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The Gondola Ride: A Readers' Theater Play worksheet preview

Worksheet

The Gondola Ride: A Readers' Theater Play

Read an original play about a gondola ride up a mountain aloud in a group, using stage directions and punctuation to read with expression.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRF.4.4.b

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 Common Core standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 10 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 4
Subject
ELA
Question types
Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students use stage directions to read a character's lines with expression.
  • Students use dashes, dots and capital letters to choose pace and stress in a play.
  • Students give feedback on a group reading's accuracy, pace and expression.

How to use

Assign the five parts and have the group read the play aloud twice before answering. Switch parts for a third reading so every student tries a new voice.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RF.4.4.b

Read grade-level prose and poetry aloud with accuracy, an appropriate pace, and expression on repeated readings.

Preview

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The Gondola Ride: A Readers' Theater Play

Read a short play aloud with the right voice for each part.

Read the play

This play has five parts: the Narrator, the Operator, June, Nadia and Uncle Tomas. Read it aloud in a group two times. The numbers show the lines.

Up Pine Peak

1NARRATOR: It is a bright summer morning at the bottom of Pine Peak. A small red gondola waits at the station, ready to carry riders up the mountain on a thick steel cable.

2OPERATOR: (cheerfully) Next car! Climb in, please, and watch your step.

3JUNE: (bouncing on her toes) That's us! Come on, Nadia, hurry!

4NADIA: (slowly, looking up at the cable) I'm coming... I'm just... thinking.

5UNCLE TOMAS: (gently) Take your time. We'll sit together, right by the window.

6NARRATOR: The doors slide shut. The car swings forward and begins to climb. Below them, the parking lot gets smaller and smaller.

7JUNE: (pressing her nose to the glass) Look! The cars look like toys! The trees look like broccoli!

8NADIA: (in a shaky voice) Please stop saying look. I am NOT looking down.

9UNCLE TOMAS: Then look out, not down. Can you find the lake?

10NADIA: (peeking) The lake... Oh! It's shaped like a giant boot.

11NARRATOR: Halfway up, the gondola slows. Then it stops. The car rocks gently back and forth in the breeze.

12NADIA: (gasping) Why did we stop? Is something wrong? What if—

13UNCLE TOMAS: (calmly, with a hand on her shoulder) Breathe with me. In... and out. Rides like this pause sometimes to help someone at the station. We'll move again soon.

14JUNE: (whispering) This is my favorite part. It feels like floating in the sky.

15NARRATOR: For a moment, everyone is quiet. Then, with a gentle bump, the gondola starts moving again.

16NADIA: (laughing with relief) We're moving! We're really moving!

17NARRATOR: At the top, the doors slide open. Cool air rushes in, and the whole valley spreads out below them like a green and gold quilt.

18NADIA: (stepping out first) That was scary. But I want to ride it back down, too.

19JUNE: (grinning) Who are you, and what did you do with my cousin?

20UNCLE TOMAS: (laughing) That's the bravest rider on Pine Peak.

1.
The slanted words in parentheses, like (bouncing on her toes), are stage directions. What should a reader do with them?
  • A. Read them aloud in a loud voice before each line.
  • B. Read them silently and use them to decide how to sound.
  • C. Skip the character's line that comes right after them.
  • D. Read them very fast, then read the line very slowly.
2.
Some stage directions tell how to say a line. Others tell only what a character does. Circle the three stage directions that tell how to say a line.

(cheerfully)(bouncing on her toes)(peeking)(in a shaky voice)(whispering)(pressing her nose to the glass)

3.
Use the stage directions and punctuation. Sort each line by the voice a reader should use.
Uncle Tomas: "Take your time. We'll sit together, right by the window."Nadia: "Why did we stop? Is something wrong?"June: "Look! The cars look like toys!"Uncle Tomas: "Breathe with me. In... and out."Nadia: "We're moving! We're really moving!"Nadia: "Please stop saying look. I am NOT looking down."
Nervous and shakyExcited and happyCalm and gentle

Punctuation and pace

Reread each line aloud before you answer.

4.
Line 12 ends with a dash (—), and then Uncle Tomas speaks. How should the reader of Nadia's part say "What if—"?
  • A. Say it slowly and calmly, as if the play is ending.
  • B. Wait a long time, then finish the sentence aloud.
  • C. Stop suddenly, as if Nadia is cut off mid-thought.
  • D. Whisper it so only June can hear what she says.
5.
Look at line 8. Which word should Nadia say with the most force?
  • A. down
  • B. not
  • C. please
  • D. stop
6.
The narrator reads line 11: "Halfway up, the gondola slows. Then it stops." How should the narrator read these sentences?
  • A. Slow down and pause after "Then it stops" to build suspense.
  • B. Speed up and shout so the audience can feel the fun.
  • C. Read them in a high, squeaky voice, like a tiny mouse.
  • D. Skip them, because the audience only needs the characters.
7.
In line 19, June asks, "Who are you, and what did you do with my cousin?" Which voice fits this line best?
  • A. A scared, shaky voice, because June is afraid of heights
  • B. An angry voice, because June wanted to step out first
  • C. A sleepy voice, because the long ride made June tired
  • D. A playful, teasing voice, because Nadia suddenly seems brave

Rehearse as a team

Think about the whole play and how your group can make the next reading better.

8.
Match each character to the voice that fits that part of the play.
  1. Nadia
  2. June
  3. Uncle Tomas
  4. the Operator
  1. A. calm and steady, to help others relax
  2. B. nervous at first, then brave by the end
  3. C. cheerful, calling out to the riders
  4. D. bouncy and excited about every view
9.
A group practiced the play. Which TWO notes are about pace (how fast or slow someone reads)? Choose two.
  • A. Ava kept saying "table" when line 1 says "cable."
  • B. Rosa rushed the narrator's lines, so nobody could picture the mountain.
  • C. Malik read Nadia's shaky lines in a big, happy, booming voice.
  • D. Leo waited so long between lines that the play felt stuck.
  • E. Jada left out the word "not" when she read line 8.
10.
Read Nadia's part aloud two times. How should her voice in line 4 sound different from her voice in line 18? Use details from the play.

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