A Christmas Carol Drama Unit: Elementary + Middle School Tracks, Original Readers' Theater Script, 2 Slide Decks, SCR & ECR

Curriculum unit · Grades 4–8 · ZIP: PDF (146 pages) + 2 editable PowerPoints · $15

Teach Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as a drama with two complete tracks. Elementary classes (grades 4–5) perform an original readers' theater script adapted from Dickens' public-domain novella, with six scenes and parts for a whole class. Middle school classes (grades 7–8) work with Israel Horovitz's stage play from their anthology (not included), plus an original article on Victorian workhouses and the Poor Law and side-by-side comparisons with passages from Dickens' novella.

Both tracks cover the elements of drama, connotation and denotation, conflict (including character vs. the supernatural), ghost cards, Scrooge's transformation, tone, symbols, plot, text evidence, objective summary and theme development, plus surface-level and below-the-surface film analysis and a discussion on the essential question: Can people really change?

Assess with quizzes, STAAR-style unit tests, short and extended constructed responses with a scoring guide, exit tickets and a project menu. Full-color character cards and two slide decks (one per track) bring the cast to life.

What's included

• Teacher guide: pacing for both tracks, CCSS + TEKS charts (grades 4–5 and 7–8), SCR/ECR scoring guide
• Full-color character cards (10 characters)
• Elementary: original 6-scene readers' theater script with cast list, elements of drama, reading guides, quiz, sequencing sort, Scrooge before & after, discussion circle, 16-item test
• Middle school: Workhouses & the Poor Law article, cause & effect, history vs. fiction, elements of a drama guide, Act One and Act Two quizzes, Dickens vs. the play comparisons, four corners debate, Socratic seminar, 20-item test
• Both tracks: anticipation guide, journal, background, vocabulary, connotation vs. denotation, conflict, ghost cards, Scrooge's transformation, tone, symbols, plot diagram, text evidence, objective summary, theme development
• Story vs. film + below-the-surface film analysis
• 2 SCRs, ECR planner, exit tickets and project menu per track
• Full answer keys
• Capstone projects: body biography (guide, planner, template, Scrooge model plan, rubric) and one-pager (guide, elementary guided template, middle school template, rubric + gallery walk)
• 2 editable PowerPoint decks: elementary (20 slides) and middle school (23 slides) with teacher notes

How teachers use it

• December ELA unit for grades 4–5 (readers' theater) or 7–8 (Horovitz play)
• Teaching elements of drama, theme and character change
• STAAR reading and writing practice with SCRs and ECRs
• Holiday performance for families

Topics: staar, test, prep, review, scr, short, constructed, response, text, evidence, ecr, essay, writing, journal, prompts, bell, ringer, literature, reading, ela, winter, christmas, holiday, december, intervention