By Lois Lewis
Engage creative thinking skills and spark the imagination with this idea for a classroom theater production!
Grade Level: 3-6
Story Preview: Two students on a class field trip to an art museum accidentally get separated from their group. They find themselves in a strange gallery with two unusual guides who teach them some fascinating facts about first pets!
Roles: Narrators 1-2, Allie, Scott, Mr. Canvas, Ms. Watercolor, The Voice, Millie the Springer Spaniel, Macaroni the Pony, Socks the Cat, Buddy the Labrador Retriever, Liberty the Golden Retriever, Fala the Scottish Terrier, Sheep, Alligator, Five French Hounds
Setting: present day, art museum
Theme(s): White House pets; U.S. presidents
Props: (Optional) toy or student-made microphone (paper, cardboard or other available materials) for Ms. Watercolor; student-made picture frames for the gallery; student-researched pictures of numerous White House pets including Millie the Springer Spaniel, Macaroni the Pony, Socks the Cat, Buddy the Labrador Retriever, Liberty the Golden Retriever, Fala the Scottish Terrier, and Woodrow Wilsons sheep; pictures of an alligator, silkworm and hounds.
Have students work in small groups to research information about the pets noted in the play, as well as about other White House pets. You might want to group students by period or by presidents: for example, from 1789 to1865, or from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln. Ask groups to draw pictures of their assigned pets and write short paragraphs to caption their illustrations. Compile all the drawings to create a first pets gallery for your classroom or for your school Web site.
The book Wackiest White House Pets by Kathryn Gibbs Davis (Scholastic Press) features out-of-the-ordinary pets of 15 past U.S. presidents.
Click here for a printable script.
Article by Lois Lewis
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