Your child is reading a play called “The Crowded House,” based on a Jewish folktale. The play tells the story of an eleven member family who feel extremely crowded in a tiny cottage. The local wise man’s advice just makes the situation worse. But in the end, the family learns the wisdom of being grateful for what they have. You and your child may have fun sharing this repetitive story and doing the activities on this page. Together you can enrich your child’s language skills.
Stage Stars
Find it Fast! While reading this play, your child is learning some important skills that require reading quickly:
• scanning to find specific information and
• skimming to find the overall ideas.
You can demonstrate the importance of these skills by scanning for things such as a number in the phone book.
Ask your child to scan the newspaper for you to find the times at which a movie is showing or the dates of a sale at a local store. Have your child skim a news story and tell you the gist of it.
Stage Reading
Reading to each other is a wonderful way to enjoy a story.
For the play, consider dividing the roles and perhaps using
different voices for each character. You could even add
sound effects.
