A Christmas Carol (Literacy Unit with Reader's Theater, Vocab, Graphic Organizers, & more)

I am so excited to share this unit for "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens! It includes a 10-page Reader's Theater adaptation that I wrote to use in my 3rd grade classroom. My students absolutely LOVE reading this play together. I rarely see my students more motivated to read than when they have a special part in a play. It also includes 12 vocabulary words with practice pages, graphic organizers, writing prompts, and more! I've just updated the unit to include over 80 pages of Common Core Aligned literacy activities!

Reader’s Theater Play

RF.2.4, RF.3.4, RF.4.4

Vocabulary Building Activities

L.2.4, L.3.4, L.4.4

Color Vocabulary Memory Game/Flash Cards/Fan-N-Pick
B+W Vocabulary Memory Game/Flash Cards/Fan-N-Pick
Foldables
Worksheets (2 options)

Dictionary Skills Center

L.2.4e, L.3.2g, L.4.4c

Color Version
B+W Version
Recording Sheet

ABC Order Center and Worksheet

Prerequisite skill for L.2.4e, L.3.2g, L.4.4c

Color Center
B+W Center
Recording Sheet
B+W Alternative Printable

Suffix Word Sort Center

RF.2.3d, RF.3.3a, RF.4.3a

Color Center
B+W Center
Recording Sheet

Story Skills

RL.2.1, SL.2.1, RL.3.1,.3.2, SL.3.1, RL.4.1, RL.4.2, SL.4.1

Story Talk
Making Inferences
Character and Me
Very Important Points (3 versions)
Story Elements Spinner
Story Retelling Checklist

Verb Tense Sort (Past, Present Future)

L.3.1e

Color Center
B+W Center
Recording Sheet and Answer Key

Word Building (5 worksheets)

Writing Prompts

W.2.1, L.2.1, L.2.2b, RL.2.3, W.3.1, L.3.1, L.3.2,W.4.1, L.4.1, L.4.2

Dear Scrooge (Persuasive Letter)
Character Analysis

The average overall reading level of this script is 2.3, but the reading level of individual parts varies from 0.5 through 4.9 so that readers of all levels can participate. It is something that young students as well as older students with reading deficits will enjoy! I guarantee that when I taught in a middle school self-contained, special education classroom that they would have been just as engaged in this activity.

We like to perform this reader's theater as a play for other classrooms before the Christmas holiday. If you do not want to worry about the stress of a play production, it works great just as a Reader's Theater play. We still create scenery and wear costumes, but they don't have the added pressure of memorizing the lines. Many of them are so motivated that they go ahead and memorize their parts anyways! My kids absolutely love it, and I am sure yours will, too! After all, what kid doesn't enjoy a good ghost story?

The following is a list of each character in the play and its approximated Flesch-Kincaid readability level (according to Microsoft Word).

Narrator(s) (4.5)

Ebenezer Scrooge (2.6)

Fred (2.3)

Bob Cratchit (0.8)

Marley (3.7)

Ghost 1 (0.5)

Fezziwig (2.6)

Ghost 2 (2.5)

Mrs. Cratchit (2.5)

Peter (1.5)

Belinda (1.5)