Plays for the Holidays
Historical and Cultural Celebrations
by: Anne Siebert & Raymond
C. Clark
Level: Low Intermediate to Advanced. All Ages
Illustrations by: Marc Nadel
Holidays are a popular and excellent topic for the classroom, and
Pro Lingua proudly presents a new book of plays to help your students
explore, understand, and take part in our American holidays. They're
all here, the legal ones and many other favorites, from Labor Day
at the beginning of the school year to Independence Day during the
summer vacation.
Each play follows the design of Anne Siebert's Celebrating American
Heroes (page 18). A few characters (stars) are supported by a chorus
(the rest of the class). As in the classic Greek dramas, the protagonists
recite their lines while the chorus comments, advises, warns, and
cajoles them at the same time portraying the big picture behind
the drama. Most of the plays have historical subjects relating to
the traditions and origins of the holidays.
* Peter Maguire organizes immigrant workers
* Columbus discovers the Indies
* Ninety Indians show up for the Pilgrim's feast
* Eisenhower orders the soldiers (now WW II veterans) to the Normandy
Beaches
* Scrooge "humbugs" Christmas
* Rosa Parks refuses to sit in the back of the bus
* Love triumphs in Virginia with Pocahontas
* Franklin urges the patriots to hang together or hang separately
AND 5 more dramatic events
The students are carefully prepared for each play with a variety
of activities explaining how the holidays are celebrated today and
introducing the context of the story. Your students will enjoy and
learn as they read, write, listen, and perform the plays.
Other books by Anne Siebert
Celebrating American Heroes
Heroes from American History
Other books by Raymond C Clark
English Interplay
The ESL Miscellany
Getting a Fix on Vocabulary
Heroes from American History
Index Card Games for ESL
The Learner's Lexicon
Match It!
More Index Card Games
Potluck
Story Cards: Aesop's Fables & Nasreddin
Hodja
