Reader’s Theater: Letters Home from Montanans at War Essential Understanding: History is personal. meaningful word parts, and consulting It is not just about the famous and powerful. general and specialized reference materials, Primary sources (like letters) provide insight into as appropriate. the lives and emotions of the people who lived • CCRA.L.5 Demonstrate understanding of in the past. figurative language, word relationships and Activity Description: Students will work in nuances in word meanings. groups to read and interpret letters written by • Acquire and use accurately a soldiers at war, from the Civil War to the CCRA.L.6 Operation Iraqi Freedom. After engaging in range of general academic and domain- close reading and conducting short research to specific words and phrases sufficient for interpret the letters, they will perform the letters reading, writing, speaking, and listening at as reader’s theater. the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering Objectives vocabulary knowledge when encountering an Students will unknown term important to comprehension or expression. • Experience the power of primary sources. • CCRA.R.1 Read closely to determine what • Understand that ordinary people make the text says explicitly and to make logical history. inferences from it; cite specific textual • Engage in close reading of complex texts. evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. • Recognize the sacrifices made by soldiers and their families • CCRA.R.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining Grade Level: 7–12 technical, connotative, and figurative Time: 3–5 class periods meanings, and analyze how specific word Materials: choices shape meaning or tone. Letters from Home Script (below) • CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and Computers with internet access collaborations with diverse partners, building Samples of original letters from the Montana on others’ ideas and expressing their own Memory Project (see Source List, below.) clearly and persuasively. Common Core, Social Studies, and Arts • MSSS.4 Students demonstrate an Standards understanding of the effects of time, • CCRA.L.3 Apply knowledge of language to continuity, and change on historical and understand how language functions in future perspectives and relationships. different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend • MAS. 1 Students create, perform/exhibit, and more fully when reading or listening. respond in the Arts. Vocabulary Acquisition and Use • MAS.3 Students develop and refine arts skills • CCRA.L.4 Determine or clarify the meaning and techniques to express ideas, pose and of unknown and multiple-meaning words and solve problems, and discover meaning. phrases by using context clues, analyzing (continued) Readers Theater: Letters Home from Montanans at War (continued) Teaching Notes: the script when a letter jumped pages. His solution was to create this version of the script. As envisioned, students work in small groups to He printed two copies and placed them in interpret and rehearse the letters assigned to binders for the performers, who alternated them. Each group has a narrator and each letter reading from two podiums. Students used the is read by a different cast member. For script below as study copies. differentiation, note that the narrator is the easiest role with much shorter lines than the Where available, links to scanned copies of the other parts. Group 3 (World War II) has the most original letters are included in the Source List letters; you may want to create another group (below.) You may want to print these out, or and divide the material between the two. arrange to project them, to reinforce the idea that the words students will be reading are If you are looking for a non-reading role, you real. Note that the scripts were created directly can assign each group a director/researcher from the original letters. In some instances the (someone in charge of defining unfamiliar words, transcript slightly varies from the original to providing the context necessary for good allow for improved readability. However, interpretation). This position can also be meaning was not altered. Ellipses mark places combined with the narrator. where material was omitted. Many letters will contain unfamiliar slang or Pre-Lesson Preparation references. Information can typically be revealed through a well-designed internet search. You may • Review lesson plan and extension activities. want to walk your students through searching • Preview the script. These were letters techniques. written by soldiers. Make sure that they Note that most of these letters were written by are appropriate for the grade and maturity men—since for most of our history, most soldiers level of your students. were men. You may need to reassure your • Assign student groups/roles. students that it is fine to have girls as readers for male letter writers. • Print scripts and rubric. • Arrange to share original letters with If you have a number of students who are students using links included in the Source uncomfortable reading aloud, you might want to List (optional). expand the project to include other nonspeaking roles. For example: assign a student to find Procedure appropriate images from the Library of Congress American Memory Project Photograph and Print Divide students into 4 groups: Collection (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/) and/or • Group 1 (Civil War and Philippine-American appropriate music from the National Jukebox War: 4-5 students) (http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/) to create a • Group 2 (World War I: 4-5 students) musical introduction and/or background graphics to project during the performance. Images of • Group 3: (World War II: 4-5 students. Note: Montana military enlistment cards from In this group, students will read more than one role) 1890-1945 can be found on the Montana Memory Project (https://www.mtmemory.org/ • Group 4: (Korean War, Vietnam War, digital/collection/p16013coll36). Operation Iraqi Freedom 4-5 students) Explain to your students that they will be For small classes, feel free either to omit letters working together to perform letters written by or combine parts. people who served in the military during Helena High School theater teacher Rob Holter (continued) reported that his students had trouble reading 2 MONTANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, COPYRIGHT 2015 Readers Theater: Letters Home from Montanans at War (continued) wartime. Remind them that the people who uniforms (often dyed with walnut oil) worn by wrote these letters were real people. Their many Civil War Confederate soldiers. words are real, their experiences are real, and Let students know that after they thoroughly all of them deserve to be treated with respect. understand their letters, they will need to Show students samples of the letters to practice performing them. There will be reinforce this point. (Find links to scanned unfamiliar words, so they may need to research copies of the letters in the Source List, below.) proper pronunciation as well. Note that in some instances the script will vary Provide each group an instruction sheet, rubric, slightly from the original to allow for improved and script. Circulate among groups to assist as readability, but meaning was not altered. needed. Ellipses mark places where material was After students have analyzed and practiced their omitted. pieces, have each group perform before the Explain that the letters express a range of class. emotions, (joy, despair, hope, anger, patriotism) and tones (sarcasm, tenderness, bravado). Extension Ideas Talk about letters in general. Note that letters After practicing within the class, have students are informal forms of communication. They perform this for other classes or for community often have misspellings and unconventional members (this would be particularly appropriate punctuation. They also often refer in shorthand for a Veterans Day Celebration). to people, places, or events they expect the Have students investigate more about World recipient to know about. These things can make War II by reading the “Peggy Letters” on the interpreting the letters difficult. In order to Montana Memory Project. The collection perform their letters well, students will need to includes newsletters written by the Miles City understand their letters’ content, context, branch of American Women’s Voluntary Services vocabulary, and emotions. (AWVS) from late 1942 until early 1946, to Talk about point of view. Letters clearly express Custer County men and women serving the perspective of their authors. Discuss how overseas—and the letters they received in reply. this is just one point of view. A letter written by http://mtmemory.org/cdm/landingpage/ someone else (especially from the “enemy”) collection/p16013coll1 might portray the same situation very differently. Letters are also written with their After participating in the Reader’s Theater audience in mind; thus, a soldier might hide exercise, have students conduct additional certain information so as not to worry his family. research about the time period and then write Tell students that they need to read closely, ask their own letters: questions, and conduct research in order to gain 1. A letter that one of the soldiers wrote full understanding of their texts. Let them know either before or after the letter included in that most of the allusions or references can be the script. found through well-designed