The Manhattan Project & End of WWII Readers Theater Script (Grades 11-12)

Follow the arc from early warnings about Nazi atomic research to the Trinity test and wartime decisions. Students weigh innovation and ethics through compact scenes anchored by brief document excerpts.

Focus: Students evaluate justifications and alternatives presented at key decision points.

Summary: From the Einstein‑Szilárd letter and Fermi’s pile to Los Alamos, Potsdam, Hiroshima, and surrender, the script keeps ethical questions evidence‑focused for seminar‑style discussion.

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

Script Summary

• 1939 alerts about nuclear research.
• 1942 Chicago Pile‑1: controlled chain reaction.
• Groves organizes a dispersed project.
• Design and dilemmas at Los Alamos.
• Potsdam briefings and strategic debate.
• Late‑July deliberations over alternatives.
• Hiroshima mission and immediate aftermath.
• Public announcement and rationale (quoted).
• Surrender communications and reactions.
• Post‑war reflections on science and responsibility.

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

• Source scrutiny of warnings and justifications.
• Fluency in technical yet accessible dialogue.
• Collaborative debates on ethics and necessity.
• Academic vocabulary: fission, proliferation, deterrence.

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

• Einstein Letter (1939)
• Truman Announcing the Use of the A-Bomb at Hiroshima
  

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