Early American History Reader's Theater Bundle

This resource contains five complete Reader's Theater activities for middle grade students for American History! The plays in this product cover the Age of Discovery/ Exploration, the American Revolution, The Founding Fathers, A New Nation, The War of 1812, and Industry and Inventors!

Each play is a 5-Act, 25-role Reader's Theater script. Reader's Theater is an engaging instructional strategy for middle grade students that allows them to act out various historical scenes. This resource is a great review activity and assessment strategy. It also helps build fluency and reading comprehension skills!

Each of the five acts in each play includes three questions for the class to discuss. There is a ten-question multiple choice quiz for students at the conclusion of each play for an assessment. Lastly, there is an extension activity for each play in which students will create their own script following each Reader's Theater.

Answer keys are included for the quizzes.

For The Age of Discovery/ Exploration, the acts are as follows:

Act I: The First Discovery (Leif Eriksson)

Act II: A New Age of Exploration (Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci)

Act III: The Conquistadors (Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro)

Act IV: The French and the Dutch (Jacques Cartier and Henry Hudson)

Act V: England Makes its Claim (Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh)

For the American Revolution Reader's Theater, the acts are as follows:

Act I: The Boston Tea Party

Act II: The Battle at Lexington and Concord

Act III: The Second Continental Congress

Act IV: Washington Crossing the Delaware

Act V: Drafting the Treaty of Paris

For the Founding Fathers, the acts are as follows:

Act I: Declaring Independence

Act II: The Framers

Act III: The Federalist Papers

Act IV: Hamilton vs. Jefferson

Act V: The First Presidents

For A New Nation, the acts are as follows:

Act I: Creating a Constitution

Act II: Ending a Rebellion (The Whiskey Rebellion)

Act III: The Alien and Sedition Acts

Act IV: Purchasing a Territory (The Louisiana Purchase)

Act V: A Trade Embargo (The Embargo Act of 1807)

For the War of 1812 Reader's Theater, the acts are as follows:

Act I: The War Hawks

Act II: The Burning of Washington

Act III: An Anthem is Born (The Battle of Baltimore)

Act IV: A Treaty of Peace (The Treaty of Ghent)

Act V: General Jackson's Victory (The Battle of New Orleans)

For Industry and Inventors Reader's Theater, the acts are as follows:

Act I: The Early 1800's (Eli Whitney/ Robert Fulton)

Act II: Changes in Communication (Samuel Morse/ Alexander Graham Bell)

Act III: The Wizard of Menlo Park (Thomas Edison)

Act IV: First Flight and the Model T (The Wright Brothers/ Henry Ford)

Act V: Advancements from African-Americans (George Washington Carver/ Garrett Morgan)

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