Chinese New Year Reader's Theater

No prep necessary! This Chinese New Year Reader's Theater script tells the mythological story of "The Race for the Zodiac." It's fun and easy way to introduce middle grade students to an important Chinese New Year legend. Just print and go!

As an American expat living in Shanghai, I love Chinese New Year and have really enjoyed creating activities to go with this granddaddy of all Chinese holidays. "The Race for the Zodiac" story is famous here in China because it tells the story of how certain animals were selected to represent the Chinese zodiac and why they appear in a particular order.

NEEDED TO OPEN: PDF reader (such as Adobe)

FORMAT:

• 5 printable pages
• PDF
• not editable

ABOUT THE SCRIPT:

• It's original. I added humorous lines and personality to each animal character. The zodiac animals have specific personalities in Chinese mythology, and the dialogue for each animal reflects its unique personality.
• I recommend Grades 4-7. It will take about 15-25 minutes to perform the script.
• Text is broken up by illustrations of each of the 12 zodiac animals as they appear. This will give students visual cues of when each animal will appear and help them see when their lines are coming up.
• 16 speaking parts give lots of students a chance to perform.
• I've also included a few basic facts about Chinese New Year that will help students understand a bit more about the celebrations before reading the script.
• No prep needed! Everything is ready to go--just print and staple!

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