Have you ever written a play?

Let's start with a story you already know: Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You may want to give Goldilocks a talking pet (ex. a puppy or a chipmunk) so she has someone to talk to when she tries out all of the Bear's things. Feel free to modernize or alter the story if you wish. Below are some format guidelines for writing a play.
(When characters in a play move or something visual happens on stage the description (stage direction) is written in italics or in parenthesis or both. This is also the way the playwright (writer) tells the set and lighting designers what the audience should see.)

Narrator: I am the narrator, and I tell the audience any necessary background information. Use me as little as possible.

Suzy: I am Suzy. Notice that my lines appear after my name and a colon. I do NOT get quotation marks.

John: I'm John, and it's my turn to talk whenever I see my name on a new line with a colon.

Suzy: Hey, John. Want to got for some ice cream?

John: Sure, Suzy. Sounds great!

(Suzy and John walk into the ice cream shop. Suzy holds the door for John and smiles.)


Click HERE to see some plays written during Ms. Mel's residencies.

Item of Power

If you could have a magical item of power, what would it be? Would it be a ring of invisibility like Jacinto or that famous hobbit? Would it be headphones that enable you to hear the thoughts of others, not music? What about sunglasses that allow you to see if someone is a true friend?

Write a story describing how you attain your item of power OR write an adventure story in which you use it.

Wizard Tribune Article

Please write a newspaper article for the Wizard Tribune with the headline: Book Attacks Girl. Answer the following questions in order, and you will have the basic structure of a newspaper article. When? Where? Who? What? How? Why?

Suburban Trickster Tale

Most folktales have a simple plot which is made interesting by fun characters, dialog and narration. The plot of a story is like a map. It tells the writer where the story needs to go. Dialog is what is said by the characters. Narration is the background information and details which might be told by a narrator in a play.

Create your own Suburban Trickster Tale with the plot: Guinea Pig tricks Dog to win a bet. Use the plot sentence as a map to guide you to a satisfying conclusion. Make sure both Guinea Pig and Dog have some dialog.

Starting from the Ending

Please write a story that ends with the line, "So she kissed the cat, and he disappeared."

Wizard Tribune Article

Please write a newspaper article for the Wizard Tribune with the headline: Goblin Eats Bicycle. Answer the following questions in order, and you will have the basic structure of a newspaper article. When? Where? Who? What? How? Why?

Ring of Invisibility

In The Turquoise Ring, a tale of adventure adapted by Pleasant DeSpain, a young boy named Jacinto finds a ring which makes him invisible. With the powerful ring, he tricks two cruel men out of stolen treasure and saves seven children from the dreaded Seven Headed Beast..

At the feast in honor of Jacinto, everyone is laughing and happy. Everyone, that is, except one young girl. She is sitting alone in the corner not smiling. In fact when Jacinto looks closely, he realizes she is crying. He cannot enjoy the banquet with someone so miserable. He walks over to the crying girl and says, “Excuse me. Why are you crying?”

What happens next? ( No weapons please. You have a magical ring of invisibility; use that during your adventure!)