This class play or assembly covers all the planets in our solar system. It is based on the science curriculum for primary/elementary schools and is a fun way for children to learn 'astronomic' facts and become familiar with the great classical music of The Planets - Holst. (See music list below)
Music
1. Theme music to 2001 Space Odyssey/Star Trek/Lost in Space; or Rocket Man - Elton John.
2. Bohemian Rhapsody (Opening lines up to ‘Look up to the skies and see' )- Queen
3. Ground Control to Major Tom (first verse) or Starman (chorus) - David Bowie
4. Mercury - The Planets (Holst)
5. Ground Control to Major Tom (first verse) or Starman (chorus) - David Bowie
6. Venus - The Planets (Holst)
7. Ground Control to Major Tom (first verse) or Starman (chorus) - David Bowie
8. Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
9. Ground Control to Major Tom (first verse) or Starman (chorus) - David Bowie
10. Mars - The Planets (Holst)
11. Jupiter - The Planets (Holst)
12. Saturn - The Planets (Holst)
13. Uranus - The Planets (Holst)
14. Neptune - The Planets (Holst)
15. Flash Gordon - Queen
This assembly or class play, written by Sue Russell, on The Planets, is one of a set of plays written on the science curriculum for primary/elementary schools. (Also available: Rock n Roll Assembly on The study of Rocks, and Our Planet – studying man’s impact on the environment, in the context of 5 different habitats, from my website www.plays-r-ussell.com)
These assemblies are easy to do, written ‘by a teacher for teachers’ to minimize the time and stress ingredients which can be so off-putting when considering ‘a performance’. Written for a cast of 30 (this number can easily be adapted to a smaller class size), each assembly comes with a seating plan – included so that the children file in, in the correct order, and speak in the correct order!
A suggested selection of rock songs are included which, in my experience, really ‘lift’ the performance, and are chosen to appeal to children and adults alike!
My assemblies are written to entertain and educate – they are based on the curriculum, according to the QCA documents, and cover all the major teaching points for each unit of work.
I have written plays for other subjects such as history, geography, PSHCE (Citizenship Skills) and one-offs like Valentines and St. Patrick's Day. These can all be viewed on my website www.plays-r-ussell.com which has a complete listing of my material under UK and USA catalogs.
In addition to these 'large cast, plays for performance' I have produced a set of Group Readers which are for groups of 6 children, written in sets of 5, complete with quizzes. These are a great in-classroom resource, for guided reading or 'mini performances'. Again, these can also be seen on my website www.plays-r-ussell.com

The Planets Class Play or Assembly by Sue Russell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.