George Washington Carver and Friends January 13th, 2020 10-11am, Grades 1-5 This study guide will give you background information, discussion questions, and activity ideas to do with your class before and after the performance at the PAEC.
Performance Information: George Washington Carver and Friends by Bright Star Touring Theatre gives students a fast- paced and accessible introduction to many influential Black Americans who have shaped our nation over the last 150 years. The lives and accomplishments of George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, Madame C. J. Walker, and other famous leaders are brought to life in this empowering production. Two actors perform this play by portraying multiple characters. George Washington Carver (1860s – 1943), was born into slavery and grew up to be a scientist, inventor, and professor. He worked to help farmers, protect the environment, inspire students, and make new discoveries in agricultural and chemical research. He saw clearly how the health of the land and the health of the people connect, and worked to improve both. He is famous for encouraging farmers to grow peanuts (and sweet potatoes) because he saw how only growing cotton was destroying the soil and keeping the struggling Black farmers poor. Carver's gravestone reads: “He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.” The George Washington Carver National Monument in Missouri was the first national monument dedicated to an African-American and the first to honor someone other than a president. It opened in 1953. Che ck o guid ut e f Brig htt or t ht Look and Listen For: ps: he Sta //b per r’s s it.ly for tud Historical elements /2G man y vbP ce a How the story makes you feel. tx. t How the sets and lighting help to tell the story. How the actors become different characters and show what they feel. How the actors use objects (props). How the actors work together to tell the story. Why the characters do what they do. Happy, funny, sad, scary, or surprising parts of the stories.
Please see www.fwpaec.org for our field trip guide and more resources! Discussion Questions: Other Figures in the Play: Who has gone to a live show before? What was it like? Booker T. Washington (1856? – How is it different from going to a movie? 1915) was an American educator, Describe what you saw, felt, and heard during the author, orator, and advisor to performance. presidents. He co-founded the What new ideas or understanding do you have? What Tuskegee Institute and advocated was interesting and what was challenging? What did for Black education and you used to think and what do you think now? entrepreneurship. Discuss the acting, the costumes, the sets, the plot, and the setting (time Madam C. J. Walker, (real name: and place). Sarah Breedlove, 1867 –1919) was What is your opinion of the acting, the costumes, the sets, the plot, and an African-American entrepreneur, the setting? How well did they set the scene, tell the story, and engage philanthropist, and a political and the audience? social activist. She made a fortune by Discuss the sequence of events in the stories. (You may wish to chart developing and promoting cosmetics this). What would happen if the actors did not tell the story parts in and hair care products specifically order? for Black women. What was your favorite part of the play? Thurgood Marshall (1908 –1993) How can you describe the characters? (You may wish to create bubble was an American lawyer who maps). Appearance, traits, emotions, how they move and behave. successfully argued Brown v. Board What were the problems the characters had to solve? How did they of Education before the Supreme solve them? How would you have reacted? Can you think of other ways Court of the United States in 1954. to solve the problems? From 1967 – 1991 he served as the Describe the relationships between the characters. How did the actors first African-American justice on the work together to tell the story? Supreme Court. What are the ways racism impacted the characters’ lives? How did they Jackie Robinson (1919 – 1972) was deal with it? What connections can you make to the experiences of an American professional baseball people of color today? player who became the first African- What parts of the characters are most like you? Do you think you would American to play Major League have reacted the same or differently to their life experiences? Baseball in the modern era and a life- How did it work that one actor played several different characters? long advocate for civil rights. How did the actors use movement and voice to create a believable character? What do you think of the choices the actors made to create their characters? What did you notice about the props? How did the actors use them? How do simple props represent more complicated ideas and happenings? What was the purpose of the play? To entertain, inform, persuade, describe… This play had to tell a lot of information in a short amount of time. What choices do you think the playwright had to make? What might have been left out? Do you think the play still served its purpose? What connections to other arts, stories, or their own lives can the students make? What do you know about, and what do you wonder about, now that you’ve seen live theater? What do you know about the job of an actor? Would you like to try it? Activity Ideas: Preview videos of George Washington Carver and Friends with your students at https://bit.ly/2UHxhFp. Note aspects to look for in the upcoming show and chart the questions your students ask. After the performance, see what questions they can answer or investigate. Have students write reviews of the show. Have them include what they liked, what they did not like, what parts they remember the best, and what they think of the performers. Students can write about their experience watching George Washington Carver and Friends using these sentence stems: “I used to think… Now I think…” Invent a headline for an article about George Washington Carver and Friends that tells why it’s interesting or important. Have students act out their favorite scenes from the play, using improvised dialog. Ask them to show what the characters are feeling, not just what they are doing. Students can make puppets of the characters in George Washington Carver and Friends and act out a scene with a partner. Have students in small groups create tableaux of important scenes in the story. A tableau is a living picture. Groups of students pose themselves in a frozen scene, using their arrangement, facial expressions, and positions to convey the event and the characters. Additionally, students can write what their character would say in the scene. Have students step inside a character’s mind. Have them think and/or write about what they feel, know about, believe, and care about. Have the students create a monologue as that character and talk about who they are and what they are experiencing. Have students write a diary entry from a character’s perspective. Have students draw a picture of a favorite scene from the play. Can they convey the emotions the actors expressed, the setting, and the plot point? Can they add their own response as an audience member? Investigate the culture of the post-Civil War era. Learn popular songs, look at fashion, and find out what books were best-sellers. How do you think these elements affected the lives of the play's characters? Have students create their own lyrics to a well-known song that tells about people from the play. Students can write letters to the PAEC telling us their thoughts on the play. (We'd love to hear from you!)
“It has always been the one great ideal of my life to be of the greatest good to the greatest number of ‘my people’ possible and to this end I have been preparing myself these many years; feeling as I do that this line of education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom to our people.” -- George Washington Carver, 1896 w the to Gro in, How ring bullet f Prepa rver’s ays o s Ca 105 W on, wa nut and sumpti Pea an Con 16. or Hum in 19 it f blished first pu Recommended Reading: Aligned Standards: What Color Is My World? The Lost History of African- Theater Anchor Standards, Responding American Inventors by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work; 8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work; Outward Dreams: Black Inventors and Their Inventions by 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work. James Haskins Theater Anchor Standards, Connecting African American Scientists and Inventors by Tish Davidson 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti personal experiences to make art; 11: Relate Harrison artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, George Washington Carver: Teacher, Scientist, and Inventor by Lori and historical context to deepen understanding. Mortensen Common Core ELA, Key Ideas and Details: A Man for All Seasons: The Life of George Washington Carver by Stephen Read closely to determine what the text says Krensky explicitly and to make logical inferences from George Washington Carver for Kids: His Life and Discoveries, With 21 it. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the Activities by Peggy Thomas key supporting details and ideas. Analyze how George Washington Carver by Dana Meachen Rau and why individuals, events, or ideas develop Booker T. Washington: "Character Is Power" by Anne E. Schraff and interact over the course of a text. Booker T. Washington: Leader and Educator by Pat McKissack Common Core ELA, Integration of Knowledge Booker T. Washington: Getting Into the Schoolhouse by Larry D. Brimner and Ideas: Integrate and evaluate content presented in Stealing Home: Jackie Robinson: Against the Odds by Robert Burleigh diverse media and formats. Analyze how two Jackie Robinson: Amazing Athlete and Activist by Darlene R. Stille or more texts address similar themes or topics. First in the Field: Baseball Hero Jackie Robinson by Derek T. Dingle Social Studies, Economics A Picture Book of Thurgood Marshall by David A. Adler 2.1: Understands that people have to make choices between wants and needs and Thurgood Marshall: The Supreme Court Rules on "Separate but Equal" by evaluate the outcomes of those choices. Gary Jeffrey Social Studies, History Thurgood Marshall by Barbara M. Linde 4.1: Understands historical chronology; 4.2: Vision of Beauty: The Story of Sarah Breedlove Walker by Kathryn Lasky Understands and analyzes causal factors that Hair-Care Millionaire: Madam C.J. Walker and Her Amazing Business by have shaped major events in history; 4.3: Understands that there are multiple Edwin Brit Wyckoff perspectives and interpretations of historical Madam C.J. Walker: Self-made Millionaire by Pat McKissack events; 4.4: Uses history to understand the Readers Theatre for African American History by Jeff Sanders present and plan for the future.
Remember: Carver's laboratory set-up. Watching live theater isn't like going to a movie because the performers can hear you! Please don't distract them, but do laugh when something is funny, cry when something is sad, cheer when something is awesome, and clap at the end. Show the actors you appreciate their hard work and help everyone have a good time!
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