Most Dangerous Women: Bringing History to Life Through Readers' Theater

A unique gift for teachers . . . a play in which an extraordinary assemblage of women speak about war and peace. They speak in clear and compelling language, often with song and poetry, and what they tell their audience both educates and inspires. If Most Dangerous Women were performed in schools across the country, we might well see a new generation of young people dedicated to ending the scourge of war. - Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States If we want a more peaceful world, we have to teach people that such a world is possible and that it is both their right and their responsibility to take action to make it happen. Most Dangerous Women contributes to those efforts and should be mandatory reading in our schools. - Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate While history is full of engaging, courageous figures who do the unexpected and alter the course of events, adolescents sometimes have trouble making a connection with historical content. That can change when you use readers' theater and let students breathe life into the people, stories, and events of history. Most Dangerous Women gives you the tools to make it happen and offers an exciting way to teach about women in the peace movement. Jan Maher introduces you to readers' theater, an incredibly powerful teaching and learning tool that brings history to life. Most Dangerous Women is the title of both the book and a play within the book that will be a source for integrating readers' theater into your teaching. Engage students in historical content by taking on the roles of women and men who took a stand during the peace movement - whether for it or against. As teens get into their parts, they will grapple with key literacy and history concepts such as point of view and context, explore their own beliefs, and take on responsibility for their learning. Best of all, you don't need any prior dramatic training to conduct readers' theater in your classroom because the book includes the complete script for Most Dangerous Women and guidelines for the many ways to perform it-reading aloud, staging it in class, or as a full-scale production. Most Dangerous Women is ideal for creating a classroom where students take on responsibility for learning as well as an exciting new way to enrich and expand your students' understanding of history.