Pony Express Readers Theater Script

Saddle up with the Pony Express—the bold, 19‑month gamble that raced news from Missouri to California before the telegraph’s wires spanned the continent. Students ride through blizzards, Paiute territory and desert stations, debating whether grit can outrun technology.

Perfect For

• Grades 6‑8 U.S. History units on Westward Expansion
• ELA‑integrated fluency & dramatic performance
• Primary‑source analysis & evidence‑based discussion
• Quick, print‑and‑go sub plans

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Get this resource in the complete Westward Expansion (1801-1861) 10 Script Bundle

What’s Included

• Readers Theater script (~9 pages, 10 scenes, 15 characters, editable Google Doc & PDF)
• Teacher Guide (~10 pages) with scene summaries, standards 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

• Cross‑curricular links to STEM (speed / distance math challenges)
• Geography mapping of relay stations & natural barriers
• Narrative writing extensions from Mark Twain’s eyewitness account
• Fluency practice with rapid‑fire rider exchanges

Script Snapshot

1. William Russell hires fearless teen riders & maps a 1,900‑mile relay.
2. Pony Bob fights exhaustion & desert heat to deliver Lincoln’s election news.
3. Paiute conflict scene encourages discussion of differing viewpoints.
4. Telegraph line reaches Salt Lake—investors panic.
5. Last ride ends; legend of the Express is born.

Standards Alignment

CCSS CCRA.R.1  | CCSS CCRA.R.2  | CCSS CCRA.W.2
CCSS CCRA.SL.1  | CCSS CCRA.L.4
CCSS RH.6‑8.1; RH.6‑8.2; RH.6‑8.4; RH.6‑8.6; RH.6‑8.7

Try a Free Script First

Not sure if Readers Theater will work in your class? Download our FREE Missouri Compromise script and test‑drive it tomorrow.

Want More Social Studies Activities?

Perfect for sub plans, sick days, supplemental activities, review stations, Friday fun days or even build an entire emergency curriculum with these 4 bundles below:

BUNDLE #1 Colonial America and the Early Republic (1587 – 1811)

1. The Lost Colony of Roanoke (1587)
2. King Philip’s War (1675–1676) [FREE DOWNLOAD!]
3. The First Great Awakening (1730s–1740s)
4. Proclamation of 1763 (1763)
5. The Northwest Ordinance (1787)
6. The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
7. The Barbary Wars (1801–1805)
8. Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806)
9. Tecumseh’s Resistance (1809–1811)
10. The Embargo Act of 1807 (1807)

Bundle #2 Westward Expansion (1801 – 1865)

1. The Missouri Compromise (1820) [FREE DOWNLOAD!]
2. The Monroe Doctrine (1823)
3. The Second Great Awakening (1820s–1830s)
4. Oregon Trail Migration (1840s)
5. The Fugitive Slave Act (1850)
6. Bleeding Kansas (1854–1856)
7. John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)
8. The Pony Express (1860–1861)
9. The Battle of Antietam (1862)
10. The 13th Amendment (1865)

Bundle #3 Revolutionary War (1773 – 1804)

1. The Boston Tea Party (1773–1774) [FREE DOWNLOAD!]
2. United We Stand: The First Continental Congress (1774)
3. Liberty or Death: Patrick Henry's Speech (1775)
4. Midnight Ride and Paul Revere (1775)
5. Green Mountain Boys and Bunker Hill (1775)
6. The Second Continental Congress (1775)
7. Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence (1776)
8. Crossing the Delaware and Trenton Victory (1776)
9. Valley Forge and The American Crisis (1777–1778)
10. Foreign Allies: Lafayette and France (1777–1778)
11. Sybil Ludington and Molly Pitcher (1777)
12. Hamilton and His Duel (1780s–1804)
13. Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris (1781–1783)
14. Washington Steps Down: The Man Who Would Be King (1783)
15. Slavery and the Revolution (1770s–1780s)

• NOTE 1: These 15 scripts do not include Google Docs or Slides but the docx file can easily be uploaded to Google Docs and distributed digitally if desired.
• NOTE 2: These 15 scripts also include a G3-5 reading level of each script for diverse language ability classrooms.

Bundle #4 Reconstruction (1865 – 1877)

1. The Assassination of Lincoln (1865) [FREE DOWNLOAD!]
2. Presidential vs. Radical Reconstruction (1865–1867)
3. The Freedmen’s Bureau (1865–1872)
4. The 14th and 15th Amendments (1868–1870)
5. Black Political Participation (1867–1877)
6. The Ku Klux Klan and Resistance (1866–1871)
7. The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson (1868)
8. The Compromise of 1877 (1877)

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U.S. History Mega Bundle of 43 Readers Theater Scripts for Grades 6 to 8