Scriptwriting

Learning intentions

  • We are learning to set out a script and to view a text from the writer’s perspective.
  • We are learning to develop a script by adding stage directions and notes on setting.

What to look for

  • Pupils understanding the difference in the layout of prose and drama scripts
  • Pupils demonstrating their understanding by creating their own scripts
  • Pupils performing another group’s script
  • Pupils evaluating their own scripts, for example whether or not they worked as they had imagined, and whether or not their stage directions had an appropriate amount of detail
  • Pupils reviewing their own work
  • Pupils participating in directing a piece of drama
  • Pupils performing their own work, OR
    Pupils assessing the success of their own and other groups’ work

Learning activities

Divide the pupils into groups of 4–5. Give each group an extract of prose and an extract from a script. These might be based on the same text, for example:

  • the novel Oliver Twist and the musical Oliver!; or
  • the novel Lord of the Flies and the script by William Golding.

Ask the pupils to identify the features that make a script different from a piece of prose. For example, in a script:

  • a new line is always taken for each character;
  • the character’s name is always on the left hand side of the page;
  • stage directions are written in italics; and
  • the story is split into scenes rather than chapters.

Read or play a recording of a simple story, for example a fairy tale. In groups, pupils choose a particular episode from the story and rewrite it as a short script (about 10 lines), focusing on the dialogue.

Prompt the pupils to read through their scripts and add about five stage directions to help guide the actors.

Ask them to exchange scripts with another group, rehearse and perform the other group’s script for the class.

Ask the pupils to refer back to their initial storyboard, writing a short description of the setting at the start of their scene. They might also make suggestions for music and lighting.

Give them an opportunity to read through or perform each scene from script. Pupils who are not involved in the acting might assume the responsibility of directors, pausing scenes and suggesting possible movements/directions.

Encourage them to collaborate on decisions and choose what they consider to be most ‘effective.’

Give them more time to rehearse and perform the script in class, OR
Ask them to pass their script on to another group; they read and evaluate the success of each other’s scripts.