One-Page Musical

Turn one page of your favorite story into a musical!

To start, choose your class’s favorite book. Read through it together and decide on just one page that has the most exciting plot point or action.

Next, develop this page into a song and dance! Start by creating simple lyrics that describe the main action of the page or express the main character’s thoughts aloud. Turn these lyrics into a chorus by making the last words of each line rhyme and putting them to a catchy melody. You may want to use the melody of a popular song that your students already know, like “The Wheels on the Bus,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” or a current favorite song.

Afterward, identify the emotions of the song: Is it happy or sad? Courageous? Worried? Try out some gestures or poses that embody these emotions to physicalize them! Next, string all the gestures together to create a simple dance. Feel free to add in any fun dance moves that your class already knows.

Now, put the whole thing together by singing the song and doing the dance at the same time. Afterward, reflect on how your one-page musical added to or changed the original story, and perform the song whenever you want to add some theatrical spirit to your classroom!