Famous People of the 2oth Century
Linked to History Unit 20: What can we learn about recent history from studying the life of a famous person & Citizenship Unit 5: Living in a Diverse World (plus R.E. Unit on Famous People)
Play 1, Martin Luther King
Speakers:
Interviewer Martin Luther King
Coretta (King’s wife) James Earl Ray (alleged assassin)
President Lyndon Johnson Campaigner

Play 2 Nelson Mandela
Speakers:
Nelson Mandela Winnie (second wife)
Desmond Tutu P.W. Botha (Nationalist Party – hardliner)
Nobel Peace Committee F.W. de Klerk (Nationalist Party – moderate)

Play 3 Mahatma Gandhi
Speakers
Mahatma Gandhi
Kasturbai (wife)
Nehru (Indian prime minister)
Lakshimi (adopted daughter, an untouchable)
Nathuram Godse (assassin)
Winston Churchill (British prime minister)

Play 4 John Lennon
Speakers:
John Lennon
Yoko Ono
Sean Lennon (son)
Mimi (auntie)
Paul McCartney
President Nixon

Play 5 Prominent Women of the 20th Century
Speakers:
Mother Theresa
Helen Keller (Helen)
Anne Frank (Anne)
Marie Curie (Marie)
Princess Diana (Di)
Margaret Thatcher (Maggie)

This set of 5 guided reading play scripts on Famous People of the 20th Century employs 6 speakers each. Thus for a class of 30, there are 5 groups of 6 children. (For a smaller class size, a mini play may be dropped or the speakers re-allocated). Each 'mini play' comes with a quiz - an excellent assessment tool and means of focusing attention on actual learning content. I describe these plays as guided reading play scripts or readers' theater, as the scripts can be read as opposed to memorized, with no props.
I have written a set of guided reading play scripts to ‘compliment’ every ‘traditional’ class play I have written. The focus of these mini plays is more on reading than performing, which is why I refer to them as ‘Readers Theater’ and I see them as a wonderful classroom resource, delivering the curriculum via role play. I have used this format with classes I have taught and know first-hand how well this innovative form of teaching works. For the complete collection of guided reading play scripts I have written (and traditional class plays), visit my website www.plays-r-ussell.com
Please note: the 40 minute teaching time (per play) is very approximate, depending on how much time spent on reading, answering quiz questions, discussing issues as they arise etc.

Famous People of the 20th Century Guided Reading Play Scripts by Sue Russell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.