Worksheet

The Night the Dishwasher Quit: Play and Story

Read an original family play and a story about the same evening, then compare drama and prose using cast of characters and stage directions.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRL.4.5

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What’s included

Single worksheet
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1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
10 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 4
Subject: ELA
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students identify the cast of characters and stage directions in a short play.
Students explain how a play and a story told in prose present the same events differently.

How to use

Have students read the play aloud in parts, then read the story silently before they answer the questions on their own.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RL.4.5

Explain how poems, dramas, and prose differ, using terms like verse and rhythm for poems and cast of characters and stage directions for dramas.

Preview

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The Night the Dishwasher Quit: Play and Story

Read the same kitchen scene as a play and as a story.

Read the play and the story

Read the play first. Then read the story about the same evening.

The Night the Dishwasher Quit (a play)

1CAST OF CHARACTERS: MOM, a nurse who just got home from work; DANIEL, age 10; ROSIE, age 7; GRANDPA LOU, who lives with the family

2SETTING: A small kitchen after dinner. Dirty plates are stacked beside the sink.

3(DANIEL pushes the button on the dishwasher. Nothing happens. He pushes it again, harder.)

4DANIEL: Uh-oh. Mom? The dishwasher won't start.

5MOM: (setting down her bag with a tired sigh) Not tonight. I have to be at the hospital early tomorrow.

6ROSIE: (peeking inside) Maybe it's just sleepy.

7GRANDPA LOU: (rolling up his sleeves) When I was a boy, we had two dishwashers. Their names were Me and My Brother.

8(ROSIE giggles. GRANDPA LOU fills the sink with warm, soapy water.)

9GRANDPA LOU: I wash, Daniel rinses, Rosie dries, and Mom puts away.

10MOM: (smiling for the first time) Deal.

11(The family works side by side. Bubbles float up. ROSIE pops one with her towel.)

12DANIEL: (holding up a shiny plate) This is actually kind of fun.

13MOM: (hugging him) Just don't tell the dishwasher.

Bubbles After Dinner (a story)

1Daniel pressed the button on the dishwasher, but nothing happened. He pressed it again, harder this time. The machine stayed dark and silent, like a cave.

2"Mom," he called, "the dishwasher won't start." Mom had just come home from her shift at the hospital. She set down her bag and sighed. Daniel could tell she was too tired to fix anything tonight. He wished he had never touched the button.

3Then Grandpa Lou rolled up his sleeves. He told them that when he was a boy, the only dishwashers in his house were him and his brother. Rosie giggled so hard that she had to hold on to the counter.

4Soon the sink was full of warm, soapy water. Grandpa washed, Daniel rinsed, Rosie dried, and Mom put the dishes away. Bubbles drifted up toward the lamp over the table. By the last plate, Daniel was surprised to find that he was having fun.

Parts of a play

Answer the questions about the play.

Paragraph 1 of the play lists the people in it. What is this list called?

A. the stage directions
B. the cast of characters
C. the first stanza
D. the narrator's notes

These parts all come from the play. Circle every part that is a stage direction.

Not tonight.(peeking inside)Maybe it's just sleepy.(setting down her bag with a tired sigh)Deal.(holding up a shiny plate)

What do the stage directions in this play tell the reader?

A. the exact words the characters say out loud
B. which words in each line rhyme with each other
C. the lesson the author wants the reader to learn
D. how the characters move and act on the stage

In the play, how does the reader know which character is speaking?

A. Quotation marks go around each line.
B. Each line begins with the character's name.
C. A narrator says who is talking each time.
D. Each character speaks in a separate stanza.

Use the word bank to complete the sentences. Not every word is used.

Word bank: verse · directions · prose · cast · stanza · drama

Another word for a play is a . The people in a play are listed in the of characters. The words in parentheses are stage . A story written in sentences and paragraphs, like "Bubbles After Dinner," is written in .

Compare the play and the story

Use both texts to answer the questions.

Sort each feature. Does it belong to the play or to the story?

a narrator tells what happensa list of the cast of charactersthe speaker's name before each linequotation marks around spoken wordsstage directions in parenthesesa sentence that tells what Daniel wishes

The play	The story

Paragraph 1 of the story tells the same events as which paragraph of the play?

A. paragraph 2, the setting
B. paragraph 4, Daniel's first line
C. paragraph 3, a stage direction
D. paragraph 8, a stage direction

In the play, the reader only sees Mom sigh. Read paragraph 2 of the story. Underline the sentence that tells what Daniel thinks about how Mom feels.

"Mom," he called, "the dishwasher won't start."Mom had just come home from her shift at the hospital.She set down her bag and sighed.Daniel could tell she was too tired to fix anything tonight.He wished he had never touched the button.

Grandpa Lou's joke about his brother is in both texts. How is it told differently?

A. In the play, Grandpa Lou says it; in the story, the narrator tells it.
B. In the play, Rosie says it; in the story, Grandpa Lou says it aloud.
C. In the play, it is a stage direction; in the story, it is in quotes.
D. In the play, it rhymes; in the story, it is written as a stanza.

10.

Explain one way that reading the play is different from reading the story. Use the words stage directions or cast of characters, and give a detail from each text.