The First American Thanksgiving Reader's Theatre Script -Questions -Rubric

Pilgrim 3

We must find a place to live where more people will come from England, or our children will lose our traditions, and our church will close.

The Pilgrims knew about a new land far across the ocean. It was called America. Some of it belonged to England.

Pilgrim 1

We will go to America, where there is a lot of land.

Pilgrim 2

We can build our own town.

Pilgrim 3

We can go to our own church.

The Pilgrims got on a ship called the Speedwell.

The Speedwell took them to England. Other Pilgrims and some other English people who wanted to go to America met them in England. They were on a ship called the Mayflower.

The two ships sailed off for America.

Included in the First American Thanksgiving Reader's Theatre Unit:

9 page script

5 major characters + the narrator

5 supporting characters

8 questions with answers

Student Reader's Theatre Evaluations based on 4 levels and 5 criteria.

Student Success Criteria

Student Friendly Goals

Reader's Theatre Checklist

The First American Thanksgiving synopsis:

A re-telling of the first American Thanksgiving in the reader's theatre format. 3 pilgrims and the narrator will guide your class through these historic events.

Along the way, they will hear from such people as President Lincoln and Squanto.

Do not fear the reader's theater format. Students love these adapted stories because they are listening to the story and they are a part of the story by playing a character within the story.

Reader's theatre inspires reluctant readers to join in the fun. The strongest and most advanced readers in your class will encourage other students to raise their hand and participate in the story. I also use reader's theatre to add to my drama marks.

If the reader's theatre format did not work for my students and I, then I would have stopped creating and adapting them years ago.

Reluctant readers sometimes feel anxious looking at pages of text, whereas a reader's theater script is broken up into narration and different characters speaking, thus making the story more accessible to those students who have not discovered the incredibly fun activity of reading for entertainment.

I use shorter stories with minimal characters in literature circles.

When can one make time for a reader's theatre story in class?

When I am not reading a reader's theatre unit with my class, I usually reserve Friday's for the reading of a one-off story. It is an event that the class looks forward to, since they do not know which story I will choose. Great for Librarians. I project the stories on the screen and assign characters in class. Some characters only have 1 line. A character like that is perfect for a reluctant reader.

I have read these stories remotely/online and in class/in-person.

I encourage teachers and instructors to allow students to practice their parts at home before they read in front of the class. They can try different voices and tones when they practice.

I hope you, and your students have a fun time reading The First American Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving and Excelsior!

Mr. Marvel: The King of Reader's Theatre