Causes of WWII & Pre-War U.S. Readers Theater Script (Grades 11-12)

Help students trace the path from post‑WWI grievances and economic shocks to dictatorships and U.S. policy debates. The script’s scene sequence keeps the big picture accessible while grounding claims in concise primary excerpts.

Focus: Students weigh isolationism vs. intervention through speeches, legislation, and public persuasion.

Summary: From Versailles fallout and hyperinflation to appeasement crises and 1941 aid debates, the script tracks the interplay of economics, ideology, and policy without over‑promising beyond the text.

Script Summary

• Versailles, 1919 — Reparations and resentment.
• Weimar, 1923 — Hyperinflation and stabilization.
• Europe, 1930s — Dictatorships consolidate amid depression.
• U.S., 1929 — Domestic crisis deepens isolation.
• U.S., 1930s — Neutrality Acts and the Quarantine Speech.
• Munich, 1938 — Appeasement and the Sudetenland.
• Europe, 1939 — Nazi‑Soviet Pact and invasion of Poland.
• U.S., 1941 — Lend‑Lease aid debates.
• U.S., 1941 — America First rallies and speechmaking.
• U.S., 1941 — Toward involvement and aid commitments.

What’s Included

(a single PDF with links to Google Docs/Slides, if print format is preferred you can download from your Google Drive to word/pdf/ppt/etc)

• Readers Theater script (~9 pages, 10 scenes, ~15 characters, editable Google Doc/PDF)
• Teacher Guide (10 pages) with scene summaries, primary‑source context, CCSS alignment, discussion questions
• Student Worksheet deck (25 Google Slides) covering vocabulary, short‑answer, analysis & extension tasks
• 20‑question self‑grading Google Forms quiz

Skills Addressed

• Analyzing speeches and statutes for policy shifts.
• Fluency via multi‑voice argument scenes.
• Collaborative role‑plays on diplomacy and restraint.
• Academic vocabulary: reparations, appeasement, neutrality.

The worksheet deepens learning with:

• 10 text-based comprehension questions
• 5 higher-order analysis prompts
• 5 optional research extension questions (use of primary source links)

Primary Sources

• Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Quarantine Speech” (1937)
• Lend‑Lease Act text (1941)
• Charles Lindbergh’s America First speech (1941)

Standards Alignment

• CCSS W.11-12.2
• CCSS SL.11-12.1
• CCSS SL.11-12.4
• CCSS L.11-12.4
• CCSS CCRA.R.2
• CCSS CCRA.W.2
• CCSS CCRA.SL.1
• CCSS CCRA.L.4
• CCSS RH.11-12.1
• CCSS RH.11-12.2
• CCSS RH.11-12.6
• CCSS RH.11-12.7

 

Like this script? It is part of the bundle below, check it out and save 40%!

8 Script WWII Bundle

1. Causes of WWII & Pre-War U.S. [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Pearl Harbor & U.S. Enters World War II
3. The Pacific & European Theaters World War II
4. The Holocaust & Genocide in World War II
5. Tuskegee Airmen and African Americans in WWII
6. Rosie the Riveter & Social Changes
7. The Manhattan Project & End of WWII
8. Postwar & Dawn of Cold War