Lesson plan: What Happened to Jack?
Learning objective: To adopt, create and sustain a range of roles
to perform a short drama about what happened next.
Resources required
Duration
 Large open room
 The Jack Rap
 Farmer jack Chapter 2
video
 Chapter 2 of the story to
read aloud
 Object/character cards
1 hour
Theme
Subject focus
Age group
Food
Part of the
Farmer Jack
Series
English
Drama
Upper KS2
Lower KS2
Learning outcomes (differentiated)
MUST Participate in group drama
Adult Support
 Teacher and TA to lead
activities and support
with group work
SHOULD Use your imagination to play a range of roles, miming actions
and inventing stories.
COULD Lead others in a range of group drama activities Text here
Starter
Keywords
Drama,
mime,
improvise,
adapt,
characters,
settings
In this lesson plan we have provided a range of possible acitivties for your class
after viewing Chapter 2 of the Farmer Jack Series.
Walk, Jump, Stop, and Clap
• A quick warm up to engages the children and encourage them to listen carefully. The class walk
around the room following the instructions: Walk, Jump, Stop and Clap. To make it more difficult,
swap some of the instructions. So, Walk means Stop, Jump means Clap, Stop means Walk and
Clap means Jump.
Follow up activities
 The Farmer Jack Series
Chapter 3
Mime Craft
• Children walk around the room imagining they are walking down a street. The teacher calls out
scenarios which the children then act out. Each mime can begin when the teacher calls ACTION
and ends when the teacher calls CUT.
For example:
• You are walking a cow.
• You are waiting to cross the road.
• It suddenly becomes extremely hot/cold.
• You are following someone but you don’t want to be seen.
• You think YOU are being followed.
• You step in some really sticky chewing gum.
• You are trying to move a really heavy object.
• You can blend this activity and Walk, Jump, Stop and Clap together.
• Extend this by adding the call FREEZE FRAME. Everyone freezes. The teacher then chooses one person
and calls ACTION. That person carries on with their mime. The teacher can then interact with the actor by
talking to them or asking them questions for a short period of time. The actor should remain in character
throughout. Call CUT and choose a new actor or start a new scenario.
Pass it on
• Ask the children how they would feel if they woke up one morning and found an enormous plant outside
their window. A plant that grew so high into the sky that you couldn’t even see the top!
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• Would you want to climb it like a ladder? What do you think might be at the top?
• Children should work in small groups of 3 or 4. Explain that in this activity we will be thinking about how
stories can change for the good and for the bad. The children take it in turns to develop the story and the
scene. Explain that they need to keep the story moving but they should not rush to the end. They should
include as much detail and description as possible.
• You could begin with an opening such as:
I started to climb the enormous plant...
• Children can add as little (just one word) or as much as they want to the story. Once they stop, the next
person in the group carries it on.
For example
I started to climb the enormous plant...
1. I was scared but…
2. I needed to know what was at the top.
3. I held on tightly to the vines which twisted around the stalk.
4. I climbed for over an hour.
5. My arms really ached.
6. Fortunately the leaves were so big I could sit on them for a rest.
Watch Chapter 2 of the Farmer Jack’s Series.
• Do any of the children recognise the story?
• Explain that although some of us have heard the story of Jack and the Beanstalk before, the
story does not have to happen the way we all might expect. What did happen to Jack when he
reached the top? We don’t know… yet.
The Jack Rap
See The Jack Rap resource.
• The children should stand in a circle to perform the Jack Rap.
• The teacher will need to start as a leader. However, if the children are confident with the
activity, they can take it in turns to lead.
• Make sure to practise the rhyming pattern a few times to so the children get used to the
repetition.
• Repeat the rhyme, each time adding a new style of moving to build Jack’s journey.
• This activity helps children to express their imagination through their actions.
• Tell the children to imagine that they are Jack and they are going on this journey. What do they
imagine is happening to them? Why did they have to tip toe? What were they jumping over?
What did they have to climb? Etc.
A Slow Motion Adventure
• Split the class into two groups. One group are actors and one group are observers. The teacher
or children should either read aloud or improvise the story of Jack finding his bean stalk. As the
story is read, the class should act out the scene, playing the part of Jack. The scene should be
mimed. Without words, the children will have to think about how they can extenuate their
thoughts and feelings through their actions. To add an additional challenge the groups could act
out the scene in slow motion.
• Once the story is finished the groups can swap.
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After a couple of weeks of being in disgrace, Jack went out to his vegetable patch. And there
it was - His bean plant! And it was enormous! When he looked up it went all the way into
the clouds. He found his binoculars but he still couldn’t see the top. So, he started to climb
it. It was so big he couldn’t get his arms around the stalk and the leaves were the size of
golfing umbrellas! Jack could climb from leaf stem to leaf stem. It was like climbing a big,
strong green ladder. Up and up he went and he was almost at the clouds when he saw
something that made him stop dead… Coming out from the cloud was a set of green, bony,
pointy nailed fingers and Jack… Well, he was terrified.
Lesson plan: What Happened to Jack?
Learning objective: To adopt, create and sustain a range of roles
to perform a short drama about what happened next.
Main activity
What Nappened Next?
An improvised role play
• Children sit in a horseshoe shape with one person in the middle. The person in the middle will be acting out
the role of Jack. Begin the scene with Jack arriving at the top of the bean stalk by reading the line:
• Up and up he went and he was almost at the clouds when he saw something that made him stop dead…
• The children in the audience can then suggest what might happen next for the person in the middle acts it
out.
• To help move the scene on the children can use the prompt cards by choosing to add an object or a
character. If you are introducing an object, the actors can use mime. If you are introducing a character you
will have the opportunity to bring new actors into the scene.
Object
Character
The other side of the story
• Working in groups of 3 or 4. The children work together to create a short piece of drama from the
perspective of being at the top of the bean stalk, looking down at Jack. Who are they? Where are they? How
do they feel about Jack making his climb? What will happen when Jack reaches the top?
• Each group’s drama should last for around 3 minutes.
Plenary
The children should share their work with the rest of the class to enjoy and assess.
Extension tasks
The children write their own script for the story of Jack arriving at the top of the beanstalk. Include
all relevant criteria including a list of characters, props and stage instructions.
Actions before next lesson
 The Farmer Jack Series Chapter 3
Curriculum links
 Participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with the artistic practice
of drama.
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