Rosie the Riveter & Social Changes Readers Theater Script (Grades 11-12)

Capture the home‑front transformation as women took factory, shipyard, farm, and service roles—and as communities wrestled with discrimination and belonging. Scenes keep to verifiable themes and short quotations.

Focus: Students connect mobilization to changing gender roles and contested inclusion.

Summary: From early calls to work and iconic imagery to riots, speeches, and postwar recalibration, the script balances production gains with the lived realities of workers and families.

Script Summary

• Mobilization appeals and recruitment.
• Factory crews master new processes.
• Propaganda and iconography take hold.
• Riots and discrimination exposed and challenged.
• Leadership messages on manpower and sacrifice (quoted).
• Site visits and morale efforts.
• Youth and community contributions.
• Addressing bias and broadening participation (quoted).
• Peak output and shifting expectations.
• Postwar adjustments and legacy debates.

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 executive messaging and commentary.
• Fluency via ensemble performance.
• Collaborative reflection on equity and legacy.
• Academic vocabulary: mobilization, resilience, inclusion.

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)

Will this script meet your classroom's needs? 

Try the free script below that is included in the full World War 2 bundle below!

8 Script WWII Bundle | SAVE 40%

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

Primary Sources

• FDR Fireside Chat (1942)
• Eleanor Roosevelt’s “My Day” columns (1942–43)

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