Room on the Broom (2012):The Animated Short That Shows Students What Kindness Earns in Return

Room on the Broom introduces students to what happens when kindness keeps being repaid with kindness. A witch loses something every time she flies over a new stretch of land, and each time an animal returns it to her, she rewards them with a spot on her already crowded broom, even as her cat grows more and more annoyed about sharing the ride.

After welcoming a dog, a bird, and a frog aboard, the witch's broom finally snaps under the added weight, sending everyone tumbling into a bog. There, a hungry dragon corners her, and it is the animals she took a chance on earlier who band together to rescue her in return. Grateful for their help, the witch conjures up a brand new broom with room enough for everyone to ride comfortably together.

Based on the bestselling picture book by Julia Donaldson, the movie gives students a simple, repeatable story structure that reinforces reading comprehension and sequencing, along with a clear example of generosity being returned when it is least expected. Its short runtime and rhyming, read aloud style also make it an easy entry point for younger or newer readers.

Watch the Trailer

Click to play trailer

🧙 Kindness that comes back around. The witch's generosity toward the animals she meets is repaid directly when they save her from the dragon. Students see a clear, cause and effect example of how helping others can come back to help you.

🐸 A repeating story structure. The same pattern, losing something, meeting an animal, and inviting them aboard, repeats three times before the story's turning point, giving younger students an easy structure to predict and follow along with.

🐱 A jealous cat learns to share. The witch's cat grows increasingly annoyed as more animals join the broom, giving students a relatable, low stakes example of learning to accept and welcome others.

🐉 A brief moment of real tension. The dragon's appearance introduces genuine, if short lived, peril into an otherwise gentle story, giving students a small taste of suspense before the story resolves happily.

📖 A faithful book to movie adaptation. As a close adaptation of Julia Donaldson's popular picture book, the movie pairs naturally with a classroom read aloud of the original story for a book to movie comparison.

⚠️ Things to be aware of:

• A dragon captures the witch and threatens to eat her, which may be briefly frightening for younger or more sensitive viewers, though the moment resolves quickly and happily.
• No sexual content, strong language, or substance use.

📚 English Language Arts Teachers. The movie's short runtime, repeating structure, and rhyming narration make it a strong fit for an ELA class working on sequencing and comprehension with younger readers. The guide's four differentiated comprehension question sets and storyboard task give students multiple ways to demonstrate understanding, and the acrostic writing activity ties directly to the movie's title.

🗣️ ESL and ELL Teachers. The multiple choice question sets, available in both 15 and 30 question versions, work well for ESL and ELL students, giving them a lower-barrier way to follow the story's simple, repeating plot. The storyboard task also gives language learners a way to demonstrate understanding of the sequence of events without relying solely on written English.

🎬 Substitute Teachers and Cover Lessons. Hand it to a substitute and walk away. The four differentiated comprehension question sets, storyboard, and writing activities all come with clear instructions, and answer keys are included for the comprehension questions, so a substitute can run the full session without having seen the movie.

🏠 Homeschool Parents. Room on the Broom's short runtime and gentle story make it an easy addition to a home learning day, especially alongside a reading of Julia Donaldson's original picture book. The guide's acrostic writing activity and favorite character drawing task work well for a single student, and the differentiated comprehension questions let them work at whatever level suits them.

🌟 Supporting All Learners Movie guides can be a wonderfully calm fit for students with autism, learning difficulties, and mild to severe disabilities. The structured format gives every student a clear purpose during viewing, easing uncertainty and allowing them to engage at their own pace. If you teach in a special education or learning support setting, you may find this guide a gentle and practical resource. Find out more about why movies work for diverse learners.

Part 1: Comprehension Questions
Four differentiated sets of chronological comprehension questions: 15 and 30 question multiple choice versions, and matching 15 and 30 question full sentence versions. Answer keys are included for all sets.

Part 2: Storyboard
Students create a 9-scene storyboard illustrating pivotal events from the movie, with a short description explaining the main idea of each scene, using the comprehension questions to help guide the sequencing.

Part 3: Writing Activities
Students write sentences using the beginning letters of the words ROOM ON THE BROOM, with an example given for the first one, followed by writing about a time they felt happy, sad, or excited while watching the movie. A second activity has students draw their favorite character and write about them using guided question prompts.