Arthur and the Dragon – Integrated Drama Unit

I absolutely love this drama unit. I have taught it several times and it is always a hit.

It is based around the picture book Arthur and the Dragon by Pauline Cartwright.

There is a 23 page Teacher Guide that is an incredible resource. It was developed by The Toronto District School Board back in 1999. This picture book was released in 1991. It used to be readily available at my public library but it has since been discarded. I found a copy of the book on eBay and hopefully you can too.

For some reason, page 22 is left out of the Teacher’s Guide. That page consisted of a secret message for the students to decode. This is the message . . .

16-12-5-1-19-5   16-18-15-20-5-3-20    20-8-9-19     5-7-7.

19-1-22-5   13-25    19-23-5-5-20     2-1-2-15.

This unit is very detailed. It gives you the chance to discover the story through investigation, drama games, dance and movement, writing, discussion,  and even social studies.

It works best with Kindergarten up to Grade 3 students but you can easily modify it by choosing only the activities you think will work with your class. There are 26 activities in total and this book is absolute gold. I think you will find it as invaluable as I have.

Arthur and the Dragon Picture Book

I have a copy of the unit plan and the book if you would like to borrow them. Please message me via email, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram and I will happily arrange to get them to you. I used to link the PDF versions here but was requested to remove them by one of the authors of the unit plan. It really is a shame that teachers can’t share more freely, especially for a picture book that is long out of print.

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