Martin Luther King, Jr.
&
Freedom Fighters
January 2006
Rosa Parks Rides the Bus
A Reader’s Theater Play – Grade K
(15 Plays About Famous Americans for Emergent Readers. Scholastic)
Characters
Passengers 1 to 5
Bus Driver
Rosa Parks
Passenger 1:
All:
Passenger 2:
All:
Passenger 3:
All:
Rosa Parks got on the bus.
And the bus rolled on and on.
She took a seat right in the middle.
And the bus rolled on and on.
Then some white people got on the bus.
All:
And the bus rolled on and on.
They did not have a place to sit.
And the bus rolled on and on.
The bus driver spoke to Rosa.
And the bus rolled on and on.
Bus Driver:
You must go stand in the back.
All:
And the bus rolled on and on.
Passenger 4:
All:
Passenger 5:
Passenger 1: Rosa said:
Rosa:
All:
Passenger 2:
Passenger 3:
Passenger 4:
Passenger 5:
All:
I will not go!
And the bus stopped!
Rosa would not move.
She was put in jail.
African-American people heard what
happened. They stopped riding the bus.
This showed that they did not agree with
the rules.
Finally the law was changed. From then
on, Rosa did not need to give up her
seat.
Now the bus rolls on and on.
This is the bus that Rosa Parks was riding.
Step 1: Color the bus and the children’s faces.
Step 2: Cut out the children and place them in the bus windows.
Step 3: Cut out the bus and paste it on the “I have a dream…” poster.
Step 4: Write or draw your dream on the poster.
Step 5: Display in Library
He Had a Dream
A Reader’s Theater Play – Grade 1
(15 Plays About Famous Americans for Emergent Readers. Scholastic)
Characters
Teacher
Students 1-5
Teacher:
Martin Luther King, Jr. had an important
dream. It was not a dream you have
when you’re sleeping. It was a different
kind of dream.
Student 1:
His dream was his goal for all people.
Student 2:
His dream was his greatest hope and
wish.
All:
He had a dream.
Student 3:
In his dream, all people were treated as
equals.
Student 4:
In his dream, all people were free.
All:
He had a dream.
Student 5:
In his dream, people treated one
another with respect.
Student 1:
In his dream, people did not judge one
another by the color of their skin.
All:
He had a dream.
Student 2:
In his dream, people worked together.
Student 3:
In his dream, people lived together in
peace.
All:
He had a dream.
Teacher:
Martin Luther King, Jr., wanted others to
know about his dream.
Student 4:
He spoke about his dream.
He wrote about his dream.
Student 5:
He told people how they could make our
country a better place.
All:
Martin Luther King, Jr. knew that when
all people shared his dream, his dream
would come true.
Let Us Keep His Dream Alive
Author Unknown ~ to the tune of "This Old Man"
This young man had a dream;
In his eye he had a gleam.
We must love each other to survive.
Let us keep his dream alive.
He believed man was good;
He had dreams of brotherhood.
We must love each other to survive.
Let us keep his dream alive.
All join hands, let us sing;
Let the bells of freedom ring.
We must love each other to survive.
Let us keep his dream alive.
We can learn from the past;
Then we'll all be "free at last!"
We must love each other to survive.
Let us keep his dream alive.
READ – 1st & 2nd Grades
(12 Genre Reproducible Mini-Books, Scholastic)
Escape in the Night
Group Read ~ Story Map Organizer
Preparation for Reader’s Theater
The Railroad to Freedom
A Reader’s Theater Play – Grade 2
(20 Terrific Mini-Plays That Build Reading Skills. Scholastic)
Characters
Narrator 1
Narrator 2
Harriet Tubman
Brother
Sister
Mother
Father
Friend
Man
Act I
SETTING: A slave cabin on a plantation in
Maryland
Narrator 1:
Harriet
Tubman:
Have you heard about the Underground
Railroad?
It wasn’t a real railroad at all. It was a safe
network that led slaves to freedom
Harriet Tubman was a slave. She ran away in
1849. She used the Underground Railroad to get
herself and other slaves to freedom
Brothers! I just heard some bad news. They are
going to sell me down South!
Brother 1:
Oh, Harriet! What are we going to do?
Harriet:
Let’s run away! We can leave tonight.
Narrator 2:
Narrator 1:
Brother 2:
But, Harriet, they will kill us if they find us.
Harriet:
I’d rather die fighting for freedom than live in
slavery forever. I will leave tonight, but I will
come back for you.
Just make it safely. Don’t worry about us, We
will be fine. Now leave quickly, before it is too
late.
Good-bye. I will see you again. I promise.
Brother 1:
Harriet:
Narrator 1:
Harriet ran for many days. When she finally
made it to the North, she was tired and hungry.
She settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There
she made some friends called abolitionists. They
believed slavery was wrong
Narrator 2:
The abolitionists helped Harriet get settled in her
new life. But Harriet couldn’t rest knowing her
family and friends were still slaves.
Narrator 1:
Harriet Tubman became a conductor for the
Underground Railroad. The “railroad” was not a
train at all but a system of boats, wagons,
trains, and safe houses that took slaves from the
South to the North.
Narrator 2:
Harriet risked her life to return home and help
her family and many others escape from slavery.
Act II
Scene 1
SETTING: The cabin of Harriet’s mother and
father
Mother:
I do miss Harriet. I miss my sons too. It seems
that every time I turn around another child is
missing. They just seem to disappear.
They are all with Harriet. They are safe in the
North.
Father:
Mother:
But we don’t know that for sure.
Father:
It is safer that way, for them and for us. Shhhh.
What’s that sound?
Harriet:
I’m bound fir the Promise Land! Who will go
with me?
Mother:
Oh, Harriet. It’s you! You really came back for
us.
Harriet:
I came to get you. Now my family will be
together at last – together and free! Quickly,
gather some food and your belongings. We have
no time to waste.
Mother:
But where will we go? It will be morning soon.
Harriet:
Don’t worry, Mother. We will travel on the
railroad – the Underground Railroad.
Narrator 1:
Stories of Harriet Tubman spread. She helped
many slaves escape. Soon slave hunters began
to look for her.
Harriet, I really don’t think it us safe for you to
walk around. There are posters all over with
your picture on them.
Friend:
Harriet:
I am not worried. I am dressed as a man. No
one will recognize me in this disguise.
Friend:
Please be careful. Hey, Harriet, watch out for
that man!
Harriet:
(Harriet bumps into a man) Excuse me sir. I
didn’t mean to bump into you.
Man:
You’d better watch where you are going, young
man. What did your friend call you?
Harriet:
(whispers to herself) Oh no! It’s my old owner!
(to the man) Oh, she called me Harry, sir. That is
my name.
Act II
Scene 2
SETTING: A town in the South.
Man:
Harry, huh? You look very familiar to me.
Harriet:
I don’t think I have ever met you before, sir.
Man:
Well, maybe you can help me. Here, put up
these signs.
Harriet:
What do they say?
Man:
They say that we are looking for Harriet
Tubman.
Harriet:
Who is that?
Man:
She is an escaped slave who has been taking
other slaves away from their homes.
Harriet:
What does she look like?
Man:
(He pauses and looks right at Harriet.) She looks
like… this picture. Look closely. We will reward
well any person who brings her in.
Narrator 1:
Harriet didn’t get caught that time or any other
time. She made 19 trips to the South and
brought more than 300 people out of slavery.
Narrator 2:
Harriet didn’t work alone. Many people helped
on the Underground Railroad.
Narrator 1:
They took a lot of chances. Some people got
caught, but Harriet never lost a passenger.
Narrator 2:
People still remember the words she would sing
to alert the slaves nearby: “I’m bound for the
Promised Land!”
Read ~ Grade 3
Rosa
By Nikki Giovanni
Discuss
Story Map Organizer
Speaking Out for Justice:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A Reader’s Theater Play – Grade 3
(20 Terrific Mini-Plays That Build Reading Skills. Scholastic)
Characters
Narrator
Rose
Jack
May
Billy
Mom 1
Dad 1
Mom 2
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
Act 1
Narrator:
It is the summer of 1963. in some places in the
country, African-Americans do not have equal rights.
They cannot drink from the same water fountains,
go to the same schools, or eat in the same
restaurants as white Americans. In some places,
they are not allowed to vote. Many people feel this
is not fair. Many people are working to make a
change.
Dad 1:
Rose:
Mom 1:
Come on, Rose. Come on, Jack. It’s time to go.
Where are we going again?
We’re going to Washington, D.C.
Jack:
Do we have to go? It’s so far!
Dad 1:
Yes, Jack, we have to go. We have to let everyone
know that we think what is happening in this
country is not right.
Rose:
Mom 1:
Jack:
Dad 1:
ACT 2
Narrator:
Do you think there will be a lot of people there?
I think so, Rose. There are many people who feel
the way we do. There will be some very important
people there, too. Reverend King will be there.
If Reverend King will be there, then I am definitely
going to Washington, D.C.!
All right, then. Let’s go.
Mom 2:
On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people
marched in Washington, D.C.
May, Billy, stay close. We have to stay together.
May & Billy:
(shouting) Equal rights! Equal rights!
Mom 2:
May:
Do you see that man up ahead?
Yes, Mama.
Mom 2:
May:
That’s Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. He has been
speaking out for equal rights for a long time.
He’s the one who talked about how important it is
for all of us to vote.
Mom 2:
Yes, May. And he’s traveled all over, all the way to
India, to find ways that we can get our rights
without using violence.
Billy:
I heard that he even met with President Kennedy to
ask him to support equal rights.
That’s right, Billy. Now let’s listen to what Reverend
King has to say.
Mom 2:
ACT 3
Narrator:
Jack:
At the Lincoln Memorial, the crowd stopped to listen
to the words of Reverend King.
Look! It’s Reverend King.
Rose:
And all these people are listening to him
Reverend
King:
I have a dream that my four children will one day
live in a nation where they will not be judged by
the color of their skin but by the content of their
character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama
will be transformed into a situation where little
black boys and black girls will be able to join hands
with little white boys and white girls and walk
together as sisters and brothers.
Mom 1:
(to Rose and Jack) Your dad and I have that dream
too.
Reverend
King:
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from
every village and every hamlet, from every state an
every city, we will be able to speed up that day
when all of God’s children, black men and white
men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics,
will be able to join hands and sing in the words of
the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last”
Jack:
Dad, when I listen to Reverend King, I just know
that he’s right. I know that things are going to
change.
Dad 1:
I think you’re right, Jack.
ACT 4
Narrator: It is now the spring of 1968. Since the speech,
Reverend King has continued to lead people and
speak out. He has been arrested and pit in jail. He
has met with another president. Lyndon B. Johnson.
And he has seen changes sweep across the country.
Mom 2:
May, Billy, please come here. I have some news.
May:
What is it, Mom?
Mom 2:
Billy:
Mom 2:
Reverend King is dead. He was shot in Memphis,
Tennessee.
No, Mom! That’s not fair! He was helping all of us.
I agree, Billy. It isn’t fair. But remember, Reverend
King lives on in us. Every time we remember his
words, every time we speak out against things that
are unfair, we are keeping the memory of Reverend
King alive.
2nd & 3rd Graders ~ I Have A Dream ~ Create Mobiles to Hang