The Alabama Shakespeare Festival
SchoolFest Activity Guide for
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Book by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens
Adapted from Charles Dickens
Director
Set Design
Costume Design
Lighting Design
Choreography
Musical Director
Geoffrey Sherman
Paul Wonsek
Elizabeth Novak
Phil Monat
Karen Azenberg
Tom Griffin
Activity Guide written by
Kristi Wiley
kwiley@asf.net
Contact ASF: 1/800/241-4273, www.asf.net
ASF SchoolFest is sponsored by a major grant from Alfa Corporation
1. Read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
with your students. For younger students,
read the attached interactive shortened version
adapted by Soyia Ellison.
2. Discuss the difference between live theatre
and television/movies. Discuss the difference
between a play and a musical.
3. Dickens drew upon his own life experiences
to write A Christmas Carol. Compare/Contrast
Dickens’ life with that of his characters in
A Christmas Carol. Go one step further:
Divide your students in to two groups. Have
one group create a timeline based on Charles
Dickens’ biography. Have one group create a
timeline about Ebenezer Scrooge’s life based
on the events in the play. Have the groups
compare the timelines. Are there similarities
between the lives of Dickens and Scrooge?
Are there differences? Lead your students in a
discussion based on what they observe.
4. Create a Venn diagram on posterboard/
chalkboard/dry-erase board or on a piece of
paper that you can distribute to each student.
Compare & contrast the Victorian life and
Modern life.
Victorian England Modern America
SAMPLE:
S elfish
C rass
R ude
O ld
O pinionated
G iving at the end
E benezer
pre-performance activities
5. Use the characters names to create acrostic
poems.
6. One of the major lessons of A Christmas
Carol is about charity and benevolence.
Discuss the meaning of these words and then
think of ways your class can help during the
holidays. Have students hold a canned food
or toy drive to collect goods for the needy.
Volunte