The Paper Bag Princess Contextual Drama
By Michelle Richter 2010
Grade: 2/3
Subject: Language Arts and Drama
Time: 2-3 hours
Objectives:
___display a willingness to enter in to the fiction provided by the drama
___adopt roles in dramatic situations & accept/respond to others in role.
__ _use imagination to explore various possibilities in dramatic contexts.
___accept characters, roles, objects and places can stand for ideas of what
the drama is about.
___ support contributions to drama discussions with stories of own
experience.
Opening Set:
1. 7-second circle – students have 7 seconds to get into the best circle I
have ever seen. No one is left out of the circle. If can’t do it. Stand up
and walk around until teacher claps “7!” and begins countdown.
2. Magic Drama Dust – reach into pocket and pull out magic drama dust.
This dust allows us to travel to the past or future, to become any
character we want and for the room to transform into any setting. 1-2-3
go!
3. Drama Warm-Up Game: “Fortunately/Unfortunately”
- Have students guess what “fortunately” means. Once they know that it
means “lucky”, have them guess what unfortunately means. There are
fortunate and unfortunate things that happen to us in our lives and in
our book!.
-put students in partners knee-to-knee. One partner starts a story. When
teacher claps hands and says “switch” the other partner continues the
story only they must start with “unfortunately”. When switch again, the
other partner continues story with “fortunately.”
Continue the improvised story for 2 minutes. Demonstrate an example
with a volunteer before students begin.
4. Brainstorming/Discussion – “What makes a good Princess?”
-teacher tells students she is thinking about making a career switch and
wants to maybe become a princess (or a prince if you are a male teacher).
Ask the students what the qualities are of a princess, what she wears, how
she acts. Move them in the direction about “wanting a prince charming.”
-explain that we are going to build upon each others answers. Believe in
the make believe. Write answers on one piece of chart paper.
-brainstorm the same things about a prince. Write answers on another
sheet of chart paper.
5. Narration – to get a better idea of a typical day as a princess, have
students give you ideas about what she does during the day from morning
to night. Compose a diary entry.
Eg. This morning I woke up from my royal sleep and yawned. I listened to
the birds singing and saw the sun shining through the castle window. I
jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom and grabbed my royal toothbrush
and brushed my teeth. I got dressed in my prettiest dress. I admired myself
in the mirror. I fixed my hair, put on my tiara and smiled my best princess
smile. I ran downstairs and ate my royal Cherrios and milk at the dining
room table. I saw my father and mother and bowed in respect when I passed
them. After breakfast, I ….
6. Parallel Play – have students show you what this day would be like.
Have students take on role of prince or princess in their own space as
teacher reads (or makes up in head) narration. No voices, just actions
and facial expressions.
7. Storytelling – Now that teacher has a better idea of this prince and
princess idea, begin reading the book “The Paper Bag Princess” by
Robert Munsch. Read only the first two pages then stop.
8. Role on the Wall (Structuring Drama Work ) – Teacher explains to
students that she wants to know everything possible about this dragon.
Why on earth would this dragon smash the castle, burn the clothes AND
carry of Prince Ronald?
-Teacher directs questions to students. Whatever the answer is, the group
collectively accepts and builds upon.
-ON a different sheet of chart paper, list as much as we can about the
dragon. Use some or all of the following prompts to try and understand
the dragon as a character:
Drama Character Sheet
Name:
Height:
Weight:
Age:
Build:
Defining Marks:
Eye Colour:
Hair Colour:
Present Job:
Past work history:
Dream job:
Where see self in 5 years:
Family:
Language:
Heritage:
Interests:
Dreams:
Fears:
Social Class:
Hobbies:
Best Memory:
Worst Memory:
Special Talents:
Religion:
Habits:
Rank/Title/Education:
Role Model:
Friendships:
Enemies:
Entertainment:
Personality Type:
Best Kept Secret:
Proudest Moment:
Biggest Regret:
Who trusts the most:
Insecurity:
Illnesses:
Favourite Colour:
Favourite Food:
Favourite Music:
Favourite Sport:
Other:
End of Day 1 – Reflect: What did you find easy? What did you find hard?
What was your favourite part? What could you do without?
Did you find it easy or hard to be a different character?
Day 2:
Warm up Game: Play “Magic Pencil, Magic Rope, Magic Sheet”
Materials: pencil, rope, white fabric sheet
Game: split students into 3 equal circles. In drama, we sometimes need to
improvise and use our imaginations. Give each group the magic object.
Students in the group must think of something else the object could be
other than its original function. When whole group done, they can sit
down. Students mime the function with the object and other group
members guess what it is. If time, switch objects to different groups.
9. Interview: What should Elizabeth do? What would you do? Who do
YOU go to when you need advice or need help making choices. Have
students turn to a partner and think of 5 things that Elizabeth could do.
Even if they know what happens in the book, think of 4 other
alternatives.
-One student takes on role of Elizabeth, the other person takes on role as
someone she would ask advice of (eg. The Queen, The King, the Dragon
Help Line, her Aunt, Ronald’s parents, her teacher. Students dialogue in
role and then report back to class. Share possibilities of her choices.
10. Storytelling - Read the next page of the book. Talk about Elizabeth’s
clever ability to use a paper bag for something different then what it was
originally meant to be used for!
11. Map-making – The dragon leaves a trail. Have students try to
visualize and map out the Kingdom. Use paper and markers to draw a
map of the path that Elizabeth took to find the dragon and Prince
Ronald. Students should indicate the burnt path, the castle where
Elizabeth lived, and the home of the dragon. They can add any other
details to make the landscape more vivid in their mind! How far did she
have to travel? How long did it take her? (show examples of maps and
how we use them in society on many occasions.)
12. Storytelling - Read next page of book where Elizabeth knocks on
Dragon’s door. Read up until “The dragon was so tired he didn’t even
move.”
13. a) Hotseat – Word has spread with how clever Elizabeth was in
outsmarting the dragon. All the journalists, newspaper writers and tv
crew want to interview her and report this amazing story. Elizabeth sits
in the hotseat in the middle of the room while the reporters circle around
her. Students come up with questions to ask Elizabeth about this
amazing event.
b) Teacher in Role – teacher takes on role of Elizabeth (wear a large paper
bag and crown if possible) and answers the student questions. Could
also have a student be Elizabeth and try to answer all the questions.
Could do the same thing with the dragon. Dragon is thrown in prison and
the interviewers or law enforcement team asks tons of questions of the
dragon.
14) Storytelling – Read page when princess saves Ronald. “Come back
when you are dressed like a real princess.”
15) Role – How would YOU react to Ronald after you went through all
that to save HIM? Students could share answers aloud as a group or pair
up together to got through conversation the students think Ronald and
Elizabeth had. Have one or two students volunteer to share their
dialogue.
17. Storytelling – Read last page of book.
16. Discussion: Revisit the original list of what makes a great princess or
prince. Based on the actions and personality of Elizabeth, is there
anything we should add or take away from our list? What is really most
important about a person? Does she need to marry a prince to be happy?
17. Flashforward – use tableaux to show what everyone is up to now.
Split into groups and have students show 3 frozen still images that tell
what life is like now. Students could have a narrator for each scene.
Group 1: Elizabeth Group 2: Ronald Group 3: The dragon
*Optional - Art activity -– imagine that Elizabeth started her own
princess fashion line out of paper bags. Have each student use a paper
bag to design the latest royal fashion for a prince or princess. Put these on
display!
Student Assessment based on Learning Objectives:
N
A
M
E
S
* support
contributions
to drama
discussions
with stories
of own
experience.
*display a
willingness
to enter in
to the
fiction
provided by
the drama
*adopt roles
in dramatic
situations &
accept/
respond to
others in role.
*use
imagination
to explore
various
possibilities
in dramatic
contexts.
*accept
characters,
roles, objects
and places can
stand for ideas
of what the
drama is
about.
E = Exceeding Expectations
M = Meeting Expectations
N = Needs Improvement
*For more drama strategies, see Arts Education Curriculum Guide