Tag Archives: reader’s theater

My Dad was Elvis Presley!

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Imagine my surprise when Google’s AI bot told me that my dad was Elvis. I’d been using Google’s lens app to ask about images from my father’s Korean War photos. When I showed it a picture of my dad in uniform, Google confidently reported that he was Elvis. Elvis!

My dad had a pretty storied past, serving in both WW2 and Korea, and earning numerous medals for valor. He even had a decent singing voice. But he was decidedly NOT Elvis.

This is precisely why at ReadAloudPlays.com we don’t rely on AI for anything. Not research, not images, not text, not our website design, nada.  We regard the authenticity and originality of our reader’s theater plays as sacred.

In addition to identifying my dad as Elvis, AI told me that a bombed out street in Saigon was downtown Tacoma, Washington. It also identified a man of some importance appearing in three different images as three different people (a chief surgeon of a MASH unit, a brigadier general, and a well-know 4-star general).

While AI may be useful when it comes to finding a good deal on a “smart” TV, it has a long way to go when it comes to more complex matters. (After all, it’s learning from us. How smart that is that?)

All the plays available through ReadAloudPlays.com and our storefront at TpT are 100% human-made. I’ve been a professional children’s theater playwright for almost 30 years. Like any half-way decent writer, I toil over my keyboard looking for just the right word, the right plot twist, and the right bit of spice. Most of my plays first appeared in Scholastic classroom magazines such as Storyworks, Scope, and Junior Scholastic, which means they were scrutinized by professional editors and readerships over half a million.

I’m sure somebody could ask AI to create a script for them, but I’m confident the product would lack originality, creativity, and purpose. It would be flavorless. It would have too much exposition. It might even feature an Elvis look-alike walking down a bombed-out street in Tacoma.

For the absolute best reader’s theater, stick with ReadAloudPlays.com. Our plays are modestly priced, created with kids and teachers in mind, and 100% human-made. This is great time to grab some of our holiday plays such as A Christmas Carol, The Gift of the Magi, and others. They’re all available on our storefront at TeachersPayTeachers.

And to honor my dad (and mom, who also served!), here’s a free download of my Veterans’ Day play script. It originally appeared in my Scholastic book, Symbols of America.

Happy directing!

There’s Nothing Better than Reader’s Theater!

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There’s Still Time to Commemorate BHM

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February is Black History Month. While I encourage you to acknowledge it with some dedicated activities, I’m also reminded that black history is American history; it need not be limited to a single month! The end of the Civil War, Jackie Robinson’s breaking of baseball’s color barrier, and MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech certainly rank among some of the most significant moments in American history. With that in mind, here are twelve great reader’s theater scripts with which to recognize those great moments while meeting numerous Language Arts standards. All the plays can be paired with a printed text, such as “The Ruby Bridges Story” with her autobiography, Through My Eyes.  Each pairing represents distinctly unique points of view (Literature CCSS #6), making for livelier discussions and quality comparisons (CCSS Lit #7). And because these plays are based on real events, they’ll also satisfy CCSS Informational Text #6. Each play includes a comprehension activity, too, assuring your students will satisfy numerous other standards as well. And because almost all my plays were originally commission by and published in Scholastic’s Storyworks and Scope magazines, they’ve been professionally vetted, making them the best reader’s theater on the market. Visit ReadAloudPlays.com for detailed pairings, or click on the title to preview or purchase on my TeachersPayTeachers storefront. Happy directing!

The Ruby Bridges Story

Box Brown’s Freedom Crate: His True Story of Escape

The Library Card: Richard Wright’s Journey to the Promised Land

How Jackie Saved the World: Jackie Robinson’s Breaking of the Color Barrier

Freedom for the First Time: The Day of Jubilee and the End of the Civil War

We Shall Overcome: The Birmingham Children’s Crusade

I Have a Dream: The Childhood of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gonna Let it Shine: The Selma to Montgomery March

MLK’s March on Washington

Sitting Down for Dr. King: The Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-Ins

In the Jailhouse with Dr. King: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

The Girl Who Got Arrested: The Claudette Colvin Story

MLK Day and Black History Month

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Now’s the time to start working on classroom activities commemorating Dr. King’s work. This compelling video featuring two inspiring plays from the ReadAloudPlays.com catalogue is a great place to start. The Palace Youth Theater put it together during the pandemic shut down. Share it with your students and then read or act out the plays. The first shows how Ruby Bridges broke the color barrier in New Orleans public schools. The second shows how MLK’s childhood inspired his civil rights leadership. You’ll find both plays, along with many other titles for Black History Month, on our TpT Storefront. Thanks, and happy directing!

Six Awesome Ways to Do RT!

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Click on the image to check out one of our mini-guides to using readers theater in the classroom, or download the complete guide by clicking here. Happy directing!

Save $ with New Readers Theater Bundles!

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We’ve posted four new bundle collections, which offer big savings over single plays. Check them out on our TpT storefront!

Fairy Tales Slightly Twisted–Kids absolutely love performing these plays! Two unique versions of Goldilocks, a wonderful Brothers Grimm tale, and some hysterical Pied Piper action! Perfect for Back-to-School! All include the license to duplicate a full class set, school day performance rights, and comprehension activities. Click on the image to preview or purchase!

Weird Tales for Halloween — a collection of our most popular plays: Sleepy Hollow, The Monkey’s Paw, and a crazy version of Poe’s Tell Tale Heart. Buy now for Halloween!

The American Revolution Bundle — Five exciting reader’s theater scripts covering the American Revolution including The Secret Soldier, one of our most requested plays, and four others. Check our Eagles Over the Battlefield–a kid favorite for sure!

The Explorers Pack — Three reader’s theater scripts covering three eras. Divide the class into thirds and challenge each to present one of the three, then have all your students complete the standards-based compare and contrast activity. Teach history, reading fluency, and reading comprehension while getting your students excited about learning!

Happy directing!

My Kind of People

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When I invited motivational speaker Stan Tucker to drop in to play ball with my basketball group, I didn’t expect him to show up. After all, he’s exceptionally busy traveling around the country with his Leap For Literacy program, getting books in the hands of young readers with his Read’n Roll Book Mobile, and hosting his television show, The Very Airy Library, all while writing inspiring picture books of his own. Stan is a very busy man!

Yet show up he did. That’s the kind of person he is. Stan Tucker shows up.

Stan autographing a shoe after presenting at our Literacy Night.

Despite knowing he’d be spending the next ten hours working with students in our school, he popped his head in our middle school gym. “I haven’t played in at least six years,” he said, “and for shoes, all I’ve got are these Chuck Taylors, but I thought I could come down and shoot around with y’all.”

We quickly pushed him out there, and like the rest of us, he put in his 3 to 5 miles of court time. Then, an hour later, he was at our elementary school impressing and inspiring our staff and students.

I encourage you to check out Stan’s work. I can’t promise he’ll be able to join your for basketball, but I can safely say you love having him at your school. Find out more by clicking here.

Also, thank you Eileen B., Lit with Lyns, Melissa C., Shelby J., Candy M., Heidi P., Nicole W., Sherry D., Jarmese R., Melissa N., and Amanda M. for your recent 5-star reviews of my plays and products!  June 19th will be here before you know it, so be sure to download my inspiring Juneteenth play soon!

Happy directing!  

Earth Day + Arbor Day

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Nature Talks Back is a great play with which to celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day while teaching your kids about trees, bees, and centipedes. The play’s ecology and conservation themes include that trees communicate, that some perceived pests are considered beneficial insects, and that honeybees are super-important pollinators.  The stories center around three oddball conifers named Luther, Otto, and Bill and their hysterical encounters with a host of pests.   

It’s aimed specifically at kids in upper 2nd through 4th grade, but it’s also suitable for grade 5 and up for reader’s theater, podcast, or stage— especially when performed for younger kids. (My fifth graders loved preparing a full production!) No time for a big show? Use it instead as in-class reading! It’s a fun way to teach about nature on Earth Day and Arbor Day!

Consider pairing Nature Talks Back with some of my other spring-oriented plays. Peter Rabbit is also aimed at younger students. Use it with 2nd and 3rd graders, or have older students perform it for primary-aged kids.  Rikki Tikki Tavi, Kipling’s much-loved story about the heroic mongoose has some spring-time flair, a singing bird, and an important theme about courage. It too can be presented alongside How the Elephant Got Its Trunk, another classic Kipling tale from The Jungle Books.  And don’t forget that baseball season is upon us, so it’s a great time for my entertaining and socially important play about Jackie Robinson.

Happy directing!

There’s Still Time to Commemorate Black History Month

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Here are nine compelling paired texts with which to recognize black history month. All the plays are based on the given event–not it’s paired text (in most cases the play was published before the given book). That means each pairing represents distinctly unique points of view (Literature CCSS #6), making for livelier discussions and quality comparisons (CCSS Lit #7). And because these plays are based on real events, they’ll also satisfy CCSS Informational Text #6. Each includes a comprehension activity, too, assuring your students will satisfy numerous other standards as well. And because almost all my plays were originally commission by and published in Scholastic’s Storyworks and Scope magazines, they’ve been professionally vetted, making them the best reader’s theater available. Just click on the image to preview or purchase on my TeachersPayTeachers storefront. Also be sure to check out these recorded performances of “Martin’s Big Dream” and “Ruby Bridges: A Simple Act of Courage” by The Palace Youth Theater. Happy directing!

Stevie Wonder’s Overlooked Contribution to the Civil Rights Movement

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My work for Scholastic writing black history plays is just a tiny blip on the civil rights radar, a minuscule contribution when compared to real civil rights heroes such as John Lewis and Sheyann Webb. But given Storyworks magazine’s truly cosmic readership, I realize that over my twenty-plus year association with Scholastic, my reader’s theater has influenced—at least in some small way—millions of kids. Millions. I think it’s fair to take some pride in that.

I often ponder, however, how a scrawny white kid from rural Oregon, a kid whose family spent their Sundays watching Hee Haw and Gunsmoke, how does that kid end up writing black history plays? 

Well, for that I have to thank Stevie Wonder–and maybe a bit of divine intervention. When I was around ten years old I stumbled across a discount record bin at Payless department store. I’d recently set up my brother’s old Zenith “Stereophonic” record player so I could listen to my dad’s Tijuana Brass record, but I was on the lookout for something more, something of my own. Thumbing through the discs, I came across Stevie Wonder’s 1971 album, Where I’m Coming From. I had no idea who this Wonder guy was, but he had a cool name, and the cover seemed the antithesis of a Tijuana Brass album. So, I asked my mom if she could buy it for me.

My mom was never openly racist. She was generous to a fault and spent many hours volunteering to help less-fortunate people. But looking back, I recall that she’d voted for George Wallace in the 1972 presidential primary, so I suspect had she taken a closer look at the album, she would have nixed the purchase right there. None-the-less, I went home and cued up Stevie on the Zenith. I wonder what she thought when she heard “Do Yourself a Favor” blasting from behind my bedroom door. This was no Clark and Owens. Not the music or the message.

And I was hooked. Thus, Stevie Wonder became one of my most profound influences.   

Frankly, Stevie doesn’t get enough credit for his contribution to civil rights. Despite Motown’s determination to mold him as a “black Bing Crosby”—a crooner—Stevie broke free and produced music that called attention to societal inequity, to the plight of minorities, to the struggles that come with poverty. While he wasn’t the first African-American artist to produce music with politically-charged, socially-relevant music, he was among the first to crossover into white culture. If a kid like me could get hooked on Stevie Wonder, then surely, around the country millions of other white kids must have been doing the same.

I never set out to be Scholastic’s black history playwright. I kind of stumbled into it. But it was Stevie Wonder’s music that had prepared me for the task. Without that influence, my poignant plays about MLK, Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, and many others wouldn’t exist. And when I see those same plays presented by organizations such as the Palace Theater and most recently, Crete Monee Middle School in Illinois, I’m amazed at the reach Stevie has had.

If you’re using any of my Black History plays this month, please give a well-deserved nod to Stevie Wonder.

Happy directing.