This exciting compilation of readers theatre scripts for the 4th to 8th grade social studies classroom brings history to life via the adventures of explorers across the globe. Throughout history, powerful kings and queens have sent their emissaries on quests for land and wealth to expand their empires. But what about those emissaries? A man who ventures to sail into uncharted seas, knowing he may never return. A woman who disguises herself and walks into forbidden lands. What gave them the courage and the strength to face many daunting challenges? How did they feel during the worst and best times in their adventures? Readers Theatre for Global Explorers gives social studies teachers and school librarians a tool to introduce students to the determined men and women who ventured into unknown territory. This collection of short scripts for 4th–8th grade students teaches about explorers, their native cultures, and the lands they found. Just as importantly, they make learning fun.

Unlike most readers theatre titles, the 36 scripts in this book introduce young readers to classic authors like Louisa May Alcott and Mark Twain while they have fun and improve their reading fluency. The use of readers theatre as a classroom tool develops fluency while students are engaged in learning new content and actively participating in their learning. Background information and discussion questions round out the readers theatre experience, providing young readers with an opportunity to increase their reading fluency while inspiring them to read the works of well-known authors. Each of these 36 readers theatre scripts—one for each week of the school year—provides teachers and librarians with an introduction to authors of short stories, chapter books, and poetry. The subject matter includes acclaimed writers such as Charles Dickens and Laura Ingalls Wilder, as well as more contemporary authors like Paula Danzinger and Roald Dahl. Each script is designed to be introduced, read, and discussed in a 30-minute period, and encompasses characters with lines written at grade levels 2, 3, and 4 to accommodate different reading levels (grade levels are indicated on the teacher's page only).

Bring curriculum concepts to life with four theme-related scripts per book. Each script has roles at multiple levels so your on-, above-, and below-level readers can build fluency, comprehension, and performance skills together. Click-and-print CD-ROMs make printing script copies easy. 96 pages each.

Penetrating biographies written by a group of distinguished travel writers, broadcasters, and historians reveal the lives, motives, and passions of forty major explorers in history. It has always been mankind’s gift, or curse, to be inquisitive, and through the ages people have been driven to explore the limits of the worlds known to them—and beyond. Here are the stories of forty of the world’s greatest explorers from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. These are men and women who changed our perception of the world through their courageous adventures. Organized thematically, the book opens with the oceanic journeys of five hundred years ago, when the great era of recorded exploration began. The following sections look at The Land, Rivers, Polar Ice, Deserts, Life on Earth, and New Frontiers. Many of these explorers recounted their journeys in vivid firsthand accounts; others were superb artists or photographers. The book features quotes from their journals and reports, and it is illustrated with paintings, photographs, engravings, and maps, so that we can experience their adventures through their own eyes and in their own words. Featured explorers include: Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, James Cook, Lewis and Clark, Richard Burton, Samuel de Champlain, David Livingstone, Roald Amundsen, Gertrude Bell, Alexander von Humboldt, Yuri Gagarin, and Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Identifying thousands of historical fiction novels, biographies, history trade books, CD-ROMs, and videotapes, these books help you locate resources on world history for students. Each is divided into two sections. In the first part, titles are listed according to grade levels within specific geographic areas and time periods. They are further organized by product type. Both books cover world history from Prehistory and the Ancient World to 54 B.C. to the modern era. Other chapters include Roman Empire to A.D. 476; Europe and the British Isles; Africa and South Africa; Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, and Antarctica; Canada; China; India, Tibet, and Burma; Israel and Arab Countries; Japan; Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia, and Thailand; and South and Central America and the Caribbean. The second section has an annotated bibliography that describes each title and includes publication information and awards. The focus is on books published since 1990, and all have received at l

More mystery, more bravery, more danger, and one amazingly reckless rescue await in the second book in the Explorers series! The perfect read for fans of The Name of This Book Is Secret and The Mysterious Benedict Society! Reader! Your attention is greatly needed. We have left things unresolved! What began as your average story of a boy stumbling upon a pig in a teeny hat and a secret international explorers society has turned into an adventure of epic proportions. The bad news: The boy (Sebastian) has been kidnapped by a trio of troublesome thugs. The good news: His new friend Evie has promised to rescue him! The bad news: Sebastian has been taken halfway around the world. The good news: Evie has famous explorer and former Filipendulous Five member Catherine Lind at her side! The bad news: There's still the whole matter of Evie's grandfather (and the leader of the Filipendulous Five) somewhere out there in grave danger. The good news: Pursuing Sebastian will lead Evie and Catherine to another member of the Filipendulous Five, who might be able to help! This missive is a call to action and an invitation to join in mystery, bravery, and danger. There will be new people to meet, new places to see, and some dancing along the way. And one amazingly reckless rescue. PRAISE FOR THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES--THE EXPLORERS: THE DOOR IN THE ALLEY "[A] wildly funny adventure. . . . Animals in teeny hats, Wonderland-style logic, and loads of wordplay and sarcasm will keep readers giggling all the way through." --Kirkus Reviews "Exhilarating. . . . Fans of a Series of Unfortunate Events will be drawn to this." --Booklist