Readers Theatre Script: The First Annual Planet Awards

I adapted a storybook from NASA's "Storybook for You" series, by turning it into a reader theatre script as shown below.  I imagined students from the 4, 5, or 6th Grade levels  presenting it to a lower grade as a special treat.  In the script all the planets are winners, but you could have the audience vote for their favorite planet, and graph the results on a  colorful premade graph template, that the presenters would provide, to make a connection between math and science.

Here is the beginning of the script:

The First Annual

Planet Awards!

Readers Theatre Script

 Host: Welcome! Today we will see which planets are the best in the solar system. We have eight contestants—eight planets who will compete for awards. Each planet will tell us about itself and why it is unique among the planets. When all the planets have spoken, the judges will decide which planets will receive a Best Planet Award. Let’s meet our first contestant.

ANNOUNCER 1:  Let’s give a big welcome to Mercury.

 HOST: Tell us about yourself, Mercury.

MERCURY: OK. I am the closest planet to the Sun. I am the second smallest planet in the solar system. I rotate so slowly that my day is 58-1/2 Earth days long! I am rocky, nearly airless, and covered with craters.

  HOST: Do you have any moons?

 MERCURY: Nope, no moons.

 HOST: What makes you special?

  MERCURY: I am the fastest of all the planets when it comes to orbiting the Sun. It takes me only 88 Earth days, which is the length of my year. Also, I have the most extreme temperatures of any planet. I can be as cold as –300° Fahrenheit at night and as hot as 870° Fahrenheit during the day!

 HOST: Whew! Thank you, Mercury. Now, on to our next contestant.

This Reader's Theater script can be obtained by CLICKING HERE. This lesson is from a Multi-grade Planet unit for Grades 3/4 and 4/5.

Deborah