This version was created for
kids to read, plain and simple. No words have been added, they
are all Dickens himself! It was edited from his
historic public reading version that took him 3 hours to read to be
whittled down to about 30 minutes of script. A
lot was edited out (what a task and truly a joy to edit one of the
English language's most famous
authors!), and so were many characters as well to create this child's
reading version, but which still flows and conveys
the essential story. The vocabulary is relatively simple and
understandable, emphasizes the concrete versus
the abstract, and is definitely meant to be fun, and has the potential
of being rich in sights (gestures, facial
expressions and movement) and sounds (accents, tone of voice and sound
effects). A great tool perhaps to encourage
children to “read with feeling?” Given the high energy of
elementary
children just before the holiday break in
December, potentially a great way to keep the kids focused and
“on
task” at this educationally challenging time
of year for both teachers and students alike is this dramatic reading
performance.
“The Reading
Performance”
The performance is meant to be
playful and fun and inclusive. There are upwards of 30 people
needed to read it if new children are assigned
roles for each act (referred to by Dickens as “Staves” by
the way in
the original), some lines being very short (the
Flame has only 5 words!) and others very extensive (the narrator and
Scrooge). Scrooge is definitely the star
of the show, and Bob Cratchit best-supporting actor. Perhaps the
teacher or another adult should be the narrator?
Casting is left up to “the director,” of course, but this
is not meant
to be a Broadway production, or even a
school production, but a learning experience, a fun learning experience
for all children, as actors or audience
members, so they can be introduced to reading in a new way, live
theater in a way, and listen to a truly great
story of English literature. Perhaps half the class could read it, the
other as audience, and then the next
week, they could switch roles. Actors learn not only from being actors,
but also by watching other actors as
audience members as well. And EVERY kid can be part of the performance,
if you're not an “actor” then
you CAN sing
the carols!
“The Carols”
Some surprising history from
Wikipedia and other internet sources.
"Deck the Halls" is a traditional Yuletide and New Years'
carol. The melody is Welsh and belongs to a winter carol, Nos Galan. The first
English version appeared in The Franklin Square Song Collection, edited
by J.P.McCaskey in 1881. Apparently, the
author of the lyrics is unknown and may be American in origin!
"It Came Upon the Midnight
Clear" is a poem and Christmas carol
written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Weston,
Massachusetts. It first appeared on December 29, 1849 in the Christian
Register in Boston. Sears is said to have
written these words at the request of his friend, W. P. Lunt, a
minister in Quincy, Massachusetts. In 1850 Richard
Storrs Willis, a composer who trained under Felix Mendelssohn, wrote the melody!
"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a sixteenth-century English
carol, composer and author apparently unknown. The origin of this
Christmas carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of
the community gave Christmas treats to the
carolers on Christmas eve. It is one of the few traditional holiday
carols that makes mention of the New Year celebration.
“Christmas” at
school?
Yes
and no. Yes, we ARE talking “Christmas” in terms of
English
literature, history and traditions. No, we are not trying to do anything else.
It IS one of many starting points to consider other history, stories
and traditions celebrated and practiced both in
America and around the entire world! FINAL NOTE: I created this version
as “a gift” so teachers
and anyone
else could use it free-of-charge and without my express permission. The
only reason I copyrighted it was so
that no one else could come along, copy it, and copyright it for
themselves!
Great
Stories Alive !