April Fools' Day Readers Theater Script | Holiday Origins Series

This April Fools' Day Readers Theater Script explores the origins of this holiday. Students read an interactive narrative instead of reading a dry textbook or passively listen to a video or lecture. This activity will help develop listening and speaking skills as students practice expressive voice acting.

Script Summary:

This script tells the story of how April Fools’ Day became a day of tricks and laughs. The journey begins in ancient Rome with the Hilaria festival’s masquerade fun, then moves to 1392 England where Geoffrey Chaucer hints at a fox’s prank. In France, Eloy d’Amerval introduces “April fish” in 1508, and King Charles IX’s 1564 calendar change sparks more foolery. Eduard de Dene’s 1561 Flanders poem features fool’s errands, while John Aubrey names it “Fooles holy day” in 1686 England. London’s 1698 lion-washing hoax and Scotland’s two-day 1700s pranks (Huntigowk and Tailie Days) add to the fun. The script ends with a modern prank party, showing how April Fools’ Day grew from history into today’s silly tradition.

The resources consists of an editable DOCX file (11 pages) which contains:

1) Teacher Tips & Answer Key

• CCSS Alignment
• Teacher Tips for use as both RT and Play/Skit
• Answer Keys for Worksheet
• Themes & Discussion Question Prompts

2) Readers Theater Script

• ~12 Characters, 1850 words

3) Script Worksheet

• 10 Vocabulary Words
• 10 Short-Answer Comprehension Questions: Comprehension and recall questions based solely on the script

Teaching Tips for Using the Script:

• For digital classrooms, upload the DOCX Script and convert to Google docs
• For More Students: Main character can be read by multiple students.
• For Less Students: Minor characters can be read by just one student.
• This script should take about ~20 minutes and depending on your classroom's level it may be suitable for other grade levels.
• An extra ~25 minutes for prep, discussion, vocabulary or short answer comprehension questions should also be planned.