Read Aloud Plays

Read-aloud plays represent a great way to teach reading fluency, comprehension, and content (especially history). Because students are willing to read a play repetitively, they work towards mastery in a natural way. For more on using plays in the classroom, download my free guide, “Why Use Drama?” You can also listen to my podcast about using plays on the International Society for Technology in Education’s blog, Literacy Special Interest, by clicking here.  Click on any of the sub-headings to go see the full catalogue of my plays at ReadAloudPlays.com, or go straight to the Mackowiecki Lewis storefront at TeachersPayTeachers.

American History Plays

Black History Plays

Civil Rights Plays

Classic Plays

Christmas Plays

Patriotic Plays

Halloween Plays

Read Aloud Plays: Classic Short Stories

This collection from Scholastic includes 8 literacy-boosting plays based on such classic short stories as Rudyard Kipling’s Rikki Tikki Tavi, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, and Gogol’s The Nose. Each has been carefully adapted for the 4th through 8th grade classroom, and each comes with comprehension questions and discussion points embedded in the scripts themselves. Fully reproducible! A great way to introduce your students to such literature masters as Irving, Maupassant, and Dickens! Click on the title to go to Scholastic’s Teacher Express site for immediate download, or order a hard copy from Scholastic, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.

Read Aloud Plays: Symbols of America

This collection of ten “patriotic” plays celebrates important events, symbols, and holidays in American History. Students debate the origins of the American flag in Betsy Ross: Fact or Fiction, learn why the Liberty Bell was hidden in a church basement in A Bell for the Statehouse, and discover the tribulations of the presidency in A President’s Day Dream. Includes plays about Mount Rushmore, the White House, MLK’s childhood, the Star-Spangled Banner, Independence Day, Veterans’ Day, and more. Just click on the cover for more information or to purchase and immediately download.

My read-aloud plays have become mainstays in Scholastic classroom magazines. My first, an adaption of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, appeared in the December 1998 issue of Storyworks. Today I have dozens of plays in print. Some are available only to Scope and Storyworks subscribers, others are available in either of two collections.  From Homer to O.Henry, see below or visit my store at TeachersPayTeachers to preview or purchase such plays as The Monkey’s Paw, A Retrieved Reformation, Peter Rabbit, and others, each for around three bucks. As with all my plays, the original purchaser is licensed to print a full class set every year for use in his or her classroom. New plays are added regularly, so check back frequently–and you never know, there may even be a freebie or two hidden among the others!