Grades 2–4
Dialogue or Stage Direction?
Sort each line from a script: is it something a character says, or something the actors do?
Drama worksheet · Reading and writing scripts
Parts of a Script
Read a short script about a puppy and a turtle. Match each part of a script to what it does and answer the questions.
- Grade level
- Grades 2–5
- Time
- About 20 minutes
- Answer key
- Yes, page 2 of the PDF
- Kids practice
- Reading a script, Telling dialogue from stage directions, Writing in script format, Planning a beginning, middle and end
What kids do
Printed on the sheet:
- Cast: PIP, a puppy · TESS, a turtle
- Setting: A sunny park.
- PIP: (running in circles) Tess! Want to race?
- TESS: (slowly) Sure... but I need a head start.
- PIP: How much of a head start?
- TESS: (smiling) About one day.
- (PIP laughs and flops down on the grass.)
- Draw a line from each part of a script to what it does.
Teacher tip
Read The Big Race aloud with two readers: one for Pip and one for Tess. Kids hear that the stage directions are acted, not said.
How to use it
- Read the sample script out loud with two readers so kids hear how it works.
- Point out that stage directions go in ( ) and are not read out loud.
- Read the box at the top of the sheet together, then try the first item out loud as a class.
Watch for
Quotation marks in a script. The character’s name shows who is talking.
Talk about it
- How is a script different from a story?
- What did you change in your voice or body to show that?
Take it further
Turn a class read-aloud into a short script together.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More reading and writing scripts worksheets
Grades 3–5
Turn a Story into a Script
Read a short story about Mia and a tiny dragon. Write it as a script with character names and stage directions.
Grades 1–5
Plan a Play Storyboard
Plan a short play in six boxes. Draw each scene and write what happens.
Grades 3–5
Write a Short Scene
Plan the characters, setting and problem, then write your own short scene as a script.
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