The Story of the Chinese Zodiac Calendar - Reader's Theatre Script

Emperor

Something must be done! I will start a calendar and name each year after a different animal, but how can I choose which order the animals should appear in? I know! I will have all the animals enter a swimming race across a wide river. I will name the years in the order that the animals finish. The first year of our new calendar shall be named after the winner!

Included in the Story of the Chinese Zodiac Reader's Theatre Unit:

10 page script

11 characters + the narrator

1 page about the Chinese Zodiac Calendar

1 page about the Important Days in the Chinese Zodiac Calendar

12 pages about each animal in the Chinese Zodiac Calendar detailing careers, famous people born under that animal, lucky colors, lucky numbers, and compatibility with other animals.

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Mr. Marvel's Musings:

I plan on asking the students in my library class to research the animal that they are born under. In a group, they will research their Chinese Zodiac animal and present it to the class. This is why I included the 12 pages about each animal, so that you, dear reader, have a page to check their facts, and for your own personal knowledge.

The Story of the Chinese Zodiac synopsis:

The people of China do not have a calendar, so the Emperor decides to have the animals enter a race. The first animal that makes it to the finish line will have the first year named after them. Best friends Cat and Rat hear about the race and decide to join. Rat knows that he is the smallest animal in the race, so in order to gain an advantage, he begins befriending and riding on larger animals in an attempt to finish first. The Cat goes along with the Rat's plan, but will the Rat's plan work, and can the Rat be trusted?

Find out in The Story of the Chinese Zodiac!

Do not fear the reader's theater format. Students love these adapted stories because they are listening to the story and they are a part of the story by playing a character within the story.

Reader's theatre inspires reluctant readers to join in the fun. The strongest and most advanced readers in your class will encourage other students to raise their hand and participate in the story. I also use reader's theatre to add to my drama marks.

If the reader's theatre format did not work for my students and I, then I would have stopped creating and adapting them years ago.

Reluctant readers sometimes feel anxious looking at pages of text, whereas a reader's theater script is broken up into narration and different characters speaking, thus making the story more accessible to those students who have not discovered the incredibly fun activity of reading for entertainment.

I use shorter stories with minimal characters in literature circles.

When can one make time for a reader's theatre story in class?

When I am not reading a reader's theatre unit with my class, I usually reserve Friday's for the reading of a one-off story. It is an event that the class looks forward to, since they do not know which story I will choose. Great for Librarians. I project the stories on the screen and assign characters in class. Some characters only have 1 line. A character like that is perfect for a reluctant reader.

I have read these stories remotely/online and in class/in-person.

I encourage teachers and instructors to allow students to practice their parts at home before they read in front of the class. They can try different voices and tones when they practice.

I hope you, and your students have a fun time reading The Story of the Chinese Zodiac.

Xin nian kuai le and Excelsior!

Mr. Marvel: The King of Reader's Theatre