Begin by using one of the following thinking routines or protocols to analyze the similarities and differences between the original book Make Way For Ducklings and the musical adaptation:

• For younger students:
  • Make a list of characters from each version. Which characters have been added or removed between the two versions?
  • Break each version into a beginning, middle, and end, noting the similarities and differences in the plot.
  • Describe the illustrations from the storybook using colors, designs, and moods. Describe a still frame or scene from the show using colors, designs, and moods.
• For older students:
  • Map each version onto a story arc or story structure, noting the similarities and differences.
  • Use a Venn diagram.
  • Write a review of the storybook, and then write a review of the production. Be sure to include how each version made you feel.
  • Ponder, discuss, and debate why the adaptors might have made the changes that you have noted.

Select another story relevant to your class and either gather or ask students to find different versions of the same story. Some suggestions include:

• Multiple cultures’ or authors’ tellings of folk tales or fairy tales
• Original fairy tales versus Disney versions
• Different directors’ stage or movie interpretations of the same play
• A book versus a movie when the book has come first

As you encounter different versions of the same story, consider the following questions:

• What do different cultures’ interpretations of the same story reveal about the traditions, values, and mores of each culture?
• What justification or reasoning might an author, playwright, screenwriter, or director give for making a change from an original version?
• What impact does each change or choice have on the reader or viewer?
• How do different choices or changes impact the message or most prominent themes of the story?
• What choices would you make if you were adapting or writing your own version of a specific story? How would you explain the reasons behind your choice?

As a culminating project…

• Create a new version of the story as a class, complete with both words and illustrations
• Set the story in your school, your town, or a creative place of your choice, such as underwater, in space, or in the future! How does the story need to be different in this new setting?
• Create a visual representation of the differences between two versions of a story
• Write a paragraph describing the differences between two versions of a story
• Write an ‘author’s note’ or ‘director’s note’ from the point of view of an author or director explaining why they made the choices or changes they made
• Write or direct your own script version of the story
• Complete a character analysis of the same character in two different versions of the story

The below scriptwriting challenges offer different ways to spark students’ creativity around creating storylines and dialogue for scripts of their own. Use one, two, or all three as you see fit!

• Comic Book Scripts: Print out one or multiple short comic strips, with the words in the dialogue bubbles whited-out or otherwise removed. Individually or in pairs, students write new dialogue into the speech bubbles based on their interpretation of the story from the illustrations in each box. Enjoying comparing the different stories that arise from the same comic strip!
• Three Line Challenge: Ask students to write, on three separate strips of paper, three lines of dialogue that are unrelated to each other. Each pair or small group then draws three of these lines out of a hat. Each pair or small group is to write a short scene which incorporates their three randomly-selected lines of dialogue: one line at the beginning of the scene, one in the middle of the scene, and one at the end of the scene. Alternate ways to gather lines to draw are… a) ask students to find three lines of dialogue from various books, b) teacher writes lines ahead of time, or c) teacher gathers lines of dialogue all from the same book, but does not tell the students. After sharing scenes, reveal that all the lines were from the same book. Take guesses on what the book was about, and then read the book together.
• Out of Place Objects: Imagine an object in a place it might not normally appear such as a flower growing out of a pillow or a basketball on the spike of the Empire State Building. Each student, pair, or small group writes a story of how the object got there. Then, each student, pair, or small group transforms their story into a script, or trades with another group and transforms that group’s story into a script. 

After watching the interview with writer/adaptor Michael Bobbit in the Watch It section, ask students to separate a piece of paper into two folds or columns, and label them as follows: “Choices” and “Challenges”

Students should respond to the video using their two columns as follows:

• Choices: What specific choices does Michael describe having to make in the adaptation from storybook to stage musical? 
  • EX: Which of the 4 ducklings’ names to select, and why?
  • EX: Using a narrative framing device — starting with the climax and then returning to the beginning of the narrative
• Challenges: What challenges do you imagine Michael, Sandra, and Bill faced in the adaptation from storybook to stage musical?
  • EX: Honoring the author’s intent while making the story feel modern and accessible to parents and children
  • EX: Creating humorous dialogue for characters who speak relatively sparsely in the storybook

What to do with your choices and challenges:

• Write a letter to the writing/adapting team about one of the choices, describing why you would or would not make the same choice if you were writing the musical version of Make Way For Ducklings
• Write a letter to the writing/adapting team about one of the challenges, asking questions about how they approached the challenge or offering advice on how you might approach the challenge
• Look at a different book or story through the lens of one of the choices. How would you approach making that choice with this other story? For example, what characters would you keep or cut, and why? Would you keep the story in a linear order or alter the timeline of the story, and why? Would you have a narrator figure or rely only on dialogue and song to tell the story?
• Look at a different book or story and make a list of the choices and challenges a writer/adaptor would have to make for this book. What unique challenges does this book present — perhaps a character who never speaks, a heavy reliance on magical effects, multiple narrative voices, very little text, or extremely detailed illustrations?