Energy Stories Reader's Theater

AK Energy Smart

In this activity students learn about the story of coal, firewood, wind, and how energy gets transferred to these different sources. It is set in a Reader's Theater type activity where students are engaged in actively acting the story out.

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Notes from our reviewers

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If teaching this lesson outside of Alaska it might be good to have some background info on how local energy is created, which could include personal stories on how we all use energy and ideas for conserving energy. Teachers may want to find information on their area to substitute for the information about Alaska in the script to make it more relevant. The additional resource (which includes information about a Christmas Carol from 2022) can be omitted as it doesn't apply, and though the Molly of Denali is cute, it doesn't go with the lesson. The video on Energy Successes could be too long for this audience and not very captivating. This activity will appeal to learners who learn by doing and visualizing.
This lesson focuses on the concepts of energy and how it can be transferred from coal, firewood, and wind to create heat. This resource is geared towards a young audience (K-3) and it does not include cited scientific data or resources for scientific data. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
This is a very engaging lesson plan that involves the whole class in reading and acting out three plays for "energy scripts". Each student gets assigned a role and can use their creativity and energy to act out the story. There is a pre-lesson activity included with lots of resources. This resource celebrates Alaska's native cultures, including storytelling as an important way that people learn.
The scripts are already written, and there is a large amount of local information (Alaska) as well as additional information/resources to use. The lesson includes some videos in the pre-lesson and in the resources. Teachers would need access to YouTube and PBS.org to access these. The videos were good, they show how people live in rural Alaska. The PDF lesson was not downloadable but the stories and question sheet are.