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Grade 7 Choral Reading Piece
Ballad of A Mother's Heart
by Jose La Villa Tierra
The night was dark, for the
moon was young And the stars were asleep and rare; The clouds were thick, yet Youth went out To see his Maiden fair.
"Dear One," he pleaded as he knelt Before her feet, in tears, "My love is true; why have you kept Me waiting all these years?"
The maiden looked
at him unmoved, It seemed, and whispered low: "Persistent Youth, you have to prove By deeds your love is true."
"There's not a thing
I would not do For you, Beloved," said he. "Then go," said she, "to your mother dear And bring her heart to me." Without another word, Youth left and went to his mother dear. And opened her breast and took her heart. He did not shed a tear!
Then back to his Maiden
fair he ran, Unmindful of the rain; But his feet slipped and he fell down And loud he groaned with pain!
Still in his hand
he held the prize That would win his Maiden's hand; And he thought of his mother dear So kind, so sweet, so fond.
And then he heard a voice, Not from his lips but all apart: "Get up," it said; "Were you hurt, Child?" It was his mother's heart. READER’S THEATER PIECE FOR GRADE 8
Narrator 1: The wizard, the Fairy and the Magic Chicken
Narrator 2: There once lived a Wizard, a Fairy, and a Magic Chicken.
Each thought, "I am the greatest in the world." And each was very jealous of the other two.
Wizard: "MY wand has a MOON on it,"
Narrator 3: said the Wizard.
Fairy: "MY wand has a STAR on it,
Narrator 1: said the Fairy.
Chicken: "MY wand has a PICKLE on it,"
Narrator 2: said the Magic Chicken.
Wizard: "I can kiss a pig and turn it into a bicycle,"
Narrator 3: said the Wizard. The Fairy said,
Fairy: "That's nothing, I can kiss a bicycle and turn it into a bowl of soup."
Narrator 1: The Magic Chicken said,
Chicken: "I can do better than that, I can kiss a bowl of soup and turn it into a singing frog."
Narrator 2: Each one always tried to outdo the others.
Wizard: "I can make a hairy monster with sharp teeth!"
Narrator 3: bellowed the Wizard. The Fairy screeched,
Fairy: "I can make a bumpy monster with nine legs!"
Chicken: "I can make a dotted monster with buggy eyes!"
Narrator 1: yelled the Magic Chicken.
Narrator 2: The monsters glared at the magicians and loudly said,
"GRRRRRROLPH!"
Narrator 3: For the very first time the magicians agreed. They shouted,
Wizard, Fairy, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
and Chicken:
Wizard: "I will make a cloud to hide behind,"
Narrator 1: gasped the Wizard, but that didn't stop the monsters.
Fairy: "I will make thunder to scare them,"
Narrator 2: puffed the Fairy, but the monsters were not frightened.
Chicken: "I will make lightning. That will make them go away,"
Narrator 3: cried the Magic Chicken, but they would not go away. Nothing worked.
Wizard: "We'd better..."
Narrator 1: said the Wizard.
Fairy: "...try something...."
Narrator 2: said the Fairy.
Chicken: "...together!"
Narrator 3: said the Magic Chicken. So they chanted,
Wizard, Fairy, "One, two, three, GO!"
and Chicken:
Narrator 1: The cloud and the thunder and the lightning came together.
Narrator 2: Suddenly it rained.
Narrator 3: It rained so hard and the monsters got so wet that they shrank until they were only very little monsters and not scary at all.
Wizard, Fairy, "We did it!"
and Chicken:
Narrator 1: cheered the Wizard, the Fairy, and the Magic Chicken. Wizard: "I must say, though, my cloud made the rain,"
Narrator 2: said the Wizard. The Fairy said,
Fairy: "Well, it was because of my thunder."
Chicken: "But not without my lightning,"
Narrator 3: said the Magic Chicken.
Narrator 1: There once lived a Wizard, a Fairy, and a Magic Chicken.
Narrator 2: They argued a lot, but deep down they were very good friends.
Grade 9 Puppet Show Reading Piece
Characters
Lena (Mama) Younger, the family matriarch, dreams of buying a house to provide stability and fulfill her late husband’s wish for a better life. Walter Lee Younger, her son, has ambitions of investing the money in a liquor store, hoping to achieve financial independence and escape his job as a chauffeur. Beneatha Younger, Walter’s sister, aspires to become a doctor and seeks a sense of identity and cultural pride. Ruth Younger, Walter’s wife, supports Mama’s vision of a better home, especially as she learns she is expecting another child.
A Raisin in the Sun portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, a Black family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This money comes from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money. The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. Mama’s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the family’s financial problems forever. Walter’s wife, Ruth, agrees with Mama, however, and hopes that she and Walter can provide more space and opportunity for their son, Travis. Finally, Beneatha, Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition. She also wishes that her family members were not so interested in assimilating into the white world. Beneatha instead tries to find her identity by looking back to the past and to Africa. As the play progresses, the Youngers clash over their competing dreams. Ruth discovers that she is pregnant but fears that if she has the child, she will put more financial pressure on her family members. When Walter says nothing to Ruth’s admission that she is considering abortion, Mama puts a down payment on a house for the whole family. She believes that a bigger, brighter dwelling will help them all. This house is in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. When the Youngers’ future neighbors find out that the Youngers are moving in, they send Mr. Lindner, from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to offer the Youngers money in return for staying away. The Youngers refuse the deal, even after Walter loses the rest of the money ($6,500) to his friend Willy Harris, who persuades Walter to invest in the liquor store and then runs off with his cash.
In the meantime, Beneatha rejects her suitor, George Murchison,
whom she believes to be shallow and blind to the problems of race. Subsequently, she receives a marriage proposal from her Nigerian boyfriend, Joseph Asagai, who wants Beneatha to get a medical degree and move to Africa with him (Beneatha does not make her choice before the end of the play). The Youngers eventually move out of the apartment, fulfilling the family’s long-held dream. Their future seems uncertain and slightly dangerous, but they are optimistic and determined to live a better life. They believe that they can succeed if they stick together as a family and resolve to defer their dreams no longer.
Story Telling piece for the Kick-off
The Last Leaf by O. Henry
In Greenwich Village, two young women named Sue and Johnsy, originally from Maine and California respectively, lived together in an apartment on the top floor of a building. They met at a restaurant on Eighth Street and bonded over their shared interests in art, food, and clothes. In the spring, a sickness called Pneumonia spread in Greenwich Village. Johnsy caught it and became bedridden, she lay on her bed almost without moving, and she looked through the window at the wall of the house next to hers. The doctor spoke to Sue alone, where Johnsy could not hear. “She has a very small chance,” he said. “She has a chance, if she wants to live. If people don’t want to live, I can’t do much for them. Your little lady has decided that she is not going to get well. “I will do all I know how to do. But when a sick person begins to feel that he’s going to die, half my work is useless. After the doctor left, Sue cried in the workroom. Then she went to Johnsy's room, carrying painting materials and singing. Johnsy lay quietly in bed, facing the window. Thinking Johnsy was asleep, Sue started painting. But she heard a faint sound repeatedly and rushed to Johnsy's side. Johnsy was counting down as she watched leaves fall outside the window: "Twelve," "Eleven," and so on. Sue, confused, asked what Johnsy was counting. Johnsy replied that she was counting leaves and believed that when the last leaf fell, she would also die. Sue tried to reason with her, reminding her of the doctor's chances about her recovery. Johnsy remained looking at the falling leaves, determined to wait for the last one to fall before nightfall, believing it sign her time to go. “Johnsy, dear,” said Sue, “will you promise me to close your eyes and not to look out the window until I finish working? “Tell me as soon as you have finished,” said Johnsy “because I want to see the last leaf fall. I have done enough waiting. I have done enough thinking. I want to go sailing down, down, like one of those leaves.” Sue decided to call Behrman, an elderly painter who lived downstairs. Despite painting for forty years without success, Behrman still dreamed of creating a masterpiece. Sue believed he would help Johnsy. She explained Johnsy's situation, fearing she would give up like the falling leaves. They went to Johnsy's room while she slept, where Sue covered the window and spoke with Behrman in another room. As the rain mixed with snow outside, Behrman sat down painted through the night. In the morning, Sue went to Johnsy's bedside, where Johnsy, wide-eyed, wanted to see outside. Sue uncovered the window, revealing the last leaf still clinging to the tree. Johnsy believed it would fall along with her death. She reflected on her desire to die, realizing it was wrong. Johnsy apologized to Sue for her attitude and decided to try to eat, acknowledging the leaf's persistence as a sign to change her mindset. The doctor came in the afternoon. Sue followed him into the hall outside Johnsy’s room to talk to him. “The chances are good,” said the doctor. “And now I must see another sick person in this house. His name is Behrman. A painter, I believe. Pneumonia, too. There is no hope for him. But we took him to the hospital today. We’ll make it as easy for him as we can.” The next day the doctor said to Sue: “She’s safe. You have done it. Mr. Behrman passed away today from pneumonia, after just two days of illness. He was discovered in his room, suffering from intense pain. His clothes and shoes were frozen, raising questions about where he had been in the harsh, cold night. Upon investigation, his painting materials were found, along with green and yellow paint. Sue then pointed out the last leaf on the wall, revealing that Behrman had painted it the night the final leaf fell, creating his masterpiece before his death.
