Jack and
the Beanstalk
Narrator 1
Man
Narrator 2
Ogre’s Wife
Mother
Ogre
JackHarp
Narrator 1: There once lived a young boy and his mother.
They were very poor. And their cow, Milky-White,
had stopped giving milk.
Mother: (worried) What shall we do? What shall we do?
Milky-White has stopped giving milk! Now we
have nothing to sell to make money to live!
Jack: Don’t worry, Mother. I’ll get a job.
Mother: Oh, Jack, we’ve tried that before.
No one will hire you—you’re too young.
(sadly) I’m afraid our only hope is to sell Milky-White.
Jack:
Okay, Mother. Today is market day. I’ll go to town
with Milky-White and see what I can do.
Narrator 2: So Jack went to market with Milky-White.
On the way there he met a man.
Man: Good morning, Jack.
Jack:
Good morning. How do you know my name?
36
Folk & Fairy Tale Plays for Building Fluency © Carol Pugliano-Martin, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Characters
Folk & Fairy Tale Plays for Building Fluency © Carol Pugliano-Martin, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Man: Oh . . . just a lucky guess.
Jack: As a matter of fact, she is.
Man: I’ll trade you your cow for these beans.
Jack:
Man: Ah, but these are magic beans. They will reward
Jack:
Hmmm . . . well, Okay.
Man:
Good boy. Now plant them tonight
and tomorrow morning you’ll see what I mean.
Narrator 1:
Jack:
Mother:
Jack:
Mother:
Jack:
Mother:
Jack:
Nice cow you’ve got there.
Is she for sale?
Beans? I really need money, not beans.
you far greater than any coins I could give you.
Jack gave Milky-White to the man
and ran home with the beans.
(yelling) Mother! I’m home!
You’ll never guess what I got!
Oh, Jack! What is it? Ten dollars? Fifteen dollars?
Don’t tell me you got twenty dollars?
Even better. I got these.
(getting angry) Beans? You got beans?
Not just beans, Mother. Magic beans!
(crying) Oh, we’re ruined!
No money and no cow. Ahhhh!
So . . . you don’t like the beans?
37
Mother:
(angry) I’ll show you what I think of these beans!
(She throws them out of a window.) Now just
go to bed!
Narrator 2: So Jack went to bed with no dinner.
When he woke up, there was a huge beanstalk
outside his bedroom window.
Jack: (looking up) Wow! Look at that beanstalk!
Why, it goes all the way up to the sky!
Narrator 1: Jack climbed the beanstalk.
Jack: Good morning, Ma’am.
At the top, he saw a woman.
May I trouble you for some breakfast?
Ogre’s Wife: You’ll BE breakfast if you don’t leave here.
My husband will be here soon and he loves to eat
little boys on toast!
Jack:
Ma’am, I’m so very hungry, that’s a chance I’m
willing to take.
Ogre’s Wife: Well, suit yourself. Here, have some bread, cheese,
and milk.
Ogre: (yelling) FEE-FI-FO-FUM!
Ogre’s Wife: Goodness! It’s my husband.
Quickly, hide in the oven.
Ogre: FEE-FI-FO-FUM,
I smell the blood of an Englishman!
Be he alive, or be he dead,
I’ll have his bones to grind my bread.
Ogre’s Wife: Nonsense, dear. There’s no one here but us.
38
Folk & Fairy Tale Plays for Building Fluency © Carol Pugliano-Martin, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Folk & Fairy Tale Plays for Building Fluency © Carol Pugliano-Martin, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Ogre: Well, I know I smell something, but right now
I’m just going to count my gold and take a nap.
Narrator 2: The Ogre fell asleep counting his gold.
Narrator 1:
Jack:
Mother:
Jack:
In a flash, Jack grabbed a bag of gold and hurried
down the beanstalk and back home.
(shouting) Mother, Mother, I’m home and look what
I’ve got!
Jack, where did you get that bag of gold?
From up the beanstalk, Mother.
I told you those were magic beans!
Narrator 2: The gold kept Jack and his Mother happy and
Narrator 1:
Jack:
healthy for a while. But soon the gold ran out.
So, Jack, wearing a disguise, climbed back up
the beanstalk to see what else he could get.
He saw the Ogre’s wife again.
Good morning, Ma’am.
Could I please have something to eat?
Ogre’s Wife: Another little boy coming to find something to eat!
Well, okay. But don’t steal anything.
The last boy that was here stole a bag of gold.
Ogre:
FEE-FI-FO-FUM!
I smell the blood of an Englishman!
Ogre’s Wife: Here comes my husband. Quickly, hide in the oven!
Ogre: Where is he? Where is he?
Ogre’s Wife: There’s no one here but me, love.
39
Ogre: Hmmm . . . well . . . bring me my hen
Narrator 2: The Ogre’s wife brought him his hen.
Narrator 1:
The Ogre fell asleep watching the hen lay golden eggs.
Jack: (shouting) Mother, Mother, look what I’ve got!
A hen that lays golden eggs!
Mother:
Jack:
In a flash, Jack grabbed the hen and ran back down
the beanstalk.
Oh, Jack, that is so wonderful.
Now we are all set for life!
Well, maybe, but I think there might be even more
up there.
Mother: Jack, don’t be silly. We will always have all of the
gold we need thanks to this wonderful hen.
Jack:
Still, I’d like to try to get more.
Narrator 2: So Jack went back up the beanstalk.
Ogre: Wife, bring me my golden harp.
Jack:
This time he hid from the woman and the Ogre.
(whispering to himself) Wow, a golden harp!
My mother and I could be rich and have beautiful
music to listen to whenever we want.
Ogre’s Wife:
Here you go, love.
Harp:
(singing) I love to sing!
It’s singing I love!
I sing for my master.
He’s who I sing of!
40
Folk & Fairy Tale Plays for Building Fluency © Carol Pugliano-Martin, Scholastic Teaching Resources
that lays golden eggs.
Folk & Fairy Tale Plays for Building Fluency © Carol Pugliano-Martin, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Narrator 1: The harp’s singing put the Ogre to sleep.
Narrator 2:
Jack:
In a flash, Jack crept out of his hiding place and
grabbed the harp.
Come with me, Harp!
Harp: (loudly) Master, Master!
Ogre:
(waking up) Stop, thief! Wife, help me chase that thief!
Narrator 1: The Ogre and his wife chased Jack. He scampered
down the beanstalk, and they came after him.
Jack: (shouting) Mother, quick, get me an ax!
Narrator 2: Jack’s mother gave him an ax, and Jack began
Narrator 1:
Mother:
Jack:
Mother:
Jack:
to chop down the beanstalk.
Once the Ogre and his wife saw this,
they quickly climbed back up the beanstalk.
Jack and his mother were safe.
(breathless) Jack, that harp is indeed beautiful,
but I hope you’ve learned your lesson.
(also breathless) Oh, I sure have.
And what is it darling?
Next time, I’ll get a paper route!
THE END
41
Teaching Notes
Jack and the Beanstalk
About This Play
Jack and
Jack and the Beanstalk is an English fairy tale. In the
the Beanstalk
most common version of the tale, the ogre (or giant) is
unnamed, but many plays based on the story call him
Blunderbore. The ogre in Jack and the Beanstalk is not
the only character in literature who yells, “Fee-fi-fofum!” William Shakespeare included this phrase in his
play, King Lear. The beanstalk is an image taken from
the ancient English belief in a world tree connecting
earth to the heavens.
This tale has a history of controversy. Many feel
that it was immoral of Jack to sneak into the giant’s
house and steal his things without being provoked. Some versions, therefore, have
the giant terrorizing the people below beforehand, thus rationalizing Jack’s revenge.
Other versions have Jack avenging the death of his father at the giant’s hands.
CharaCters
Narrator 1
Narrator 2
Mother
Jack
Narrator 1:
Mother:
Jack:
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Narrator 2:
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36
Scholastic Teaching
Pugliano-Martin,
Fluency © 2010
by Carol
Plays for Building
(PPENPSOJOH)
Folk & Fairy Tale
Jack:
Resources
Mother:
Questions Before Reading
• Have you ever taken a risk to help someone else? What did you do and why?
• Describe an adventure you’ve taken. What was it like? How did you feel during
the adventure?
Words to
Preview
Questions After Reading
• Why do you think the man gave Jack the magic beans?
• Why do you think Jack took the beans instead of waiting for someone to offer
him money instead?
• Do you think Jack was right to steal from the Ogre? Why or why not?
Englishman
Extension Activity
Jack and his mother lived happily ever after, but what about the Ogre and his wife?
What happened to them? Have your students extend the play by writing additional
lines of dialogue for the Ogre and his wife. Let students share their ideas and discuss
whether there are many different directions in which they took the same characters!
Ogre
beanstalk
in a flash
disguise
harp
scampered
paper route
Folk & Fairy Tale Plays for Building Fluency © Carol Pugliano-Martin, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Man
Ogre’s Wife
Ogre
harp
Student’s Name:
Grade:
Date:
Reading Passage:
Rubric for Assessing Oral Fluency
Folk & Fairy Tale Plays for Building Fluency © Carol Pugliano-Martin, Scholastic Teaching Resources
In each category,
circle the number
that best describes
the student’s
performance.
Accuracy
4
3
Word recognition is excellent; self-corrections are few and successful.
2
Word recognition is marginal. Reader struggles with many words;
many unsuccessful attempts at self-correction.
1
Word recognition is poor. Reader struggles with decoding.
Multiple attempts to decode meet with little success.
Word recognition is good; self-corrects successfully.
Expression and Volume
4
Reads with good expression; sounds like natural language;
varies expression and volume to match interpretation of the passage.
3
Occasionally slips into flat reading; sounds like natural language
most of the time; voice volume is generally appropriate.
2
Reads with some expression; begins to make text sound like natural language
sometimes; focus remains largely on saying the words; reads in a quiet voice.
1
Reads with little expression; little sense of trying to make text
sound like natural language; tends to read in a quiet voice.
Phrasing
4
Generally well phrased, mostly in clause and sentence units.
3
Mixture of run-ons, mid-sentence pauses for breath, and
possibly some choppiness; reasonable stress and intonation.
2
Frequent choppy reading; improper stress and intonation
that fail to mark ends of sentences and clauses.
1
Monotonic with little sense of phrase boundaries;
frequent word-by-word reading.
Smoothness
4
Generally smooth reading with some breaks; word and
structure difficulties are resolved quickly; usually self-corrects.
3
Occasional breaks in smoothness caused by difficulties
with specific words and/or structures.
2
Occasional extended pauses, hesitations, and so on,
that are frequent and disruptive.
1
Frequent extended pauses, hesitations, sound-outs,
repetitions, or multiple attempts.
Pace
4
3
2
1
Consistently conversational and appropriate.
Uneven mixture of fast and slow reading.
Moderately slow (or overly and inappropriately fast).
Slow and laborious.
Source: Adapted from “Training Teachers to Attend to Their Students’ Oral Reading Fluency,” by J. Zutell and
T.V. Rasinski, Theory Into Practice, Volume 30, Number 3, pp. 211–217 (1991). Used with permission of the authors.