I taught for 33 years and I have my MST in the teaching of Social Studies. In 1988, I was awarded the Elementary Social Studies Classroom Teacher of the Year Award from both the New York State Council for the Social Studies and the National Council for the Social Studies. My shop contains mostly social studies materials including web quests, and reader's theater scripts on famous people in history, science and literature.
I taught for 33 years and I have my MST in the teaching of Social Studies. In 1988, I was awarded the Elementary Social Studies Classroom Teacher of the Year Award from both the New York State Council for the Social Studies and the National Council for the Social Studies. My shop contains mostly social studies materials including web quests, and reader's theater scripts on famous people in history, science and literature.
Learn about Katherine Johnson, a physicist, space scientist and mathematician, who played a very important role with NASA’s early space missions with this biographical play. The movie Hidden Figures highlights the role of NASA’s “computers” such as Katherine Johnson and their contributions. Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Series of Reader’s Theater Scripts, there are comprehension questions, a Did You Know? section,a Teacher page with extensions/links and key.
A great STEM biography!
Additional Resources on this Topic You May Find of Interest:
1. Learn about the history of space with this informative web quest.
There are 12 web questions, comprehension questions and extension activities:
Space: A Webquest/Extension Activities
2. Learn about Astronaut John Glenn’s historic flight to become the first American to Orbit the Earth. Years later, he would also become the oldest American to go on the Space Shuttle! This biographical web quest also contains several questions about the early days of space exploration. There are several extension activities.
Other plays in the Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show Series: Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Bessie Coleman Sacagawea, George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King, Sequoia, Michelangelo, DaVinci, Tuskegee Airmen, Susan B. Anthony, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, an interview with a groundhog, an interview with a leprechaun, an interview with Simon, victim of the Black Death, An Interview with Agent 355, a female agent in the Culper Spy Ring(Revolutionary War), Interview with a 49er from the California Gold Rush and more.
Wish to to practice oral reading fluency in Language Arts and want a biographical reader’s theater play?Try this fun and information play on Amelia Earhart based on the To Tell the Truth Game Show. Comprehension/discussion questions/ extension activities and links,too.
Students will learn about the history of the sport of “football”, (only the USA and some say Canada, use the term, soccer) and the famous games held every four years.
Great for a Friday activity to show kids that everything has a history, even sports!
Includes 11 web questions, a map skill activity on the 2022 Host Country of Qatar, A Did You Know? Section, Comprehension. Questions, a Teacher page with several extension activities and the key.
St. Patrick’s Day is a wonderful opportunity to introduce your students to the country of Ireland. Did you know that Ireland is called the Emerald Island because of its green fertile lands? Did you know that the Celtic knot is a very famous symbol of Ireland? Other well know symbols of Ireland include the harp, leprechauns and shamrocks.Can you pronounce the name of this village in Ireland?(Muckanaghederdauhaulia) Learn more about Ireland with my fun and informative web quest on Ireland includes 14 questions and lots of extension activities.
Please check out my fun/informative Reader’s Theater Script on McSean the Leprechaun! Great for folklore units or around St. Patrick’s Day! https://www.tes.com/uploader/v2/11197156
A DBQ activity uses primary sources. Sources can include diaries,posters, music, news articles from the time, anything written by those who participated in or witnessed an event in history. Students review the given documents and use many cognitive skills in processing what they see and read. After gathering information using the documents, students develop an essay answering a question, in this case, “Describe Life on the Home Front During World War 2”, citing several of the documents reviewed.
A teacher page includes the Key and suggestions for a rubric to grade the DBQ.
If a teacher wishes to use the activity as a web quest, suggestions are also given.
I also have a similar activity on Life of a Japanese-American Child living in an Internment Camp during WW2.
Learn about Rosa Parks with this Reader’s Theater Script. Rosa Parks is a guest on a talk show and the studio audience asks questions about her life and contributions and how her bus ride helped to change history! There are 8 questioners, a Did You Know? fun fact section, comprehension questions, a teacher page with extension activities, the key and additional links. Kids get a chance to "ham"it up and act out roles in this fun/informative play.
American Revolution/ Revolutionary War: Studying the 13 Colonies/Colonial Times? This resource would work great for such a unit of study. Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee’s Reader’s Theater Scripts, I really had fun developing this play about the Culper Spy Ring and specifically, Agent 355, one of the female member of the organization!
During the Revolutionary War, the Culper Spy Ring was organized to work to defeat the British. Agent 355 and other members of the spy organization were very important in the colonists being victorious in the War for Independence from England. Although Agent 355’s real name remains a mystery, she was one of the women spies who showed that patriotism has no gender! Secret codes, invisible ink, LAUNDRY used to communicate messages, what spies did during the Revolutionary war, lots of information is weaved into Agent 355 being a guest on Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show with the studio audience asking her questions.
Great for study on the Revolutionary War, during Women’s History Month or any time you are looking for a fun/informative play to use with your students!
Lots of extension activities, links, a Did You Know Fact section, comprehension questions and the key are also included.
George Washington asked for the spy ring to be organized and interestingly, it’s secret group was only discovered in the 1930s, about 140 years after the American Revolutionary War by historians reviewing some of George Washington’s private papers.
During the American Revolution, Tories supported the British in the war. Loyalists, the King’s Friends and Royalists were other names for those that took sides with the British. Students will learn about what it was like to be a Tory during the American Revolutionary War. Joshua Crabtree(fictitious character) is a guest on Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show. The format of the Reader’s Theater Script is that a studio audience asks questions of Ms. Bie Ografee’s guest to learn what it was like to support the British and not the Patriots during the American Revolution.
There are 10 questioners, A Did You Know? section, comprehension questions and a Teacher Page with extension activities and the key. American Revolutionary War: A Visit with a Tory!
Introduce students to the county of South Korea. There are 11 web questions, lots of Did You Know? facts, comprehension questions and a teacher page with 7 extension activities. There is also a key for both the web quest and comprehension questions and additional links for teachers. Although the activity could be done in one class period, if you decide to do some of the extension activities, this resource could be used over several days.
This webquest of 10 questions will enable young people to learn lots of information on the country of Russia! Extension activities, resources, fun facts,key. Skills include:reading for information and using research/computer skills. Great for an activity before a vacation, as an extension activity for a unit of study or for a substitute lesson.
Probably the most famous scientist of the 20th century, Einstein was a physicist who’s most remembered for his Theory of Relativity. From 1901 to 1954, Einstein published more than 300 scientific works. This Reader’s Theater Script introduces students to Albert Einstein. Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show series, the script includes information about Einstein’s childhood, his education, and contributions to science. There is a Did You Know? section, comprehension questions, and a teachers page which includes lots of extension activities, additional links and children’s books and the key. The format is a “studio” audience who asks questions of Ms. Bie Ografee’s guest, in this case, Albert Einstein.
Additional Resources on this Topic You May Find of Interest:
1. Learn about the history of space with this informative web quest.
There are 12 web questions, comprehension questions and extension activities:
Space: A Webquest/Extension Activities
2. Learn about Astronaut John Glenn’s historic flight to become the first American to Orbit the Earth. Years later, he would also become the oldest American to go on the Space Shuttle! This biographical web quest also contains several questions about the early days of space exploration. There are several
extension activities and the key: John Glenn, A Webquest
3. A Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Reader’s Theater Script. Marie Curie: A Reader’s Theater Script
4. Trailblazers in Science: A Bundle of Six Reader’s Theater Scripts: STEM Biographies(George W. Carver, Jacques Cousteau, Elizabeth Blackwell, Thomas Edison, Marie Curie and this play(Katherine Johnson): Trailblazers in Science(Six STEM Biographies) Reader’s Theater Scripts (All these plays are also sold individually.)
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Martin Luther King Jr. A Biographical Play: Learn about this important civil rights leader who worked for equality in non-violent ways. Martin Luther King envisioned a world where the color of your skin did not determine a person’s value and civil rights! He was also a excellent orator whose " I Have a Dream Speech" is probably his most famous. Using this Reader’s Theater Script, part of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show series of plays, your students will have fun acting out the parts and learning about the life of Martin Luther King, as they pretend to be in the audience of Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show. There are 10 audience informational questioners, a Did You Know? section of additional facts, comprehension questions, a teacher page with extension questions, vocabulary(which are highlighted in the play), additional links and the key.
I also have similar plays on Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, the Tuskegee Airmen, Rosa Parks and Bessie Coleman.
I have many other plays,too, including Sacagawea, Sequoia, Thomas Edison,Michelangelo, DaVinci, Susan B. Anthony, Simon: Victim of the Black Death, McSean: a Leprechaun, Interview with a Groundhog,Elizabeth Blackwell, Revolutionary War Female Spy, California Gold Rush Prospector and more.
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Gail Hennessey
NEW!!! Use this play to introduce students to the life of English Scientist, Sir Isaac Newton. Great, too, for a review activity if you are doing a unit of study on gravity, motion or prisms.
Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Series of plays, Sir Isaac Newton is a guest on Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show. Newton shares information about his life and contributions he made in science with her studio audience who ask questions which he answers.
I always include questions about a “guest’s” childhood and schooling. I feel it is important to see all famous people were kids,too, with many of the same issues that students today may be confronting. I also like kids to see that our past shapes our future! There is a Did You Know? section of fun facts, reading comprehension questions and a teacher section with lots of extension activities, links and the key.
Other plays in the Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show Series: The Constitution(A Visit with James Madison, “Father of the Constitution”),A Visit with Lewis and Clark, A Visit with Josh Crabtree, A Tory during the American Revolutionary War, Charles Dickens, Johnny Appleseed, Albert Einstein, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Bessie Coleman Sacagawea, George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King, Sequoia, Michelangelo, DaVinci, Tuskegee Airmen, Susan B. Anthony, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, an interview with a groundhog, an interview with a leprechaun, an interview with Simon, victim of the Black Death, An Interview with Agent 355, a female agent in the Culper Spy Ring(Revolutionary War), Interview with a 49er from the California Gold Rush , Albert Einstein, Rachel Carson, Katherine Johnson and more.
Leif Eriksson Day is October 9th.
There are different spellings for his name.
Studying the Vikings? Looking for a Reader’s Theater Script in Social Studies? Check out this script on the Vikings and Leif Ericsson and his father, Erik the Red.
Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Series of plays, Leif Ericsson and his father, Eric the Red are guests on Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show. They share information about their lives and the Vikings. There is a Did You Know? section of fun facts, reading comprehension questions and a teacher section with lots of extension activities, links and the key.
Other plays in the Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show Series: The Constitution(A Visit with James Madison, “Father of the Constitution”),Dr. Seuss, A Visit with Josh Crabtree, A Tory during the American Revolutionary War, Charles Dickens, Johnny Appleseed, Albert Einstein, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Bessie Coleman Sacagawea, George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King, Sequoia, Michelangelo, DaVinci, Tuskegee Airmen, Susan B. Anthony, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, an interview with a groundhog, an interview with a leprechaun, an interview with Simon, victim of the Black Death, An Interview with Agent 355, a female agent in the Culper Spy Ring(Revolutionary War), Interview with a 49er from the California Gold Rush , Albert Einstein, Rachel Carson, Katherine Johnson and more.
I also have related resources on the Middle Age, a play on Christopher Columbus, the Black Death and Marco Polo and an internet activity(web quest) on the Age of Discovery.
With 15 informational web questions, this resource is just the thing to use as a learning tool about the holiday of Halloween. Bats, Owls, pumpkins, the human skeleton, the origin of Halloween, superstitions, and famous stories in literature, are covered. There are comprehension questions, lots of fun facts, extension activities(including writing in the content area), and additional links for teachers.
A Ms.Bie Ograffee Reader’s Theater Script, an interview with Love Brewster, a Pilgrim of Plymouth Colony.Love was an actual member of the 102 Pilgrims that came to America. He was about nine years old. The play includes info on Mayflower, first winter and Thanksgiving feast. Fun facts,Comprehension questions, extension activities, links.
What do you know about Antarctica? Did you know that there aren’t any countries on this continent? Did you know that Antarctica is called the largest desert in the world? Grab your warmest coat, a hat, goggles, scarf and gloves and let’s explore the continent of Antarctica!
Geographical web quest which introduces kids to the continent of Antarctica. There are 10 web quests(with lots of information in the questions), 14 Did You Know? facts, comprehension questions(including several "thought question"), a teacher page with a number of extension activities, additional links and key.
Great for a Friday activity, before a vacation, or when you are looking for a geography resource.
NOTE: 7/16- I had to change question 4 as the link is no longer working. Please download the newest version.
A Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Reader’s Theater Script.
Use this informational and fun script for students to learn about Marie Curie, the Polish scientists who was a pioneer in the area of radioactivity.
*Students will find some of the uses of radioactive materials in the 1920s most interesting(as did I). Radium was placed in toothpaste to make teeth whiter, it was placed in shampoo, face creams, even chocolate! Even Marie and Pierre kept a glass jar with radium salt on their night stand because they were fascinated by its glow. People didn’t realize the harmfulness of radioactivity.
A “studio” audience asks questions of Ms. Bie Ografee’s guest, Marie Curie. There are comprehension questions, a Did You Know? section, a Teacher Page with extension activities, key and additional links.
Other plays in the Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show Series: Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln,Bessie Coleman,Marian Anderson,Sacagawea, Sequoia, Michelangelo, DaVinci, Tuskegee Airmen,Love Brewster(Pilgrim)Susan B. Anthony, Jacques Cousteau, Agent 355-member of the Revolutionary War’s Culper Spy Ring, A Visit with a Groundhog, A Visit with a Leprechaun, A Visit with Simon(victim of the Black Death), Michelangelo, daVinci, Marco Polo. More to be added…
Studying the ocean? Looking for a resource for Earth Day or World Ocean Day? Need a biography to use with your students? Introduce your students to Jacques Cousteau with this informative Reader’s Theater Script. Oceanographer, photographer, scientist, inventor, writer and filmmaker, Cousteau spent his life studying the oceans and the marine life that lived in the oceans. His books and films on his studies sparked much interest in our oceans and created an awareness about the need for marine conservation.
Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Series where Jacques Cousteau is a guest on her talk show and answers questions of her studio audience. There are 10 audience questioners, a Did You Know? section, comprehension questions, a teacher section with extension activities, links and the key.
These resources would go great with this Reader’s Theater Script on Jacques Cousteau.
1. Have students learn about the ocean:Check out my webquest on the
Oceans of the world: There are 9
informative web questions. Fun Facts, comprehension questions,extension
activities,links:Oceans: A Webquest
2. Check out my web quest on The Blue Planet: NOT JUST FOR EARTH
DAY.Learn about the history of Earth Day and, our planet, EARTH, with
this informative web quest. There are 14 web questions as well as
comprehension questions and a Did You Know? fun fact section. The
teacher page includes extension activities, the key, and additional links:
The Blue Planet: A Webquest
3. Check out my web quest on Antarctica: Antarctica! A geographical
webquest which introduces kids to the continent of Antarctica. There are
10 web quests(with lots of information in the questions), 14 Did You
Know? facts, comprehension questions(including several “thought
question"), a teacher page with a number of extension activities,
additional links and key: Antarctica: A Webquest
Use this informative Reader’s Theater Script to learn about Bessie Coleman. Bessie was the first African American female pilot in the U.S. A. AND the first AMERICAN to receive an international pilot’s license! Comprehension questions/extension activities, key. Kids get a chance to try out their acting skills!
NOT JUST FOR EARTH DAY.Learn about the history of Earth Day and, our planet, EARTH, with this informative web quest. There are 16 web questions as well as comprehension questions and a Did You Know? fun fact section. The teacher page includes extension activities, the key, and additional links. Great for a Friday activity! There is also a bonus section on the topic of PLASTIC Straws and the Topic of Should Helium Balloons be Banned from the Sky?
These resources would go great with this resource:
1. Have students learn about the ocean:Check out my webquest on the
Oceans of the world: There are 9
informative web questions. Fun Facts, comprehension questions,extension
activities,links:Oceans: Oceans
2. Studying the ocean? Looking for a resource for Earth Day or World Ocean Day? Need a biography to use with your students? Introduce your students to Jacques Cousteau with this informative Reader’s Theater Script. Oceanographer, photographer, scientist, inventor, writer and filmmaker, Cousteau spent his life studying the oceans and the marine life that lived in the oceans. His books and films on his studies sparked much interest in our oceans and created an awareness about the need for marine conservation.
Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Series where Jacques Cousteau is a guest on her talk show and answers questions of her studio audience. There are 10 audience questioners, a Did You Know? section, comprehension questions, a teacher section with extension activities, links and the key: Jacques Cousteau
3. Check out my web quest on Antarctica: Antarctica! A geographical
webquest which introduces kids to the continent of Antarctica. There are
10 web quests(with lots of information in the questions), 14 Did You
Know? facts, comprehension questions(including several “thought
question"), a teacher page with a number of extension activities,
additional links and key: Antarctica: A Webquest: Antarctica