or another. So do please take a look at these – I think they are an excellent way of giving indirect comfort at a time when our children’s mental health is top of the agenda. |
- Assemblies and Class Plays – Based on a class of 30. Suitable for performing within the classroom or in front of the school. Ready to deliver, with suggested songs, props and production notes.
- Performance Poems – To read in groups in class, or as whole class performance.
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