The Witches (1990):The Roald Dahl Adaptation That Asks Students What Courage Looks Like When You Cannot Fight Back

The Witches introduces students to a boy who has to find a way to win a fight he has already lost. After his parents die and he moves in with his grandmother, Luke learns that witches are real, and he ends up overhearing their plan to turn every child in England into a mouse using a hidden potion.

When the witches discover Luke has been listening, they turn him into a mouse before he can warn anyone. Rather than accept defeat, Luke works with his grandmother and the hotel's mice ridden kitchen to turn the witches' own weapon against them, sneaking their transformation potion into the soup they are about to eat. Along the way, students follow a story built on close calls, quick thinking, and a grandmother who believes her grandson without question.

Based closely on Roald Dahl's novel, the movie gives students a story about facing a threat that cannot be fought head on, and about the kind of resourcefulness that has to replace physical strength when strength is not an option. Its faithful adaptation of Dahl's book also makes it a natural pairing for a classroom novel study.

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🐭 A hero who cannot fight back directly. Once Luke is turned into a mouse, brute force is no longer an option, and he has to rely on planning and cleverness instead. Students see a protagonist solve a problem through strategy rather than strength.

🧓 A grandmother who takes him seriously. Luke's grandmother believes him immediately when he tells her what happened, and the two of them work as a genuine team throughout the story. Students see an adult ally who trusts a child's account of events rather than dismissing it.

🎭 Villains who look ordinary. The witches disguise themselves as an unremarkable charity group, giving students a story built on the idea that danger does not always look dangerous, and appearances can be deliberately misleading.

📖 A close, faithful book adaptation. As a movie that closely follows Roald Dahl's original novel, it gives students studying the book a clear reference point for comparing a written story to its screen adaptation.

🕵️ Suspense built on secrecy. Much of the story's tension comes from Luke having to stay hidden and quiet while gathering the information he needs, giving students a good example of tension built through what a character knows and cannot yet act on.

⚠️ Things to be aware of:

• The witches are shown removing wigs and gloves to reveal bald, blistered scalps and clawed hands.
• Luke's parents are killed offscreen in a car accident early in the movie, and this is mentioned but not shown.
• A mouse has the tip of its tail cut off with a knife, shown briefly with a small amount of blood.
• One use of a mild swear word.
• Brief background alcohol and tobacco use by adult characters.
• No sexual content.

📚 English Language Arts Teachers. As a close adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel, the movie pairs naturally with an ELA unit built around the book, whether as a companion piece or a book to movie comparison. The guide's two differentiated comprehension question sets and storyboard and synopsis tasks give students structured ways to demonstrate understanding, while the growth mindset diary and house design tasks push into more open ended creative writing.

🗣️ ESL and ELL Teachers. The 35-question multiple choice set works well for ESL and ELL students, giving them a lower-barrier way to follow the story's chronological 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 two comprehension question sets, storyboard, synopsis, and creative writing tasks 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. The Witches works well for home learners looking for a Halloween season watch with some real substance behind it, especially alongside a reading of Roald Dahl's original book. The guide's growth mindset diary and house design tasks work well as independent creative writing projects 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
Two differentiated sets of chronological comprehension questions: 35 full sentence questions and 35 multiple choice questions well suited to ESL and ELL students. Answer keys are included for both sets.

Part 2: Storyboard and Synopsis
Students create a 9-scene storyboard illustrating pivotal events from the movie, with a short description explaining the main idea of each scene, then use it as the basis for writing their own synopsis of the story.

Part 3: Creativity and Growth Mindset
Students help plan Luke's route to sneak Formula 86 into the witches' soup, then imagine and write a diary entry about a typical day as a mouse using growth mindset thinking, and finally design and label their own mouse sized house and toys with a brief written explanation for each design.