Readers Theatre for African American History

by Jeff Sanders, Nancy I. Sanders

Overview

Readers Theatre for African American History features a collection of twenty scripts covering a comprehensive span of history from Africa before the transatlantic slave trade through current events in our nation. In participating in these scripts, students will listen to storytellers from Africa and share the rich oral tradition about wealthy explorers who came to the Americas from Africa before Columbus. They'll experience such events as Emancipation Day on the South Carolina Sea Islands, the founding of the North Star by Frederick Douglass, and the extraordinary 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert by Marian Anderson. They'll attend an imaginary political convention where they'll meet our nation's first five African American U.S. Senators, including Senator Barack Obama. African American history is rich with opportunities for creative learning. This book brings them alive. Grades 4-8

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591586937
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/30/2008
Series:	Readers Theatre
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Jeff Sanders is a fourth grade teacher in California.

Nancy I. Sanders is a freelance writer who has written over seventy books for teachers and students. Her most recent titles include Pocket Pals, Engage the Brain Games, and D is for Drinking Gourd.

Editorial Reviews

The selections here cover African-American history from before the slave trade to modern-day events. The format encourages shy youngsters as well as class clowns to participate. It improves reading skills and increases vocabulary while using cooperative learning. A preface offers suggestions for preparing, performing, and evaluating the scripts….A useful purchase for any middle school library, speech or drama classroom, or classroom that studies history or storytelling.” —School Library Jourbanal

“Jeff and Nancy Sanders have crafted a Readers Theatre book covering African American history from before the slave trade to modern-day events. The book is appropriate for every color of middle-school students….The Sanders' include a number of possible extension activities to go along with each script providing a whole unit to study. Background on the story, ideas for projects, and references to books for additional information are provided for each script. Also included in an appendix are a list of books for teachers and students to more fully review different eras of African American history….Though the title explicitly states it is readers theatre for African American history, all colors of American students should be exposed to the stories contained in this volume. It would be an appropriate buy for any middle school library, speech or drama classroom, or any classroom that studies history or storytelling.” —Reviewer's Bookwatch/Midwest Book Review

“Geared to students in grades four through eight, these 20 brief plays for reading aloud highlight moments in African-American history from African antiquity to the 1963 March on Washington. Most of the plays take no more that five to ten minutes to stage; the authors offer a list of follow-up activities for each, ranging from discussion questions and research and writing prompts to art projects and new plays that students can write. An introduction helps the teacher to understand, use, and build on the Readers Theatre scripts.” —MultiCultural Review

From the Publisher

The selections here cover African-American history from before the slave trade to modern-day events. The format encourages shy youngsters as well as class clowns to participate. It improves reading skills and increases vocabulary while using cooperative learning. A preface offers suggestions for preparing, performing, and evaluating the scripts. For each script, the authors include a number of possible extension activities, background on the story, ideas for projects, and references to books for additional information. Some of the scripts have only a few characters and others could involve an entire classroom. Most of them are very short, just a few pages. There are a few long speeches, but most of the character parts are weighted equally. While the dialogue is usually clear, some characters seem to just spew facts and dates, which may be boring to some children. A useful purchase for any middle school library, speech or drama classroom, or classroom that studies history or storytelling.-Terrilyn Fleming, Colby Public Schools, KS

School Library Journal