To Tell the Truth
by Gail Skroback Hennessey

A Collection of Five Classroom Readers’ Theater Plays Based on the Game Show*
Recommended for Grades 5 through 8 *With Permission from Mark Goodson Production

“Will the real...
Abraham Lincoln
Rosa Parks
Susan B. Anthony
Christopher Columbus
Benjamin Franklin... Please Stand Up?”

About the Plays:
Biographical plays make learning about famous people in history fun and informative. This collection of five plays encourage students to use their acting talents and their thinking skills to determine WHO on the panel is the real famous person. Ms. Hennessey has included questions and additional activities at the end of each play for teachers to extend the lesson. A woman from California writes: “They (the students) love taking on a persona and faking an accent. These plays have helped my kids become more critical, better readers.' You can't ask for higher praise than that!" ~Cheri Thurston, Cottonwood Press.

Cast List:
Each play has the following:

• Three guests, each claiming to be the real famous person
• Host
• 5-7 Panelists who ask questions of the guests. (These can be doubled if needed)

Setting:
The setting is a classroom where the famous guests come for a visit or could be a “gameshow” format where the guests are seated in front of a panel of questioners and the host.

Time:
About 30 minutes, with the teacher material at the end. More if you stop along the way to ask the “audience” questions”.

From the Play:

The following is an except from the To Tell the Truth Play on Abraham Lincoln:

Host: Today’s guest is Abraham Lincoln. Only one of the three guests is the REAL Abraham Lincoln. The other two are impostors. Your job is to listen carefully to the information presented and decide which of the three guests is the real Abraham Lincoln. Let’s begin by meeting our guests.
Abraham Lincoln 1: My name is Abraham Lincoln and it is an honor to be visiting your class today.
Abraham Lincoln 2: Honest Abe, that’s me. I was the 16th president of the United States. Glad to meet you
Abraham Lincoln 3: Greetings, students. I am President Abraham Lincoln

Host: Let’s begin by reading this brief summary on Abraham Lincoln.
I, Abraham Lincoln, was born in 1809 in western Kentucky. My family moved to Indiana when I was a boy and then on to Illinois. I was the 16th President of the United States and was President during the darkest period of our country’s history, the Civil War. I promised in the oath I took as president, to “preserve, protect and defend “ the United States. I lived to see a nation divided reunited. This was very important to me. Had the North and South been allowed to become two separate nations, the United States would not have become the super power it is today. Also, the United States was one of the world’s first democracies at the time. I said, “If my name ever goes down in history , it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it.” I was referring to the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves in the south in 1863. Because of this , I am called the " Great Emancipator"(person who makes people free). I died from an assassin’s bullet in 1865.
Signed,
Abraham Lincoln.
Host: Let’s begin the questioning of our guests with panelist 1.
Panelist 1 :
As a boy, you jumped or fell into a stream . Since you couldn’t swim you almost drowned. Luckily, someone saw you and came to your rescue. Another time, you were sitting under a tree starting to munch on a very special treat; three gingerbread cookies. A boy came by and asked for one which he gobbled in seconds. He asked and got your second cookie because you just couldn’t say no. Tell us another memory of your childhood.
Lincoln 1: My step mom was a kind woman who encouraged my learning when my father often couldn’t understand my preferring books and writing poetry to hunting. As a boy, I did try hunting and shot a turkey. When I saw it’s still and bloodied body, I never hunted again.
Lincoln 2: My step mom used to say that I’d better keep my hair clean(since I was so tall), so I didn’t dirty her ceiling. As a joke, I had a younger brother step in mud and then held him upside down so he could track footprints onto the ceiling. She laughed but I still had to clean up the mess.
Lincoln 3: I used to walk miles to borrow books to read and tied them into a red bandana at the end of a stick that I carried over my shoulder. I once said, “ My best friend is the man who’ll give me a book I haven’t read.” I really like a book on George Washington and knew the words almost by heart. One day, the rain badly damaged the book. I worked two whole days to pay the owner for the damaged book. He then said he had no use for it and gave the book to me. I was very grateful.
topic.
( Students are reminded that only the “real” Abraham Lincoln MUST tell the truth at all times).

About the Playwright:
Gail Skroback Hennessey retired from teaching after 33 1/2 years in the classroom as a 6th Grade Social Studies teacher. In 1988, she was awarded the Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Classroom Teacher of the Year Award by both the New York State Council for the Social Studies and the National Council for the Social Studies. Her work has appeared in most children's publications including: Appleseeds, Highlights for Children, National Geographic World, Ranger Rick, Cobblestone, Faces, Muse Magazine, Contact Kids, US Kids, Action Magazine(Scholastic), Girls' Life, Boys' Life, American Girl, Instructor, Creative Classroom, Middle Years, Time for Kids, Scholastic News, Scholastic News Zone and Time for Kids On Line. Ms. Hennessey invites interested readers and teachers to contact her through Inbasket@HaveScripts.com.