Little House on the Prairie Musical Study Guide

Study Guide for Parents and Educators

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS), founded in 1968 by Frank M. Young, is Houston’s acclaimed musical theatre production company. Since producing, directing and conducting TUTS’ first production, Bells Are Ringing, Young guided the non-profit company to national prominence through 300 musicals. In 2006, Young assumed the new position of Founder/Producing Artistic Director and handed the President/CEO reins to John C. Breckenridge, who has been with TUTS since 1990, previously as Producer and Chief Operating Officer. Breckenridge and Young are continuing the distinguished leadership that brought TUTS to the first rank of American musical theatre companies, noted for its World Premieres and National Tours. With the Walt Disney Company, TUTS co-produced the pre-Broadway premiere of Beauty and the Beast in 1993. In 1995, with the Alley Theatre and The 5th Avenue Theatre of Seattle, TUTS mounted Jekyll & Hyde, which enjoyed a national tour before Broadway. Other TUTS premieres include James Michener’s Sayonara, Phantom, Annie Warbucks, Hot Shoe Shuffle, Zorro: the Musical, Scrooge, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, and Chaplin. TUTS’ international tours include Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Juliet Prowse in Mame, Robert Goulet in Man of La Mancha, and the Tony Award-winning Carousel. Other guest stars include Debbie Allen, Linda Eder, Larry Gatlin, Eartha Kitt, Jane Powell, Tony Randall, John Schneider, Jean Stapleton, Leslie Uggams, Stefanie Powers, Tony Curtis, and Tommy Tune. TUTS’ name originates from its first venue, Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park, where TUTS has performed—free to the public—for 42 consecutive summers. It holds the alltime Miller attendance record of 91,000 for Grease. In 1972, TUTS started an indoor season at the downtown Music Hall. It now produces a subscription season of six musicals, plus the free Miller show. With a grant from the Humphreys Foundation of Liberty, Texas, TUTS established the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre (HSMT) in 1972. Today, HSMT has two divisions: The Studio for both beginning students and professionals seeking to enhance their skills, and The Academy, a career-track professional training wing. HSMT also offers outreach programs: “Beyond the Stage,” “Musicals for Me Too,” and collaborations with the YMCA and KIPP Academy, all of which bring musical theatre to classrooms, hospitals, and community centers. ACT @ TUTS, a program for talented teens, produces a full-length musical each year in Hobby Center. Beginning in 1993, TUTS developed partnerships with the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston through Professional Internships for graduate students, and with the Musical Theatre Program of Sam Houston State University through undergraduate Apprenticeships. In 2002, TUTS launched the Tommy Tune Awards, a competition for high school musicals, which attracts dozens of Houston-area schools. At a ceremony each spring at Hobby Center theatre and media celebrities confer awards on students in 15 performance categories. In May 2000, TUTS became the world’s first theatre company to offer the purchase and printing of tickets directly on home or office computers through its E-Ticket System. In 2002 TUTS moved into its new downtown home, the $100 million Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. This state-of-the-art complex, designed by world-renowned Robert A.M. Stern, contains the 2,650-seat Sarofim Hall, the 500-seat Zilkha Hall, a restaurant, a parking garage, offices and classroom space, and TUTS’ own “Encore” theatrical boutique. The fiber-optic ceiling of Sarofim Hall now keeps TUTS “under the stars” all year long. 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS History of Musical Theatre……………………………………………………………………………….4 The Production Team…………………………………………………………………………………….6 Behind the Scenes……………………………………………………………………………………….8 Theatre Etiquette………………………………………………………………………………………….9 Stage Directions…………………………………………………………………………………………10 Parts of the Script……………………………………………………………………………………….10 The Importance of Musical Theatre…………………………………………………………………...11 Review Questions and Activities………………………………………………………………………12 From Life to Page to Stage: The making of Little House on the Prairie the Musical...................14 Biography on Laura Ingalls Wilder..…………………………………………………………………..16 Synopsis………………………………………………………………………………...……………….18 Characters in Little House on the Prairie, the Musical……………………………………………...20 Review Activities………………………………………………………………………………………...23 Overture to History………………………………………………………………………………...……25 History Experiential……………………………………………………………………………………..27 Overture to Lifestyles…………………………………………………………………………………...29 Lifestyles Experiential…………………………………………………………………………………..31 Overture to Langauge…………………………………………..……………………………………...33 Language Activity.........................................................................................................................35 After the Show………………………………………………………………………………………......37

TUTS creates online study guides such as this one to enhance students’ theatrical experiences. Using the guide, teachers and parents can encourage children to explore both the story and production elements of the show. Live theatre enriches young peoples’ lives like few other experiences. The study guides contain various discussion questions, projects, and activities that encourage students to engage in literary analysis, historical research, and personal reflection. Our hope is that these students will be able to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for musical theatre.

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HISTORY OF MUSICAL THEATRE 500 B.C.

DEC. 3, 1750

The Beggars Opera, New York’s first-known professional ballad opera premieres at the Nassau Street Theatre. Ballad operas used popular songs of the day with new lyrics. Comic operas, the other main style of opera, used original scores and followed a romantic plot.

The Beggar’s Opera

Greek plays composed of one to three actors performed through dialogue and dance while the chorus responded in song.

SEP. 12, 1866 The Black Crook

The first Broadway Musical, The Black Crook, premieres in New York City at Niblo’s Garden. A fire destroyed New York’s Academy of Music, leaving the promoters, Henry C. Jarrett and Harry Palmer with an unemployed Parisian ballet troupe and a shipload of handsome production sets. William Wheatley, a theatre manager and producer, was worried about this dull melodrama. When Jarret and Palmer of New York’s Academy of Music approached Wheatley about a deal, he jumped at the opportunity. Burlesque and Pantomime musicals hit the Broadway stages. Burlesque musicals were lavish extravaganzas aimed towards lower class audiences that poked fun at the rich and famous. Pantomime Musicals used the silent language of gesture as clowns competed with outrageous comic situations and misunderstandings.

1879-1890

The first musical comedies hit American stages. Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart developed a routine that spoofed New Yorks local militias called The Mulligan Shows. Musical comedies followed this example creating comedy out of characters and situations from everyday life. 4

Bon Ton Burlesquers

1870-1880

1907

The Sound of Music

1967-1981

Zeigfeld Follies

Florenz Zeigfeld created his legendary Follies. Based on Folies Bergere, a Parisian revue composed of satirical skits. Zeigfeld Americanized this with glamorous sets and costumes along with his striking and gorgeous female chorus.

1943-1967

The Golden Age of Musical Theatre begins with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!. This was the first show to wholly incorporate dance into the plot line of the musical – which happened almost by accident. The Theatre Guild went bankrupt, so Rodgers and Hammerstein received full artistic control. The pair took many chances, including hiring the modern dance choreographer, Agnes de Mille. She used everyday motions to express the characters’ ideas, including butter churning, rather than traditional showgirl dancing. Oklahoma! triggered other successes, such as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), and The Sound of Music (1959), as well as Irving Berlin’s Annie Get your Gun (1946) and Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate (1948).

The counter-culture and civil rights movements created an increase in the appearance of socially pertinent issues and themes in musical theatre. After the success of Hair (1967), the 1970s continued to use rock influence music in their production. A ChoThe Era of the Mega-Musicals. These rus Line (1975), Evita (1979), and Dreamgirls (1981) are known incorporated larger casts, for reflecting the changing social pop-influenced scores, and an increase in the value upon special effects. Audiclimate. ences were wowed with the falling of the chandelier in The Phantom of the Opera (1986), and the elaborate costumes in Beauty and the Beast (1994), which debuted with TUTS, awed theatergoers.

1981-2000

2000-PRESENT

South Pacific

Beauty and the Beast

New styles and revivals swarm Broadway. The revivals of shows provide guarantee to producers that people will see the show. The revivals of South Pacific (2008) and Grease (2007) join different generations together in one audience. Many shows hitting Broadway today are based on other sources. Legally Blonde (2007) and Shrek (2008) are both based on movies, while The Color Purple (2005) is based on the book by Alice Walker. Avenue Q (2003) and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005) are examples of new shows stretching the limits of artistic expression. 5

LIBRETTIST: No musical would be possible

without the imagination or inspiration of its authors. The librettist is the book writer – the person that writes the script for the show. Over one-third of the musicals on Broadway are based on an existing book, play, movie, or television series (some examples are Meet Me In St. Louis and Little House on the Prairie).

THE PRODUCTION COMPOSER/LYRICIST: TEAM

The element of a musical which separates it from other forms of theatre is the orchestration and songs. Composers and lyricists begin to write the songs that fit the overall tone of the musical, but the songs also further the plot so the audience can better understand the show. The composer writes the music, while the lyricist writes the words that accompany the melody. Many times, the same person will perform both tasks.

PRODUCER:

The role of producer has greatly evolved over the years. In the past, a single producer would have an idea for a musical and make it come to life. Big budget musicals of today, make it almost impossible for a single producer to support a show. Thus, most musicals have several producers and investors.

INVESTOR: Investors now contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars with little chance of making any form of profit. Most investors enjoy being a part of show business and receive perks like great seats to the show! DIRECTOR: The director controls the overall artistic vision of the show, making it come to life. A

director’s job begins once they receive the script. The director’s vision guides the hiring of the cast, the design of the sets and lighting, the direction of the actors, and the telling of a cohesive story. The director will help each actor understand his or her character’s motivation, block the action, and oversee the entire production.

CHOREOGRAPHER: A choreographer designs dance sequences for the performers that

follow the director’s vision. These dances are intricate movements that express the meaning of each song. Through the choreography, the audience should understand what each character is feeling. The choreographer works a lot at the beginning of the show process and works less and less as the dances are perfected close to the opening of the show.

MUSIC DIRECTOR: The music director is responsible for the music in the show.

He helps the cast learn the music, and ensures that all of the music is kept to the correct tempos. The music director often doubles as the orchestra conductor. He is often in charge of recruiting the musicians for the orchestra.

COSTUME DESIGNER:

The costume designer envisions and then creates the costumes for everyone in the show, ensuring that each piece speaks to the audience just like any other aspect of the production. As well as looking at the historical accuracy of designs, the costume designer is able to utilize details in color and trims that express the personality of that particular character or of a theme specified by the director.

SET DESIGNER:

The set designer plans how the stage itself will look. As set pieces are generally seen even before the first performer, the set designer literally “sets the stage” for how the audience perceives the show’s location in space and time. The set designer also has to determine the construction and material specifications for each set piece.

LIGHTING DESIGNER:

A lighting designer’s job is illuminating the stage and placing light on areas the director wants the audience to focus, such as the main character. He also has to set the tone and mood of the show by using different forms and combinations of light.

SOUND DIRECTOR:

A sound director has the complex job of ensuring the performance is clearly heard. Since most of the performers onstage wear microphones, the sound designer needs to monitor the levels of each mic.

STAGE MANAGER: The stage manager is usually

the unsung hero of a production. He is in charge of making sure all the elements of a show come together during each and every performance. He calls the cues for the technical aspects of the show. The stage manager is in full command of the backstage area, and once the show opens, he receives full control from the director.

PROP MASTER: The property master is responsible for the planning and execution of all props, borrowed, rented or built. The prop master is one of the only positions that is on staff during preproduction, developing the stylistic concept of the physical production, then continues on as a member of the production crew.

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BEHIND THE SCENES THE MAKING OF A MUSICAL PICKING THE PERFECT MUSICAL

Producers take into consideration the target audience as well as their budget. The rights to perform a show must be obtained in order to be produced.

PLANNING A BUDGET

A company must pay bills to rent the theatre, to all employees, and for general upkeep.

SECURING THE CREATIVE TEAM

Many people go into perfecting each aspect of a show. A complete production team must be hired in order to execute every detail.

PRODUCTION MEETINGS

During these meetings the overall concept of the show should be discussed with the creative team. This includes everything from set design to the logistics of props.

AUDITIONS

After the actors participate in the initial try-outs for a part in the show, callbacks are scheduled to let the director compare the best candidates.

CASTING

During this step, in addition to deciding which actors interact in the most believable fashion, the director and the actors’ agents discuss payment for the actors.

REHEARSALS

Once casting is complete, rehearsals can begin. Here, actors learn their blocking, songs, and dances. Designers prepare all costumes, props, sets, and lights. This takes weeks of work on the production team’s effort so that every detail can be finalized. During the last week of rehearsal, technicians perfect the lights and sound.

PREVIEWS

These allow technical problems to be resolved. Theatre critics usually attend previews in order to inform the public about the quality of a show.

OPENING NIGHT

Spirits run high, and good wishes of the traditional “break a leg” variety are exchanged between the cast and crew as they prepare backstage. 8

THEATRE ETIQUETTE

SOME TIPS BEFORE YOU GO TO THE THEATRE Arrive to the theatre on time: Once the show has started you can’t just barge in! Keep the theatre clean: If for some reason you see trash, pick it up and throw it away. Remember, no food or drinks in the theatre! Be considerate of others: The people around you want to see the show just as much as you do; Do not disturb them! Don’t distract the actors: If you want to let them know you like what they’re doing, clap for them when appropriate! Turn off all electronic devices: They disturb both the actors and other patrons. This includes texting and taking photos. Remain seated during performances: If you stand up to see something better, you make it so that the people behind you can’t see at all! No cameras/recordings: These will distract the actors and recording licensed material is illegal. Stay until the end of the show: Clapping during the curtain call is the best way to say “thanks” to the performers for a great show.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE ON ANNOYING AUDIENCE MEMBERS

Daniel Radcliffe, who starred on Broadway in Equus, announced his “Annoying Audience Member Relocation Program” In January 12, 2009 on The Late Show with Conan O’Brien.

“So if your phone rings more than 3 times, if you have a throat infection which causes you to cough, if you’re talking to the actors, or if you can’t find what’s in your plastic bag after more than 10 seconds... then you’re moved to the Conan O’Brien show or somewhere else.”

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STAGE DIRECTIONS During rehearsals, the director gives stage direction to the actors. The directions are given from the performers point of view (meaning “stage left” is on the performer’s left when facing the audience).

PARTS OF A SCRIPT PLOT: refers to the skeleton of the story or the chain of events that show cause and effect. EXPOSITION: the part of the play (normally in the beginning) in which the writer “exposes” the background information that the audience needs to understand the story. It is an introduction to the setting and characters. DIALOGUE: the part that allows you to show your creativity. A play is carried along through conversations, called dialogue. Writing dialogue is a challenging task, but it is your chance to flaunt your artistic side. CONFLICT: Many plots involve a struggle to make things interesting. This struggle or conflict can be anything from a concept in one person’s head to a battle between characters. Struggle can exist between good and evil, between one character and another. COMPLICATIONS: If the story has a conflict, it should also have complications that make the conflict even more interesting. For instance, a struggle between a dog and a cat can be complicated by the fact that the dog falls in love with the cat. CLIMAX: A climax is a moment of great intensity in the plot. it generally brings the conflicts to a head and leads into the conclusion. RESOLUTION: how the conflict is resolved. 10

THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSICAL THEATRE Musical theatre is the only genre of performance that fully utilizes acting, singing, and dancing together to further the development of the plot. This differs from traditional theatre because the story is enhanced by the addition of singing and dancing, not merely supplemented as in ‘straight’ plays. To better understand musical theatre as a whole, an audience member must understand the importance of these three elements. A musical theatre performer talented at acting, singing, and dancing, is called a triple threat due to their mastery of that triad.

Little House on the Prairie, The Musical

Meet Me in St. Louis

Cabaret

Miss Saigon

Unlike other entertainment mediums, theatrical experiences not only involve the actors on stage, they engage the audience in ways that film and television cannot. There is no real barrier between the performers and the audience as in film and television. Live performances allow each audience member to become their own editor as they choose which portion of the action to watch, while movies and television provide an isolated experience. 11

REVIEW QUESTIONS

The following questions are intended to help students learn the basics of musical theatre.

Checking for Understanding

1. Describe what musical theatre is in your own words. 2. How far does musical theatre trace back? 3. What was the first musical to incorporate storytelling in dance? 4. What years were the Golden Age of theatre? 5. Draw a diagram noting upstage, downstage, stage left, and stage right. Can you further divide it?

Critical Thinking

1. Do you think theatre from another time period would interest us today? Why or why not? Give an example. What about musical theatre do you find interesting? Why? 2. Extravagance and spectacle is very important in musicals today. Do you think it will continue to be important? How does techonology affect this? 3. What step do you think is the most important in making a musical? The most challenging? The most fun? 4. If you were an actor onstage what audience etiquette would be most important to you?

REVIEW ACTIVITIES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Evolution

Objective: To learn the major shows throughout history. Activity: Have students work together to build a large-scale timeline of the major steps in musical theatre history. They can draw or find and cut out pictures to represent each one. Materials: Construction paper, crayons/ markers/colored pencils

Everyone's A Star

Objective: To stimulate imagination, develop teamwork skills, and build selfconfidence. Activity: Choose a story book to turn into a play. Have every student act out a part from the book and take turns reading.

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL Inspiration

Objective: To learn how historical content has changed musical theatre, and develop research and public speaking skills. Activity: Have students choose a musical to research and then create a presentation of how the show reflects the times in which it was created, including historical figures, political issues, etc. Encourage students to listen to the cast recording of the show.

Creation

Objective: To gain understanding of a play’s construction. Activity: Have students choose a play they want to create. Using the “Parts of a Script” section, have the students write a paragraph describing each part of their play. For Dialogue, ask students to write a scene from their play.

HIGH SCHOOL Debate

Objective: To learn the differences between various media and develop public speaking and verbal skills. Activity: Divide the class into pairs. Within the pairs, assign each student a form of media (stage or screen). Have the pairs debate with each other over which is best for expressing beliefs and stories. Students should leave understanding the differences between each medium.

You're the Producer

Objective: To learn the intense planning a full-scale production requires. Activity: Give each student a “budget” with which to put on a show. Students shiould research local resources and plan a production to be staged in your hometown.

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Restoring our faith in the future by recalling the stories of our past... Now the inspirational stories take on a brand new frontier in an uplifting new musical.

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From Life to Page to Stage “All I have told is true, but it is not the whole truth.” - Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1937 When Laura Ingalls Wilder sat down in the 1930s and 1940s to write the Little House books, she faced the daunting task of turning the life she had lived into a series of exciting and dramatic stories. She couldn’t possibly include all of her adventures and experiences in the books. With her daughter Rose’s guidance and advice, Laura rearranged the order of some events from her life, deleted others, and invented some characters, situations, and episodes to tell an engaging story. Through careful writing, editing, and revising, Laura created a version of her life that was based on actual events, but it is not the entire truth. Therefore, the Little House books are not true autobiographies, but novels based on actual people, places and events. Readers of the books may be interested in some of the elements from her life Laura changed or omitted. These include: •

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Laura was too little to remember much about living in Indian Territory, where Little House on the Prairie is set. She was only one and a half when the family moved to Kansas, and she was just over four when they returned to Wisconsin. Much of the novel was undoubtedly based on stories she heard from Ma, Pa, and Mary. Laura couldn’t remember where the family got their drinking water in Walnut Grove. She suspected they drank straight from the creek, but she didn’t want them to seem “dirty,” so she invented a spring.

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Laura never wrote about the two years she spent in Burr Oak, Iowa, a time of extreme sadness for the Ingalls family, which included the illness and death of her baby brother.

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Though Laura’s novel The Long Winter is about the Ingalls family battling ferocious winter storms in almost total isolation, a married couple named George and Maggie Masters actually lived with the family throughout the “hard winter.”

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Mary Ingalls received significant financial aid from the government to attend college.

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A roller skating rink opened in De Smet in 1884, and not only did Laura enjoy roller skating, she once skipped school to go!

“Of course, what one remembers most from the books is the individual stories - and, of course, one can’t fit all of these into a musical (however much I may have erred on the side of trying to)!” - Rachel Sheinkin, Book Writer, Little House on the Prairie, the Musical

When the creators of Little House on the Prairie, The Musical decided to create a stage musical based on the Little House books, they had to figure out a way to share Laura’s life. Like Laura, they rearraged the order of some events, deleted others, and invented other events in order to tell an entertaining story. Little House on the Prairie, the Musical, roughly covers the events of four books from the latter part of the series, from the beginning of By the Shores of Silver Lake to the end of These Happy Golden Years. Readers of the Little House books will notice many characters, plot developments, and dialogue taken directly from Laura’s words. They will also notice some changes. These include:



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Grace Ingalls, Laura’s youngest sister, does not appear in the musical.

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Much of the Ingalls family’s first year in Dakota Territory, when they lived in the house belonging to the surveyors who were building the railroad, is not presented in the musical.

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In the books, Laura meets Nellie Oleson for the first time as a very little girl in Minnesota. In the musical, she meets Nellie in De Smet as a young teenager.

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In the books and in real life, Mary went blind before the long winter in De Smet. In the musical, Mary doesn’t go blind until the long winter sets in.

“It takes many people, a lot of time and dedication, hard work, trial and error in workshops and readings, and a bit of luck to create a new musical, many of the same qualities it took Laura Ingalls Wilder and her community to create a new life in Dakota Territory in the 1880s.” - Francesca Zambello, Director, Little House on the Prairie, the Musical 15

Biography of

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura’s life began in the Big Woods of Wisconsin on February 7, 1867. Her parents, Charles “Pa” and Caroline “Ma” Ingalls, had married seven years earlier, and already had one daughter, Mary. When Laura was one and a half, the family traveled by covered wagon to Indian Territory (modern-day Kansas) where Pa built a house for his family, and where Laura’s sister Carrie was born in 1870. The family was forced to leave their little house on the prairie and return to Wisconsin when their land was returned to the Osage Indians by the US Government. The family then moved to a farm on the banks of Plum Creek near the town of Walnut Grove, Minnesota. In 1875, Ma gave birth to Laura’s brother, Charles Frederick, or “Freddie,” who died in infancy. After two years struggling to make ends meet, the Ingalls family moved on again, this time to Burr Oak, Iowa. They stayed in Burr Oak for two years, managing the town’s hotel, and eventually welcomed the youngest Ingalls sister, Grace, into the world. In 1878, the family returned to Walnut Grove. Freddie’s death and their ongoing financial problems were not the only tragedies for the Ingalls family. In 1879, Mary became very sick, suffered a stroke, and went blind. Pa instructed Laura to be

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“eyes” for Mary; many believe this was a key moment in Laura’s development as a storyteller. Pa continued to struggle financially, until he learned of a position with the new railroad in Dakota Territory. Pa moved ahead to the unsettled country, while the rest of the family waited for Mary to regain her strength. Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace later rode a train west to meet him. The Ingalls family spent their first months in Dakota at a railroad camp near Silver Lake. In the spring of 1880, homesteaders flooded the area, and constructed the town of De Smet. The Ingalls family built a rental building in De Smet, and claimed a homestead nearby. The winter of 1880-81 nearly wiped out the little town. The first blizzard hit in October, and it snowed almost without stopping until May. To stave off starvation, the townspeople ground wheat into flour in coffee mills for their daily bread, and two of the town’s settlers, Almanzo Wilder and Oscar Edmund “Cap” Garland, risked their lives to find more wheat on the snowbound prairie. In 1883, two months before her sixteenth birthday, Laura obtained her teaching certificate, and began teaching in one-room schoolhouses near De Smet.

Mary left Dakota Territory to attend a college for the blind in Vintona, Iowa, where she studied for eight years. Soon, Almanzo Wilder was courting Laura. They married in 1885. Laura called the early years of her marriage “days of sunshine and shadow.” The Wilders’ daughter, Rose, was born in December 1886. Soon after, their house burned down, and both Laura and Almanzo contracted diphtheria. In 1889, the Wilders’ son died before they even named him. Difficult farming conditions and poor health led the Wilders to briefly move to Florida, before returning to De Smet. In 1894, they left the prairie for good, travelling by wagon to Mansfield, Missouri. Laura named their new home Rocky Ridge. Laura and Almanzo’s years of relentless work and careful saving enabled them to slowly build Rocky Ridge into a prosperous farm. During the early years of the twentieth century, Laura wrote a column for an area farm newspaper. The Wilders were well-known, respected members of Mansfield society, and active in a variety of clubs and organizations. While Laura and Almanzo were building up Rocky Ridge, Rose lived an adventurous, extraordinary life. After leaving home as a teenager, she lived around the world, becoming a telegraph operator, a real estate saleswoman, and a very successful freelance writer. By the 1920s, Rose Wilder Lane was a highly paid, globe-trotting journalist and bestselling novelist. By the early 1930s, Laura was living in a world that little resembled the frontier of her youth. Electricity and telephones made their way into even the smallest towns. Cars replaced horse-drawn wagons. Airplanes zoomed across the sky. Pa, Ma, and Mary had died. Laura felt they should be remembered. To commemorate her family and their many adventures, Laura wrote an autobiography titled Pioneer Girl. When she

and Rose failed to find a publisher, Laura reworked the early parts of Pioneer Girl into Little House in the Big Woods, which was published in 1932. A steady stream of Little House books followed. With Rose’s help and expertise, Laura published Farmer Boy in 1933; Little House on the Prairie in 1935; On the Banks of Plum Creek in 1937; By the Shores of Silver Lake in 1939; The Long Winter in 1940; Little Town on the Prairie in 1941, and These Happy Golden Years in 1943. Laura was 76 years old when her last book was published. The Little House books made Laura famous and wealthy. Letters, gifts, and cards from around the world flooded her mailbox. Cities named libraries and schools for her. Her books won awards, critical praise, and literary honors. In 1949, Almanzo died at the age of 90, leaving her alone at Rocky Ridge. Laura spent her last years reading, answering letters from fans, and visiting with friends. In the 1950s, she wrote a letter to her readers, explaining, “The Little House books are stories of long ago. Today our way of living and our schools are much different; so many things have made living and learning easier. But the real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures, and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.” On February 10, 1957, three days after her 90th birthday, Laura Ingalls Wilder died at Rocky Ridge. Pa, Ma, Mary, Carrie, and Grace would never be forgotten...and the success and popularity of Little House had just begun. Years later, a television series loosely based on her books became one of the most popular family dramas of all time. Through scores of books, television movies, plays, museums, and now, a musical, Laura Ingals Wilder has arguably become the most beloved figure of America’s pioneering past.

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Plot Synopsis ACT ONE

It is the 1880s, and the US government is opening new land for settlers in Dakota Territory. The whole country is on the move. Young Laura Ingalls longs to move west (Thunder). Her father, Charles (“Pa”), has to convince her mother, Caroline (“Ma”), that moving west would present new opportunities. Ma is unsure about moving again and is worried about the hardships the family will undoubtedly face in settling untamed land, but she ultimately agrees to follow her and Pa’s shared dream of making a better life for their family, and the Ingalls family heads west (Up Ahead). Pa decides to settle near the new town of De Smet, though Laura wishes to keep on journeying (The Prairie Moves). When Pa travels to the Land Office to file his homestead claim, he meets a young homesteader, Almanzo Wilder, who has decided to settle on his own (Old Enough). Pa returns to his family, and over several months, they build a little house on the prairie (Make It Home). Laura, Mary, and Carrie start school in De Smet, where they meet snobbish Nellie Oleson, who looks down at Laura’s roughand-tumble ways (Country Girls). Laura has a hard time adjusting to school, and causes a major disruption in the classroom (Rock).

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All three Ingalls sisters are sent home, as Laura and her mother consider how different Laura is from Mary (How Can You Be So Good?). A winter of dangerous blizzards closes in and supply trains stop running. The people of De Smet are running out of food (Uncle Sam, Where are You?). Almanzo Wilder and Cap Garland set out to find wheat to save the town (Blizzard). Mary, Carrie and Ma become very sick, and Pa blames himself for the risk he took in leading his family out west into such peril and hardship (Tin Cup). Almanzo and Cap find the wheat, but Mary grows weak and her vision begins to fail. Laura reassures her sister and vows to help her (I’ll Be Your Eyes). The long winter ends. Pa and Ma hope for a good crop (Almost Wheat). At a Fourth of July celebration, the Ingalls sisters watch Almanzo compete in a horse race (Go Like The Wind). Almanzo asks Laura to go buggy riding, but when a prairie fire destroys the wheat crop, the Ingalls family is penniless. Sacrificing her own personal freedom, Laura agrees to teach at a school twelve miles away to help pay Mary’s tuition at a college for the blind (I’ll Be Your Eyes Reprise).

ACT TWO

free rides (Leaving). Laura successfully finishes the term while Mary thrives in college (Make It Home Reprise). When Laura returns to De Smet, she discovers that Mary has found her own way to pay for college and Almanzo is riding with Nellie Oleson. Laura doesn’t know what will make her life meaningful and happy anymore (My Restless Heart). Time passes, and De Smet continues to grow and thrive (Prairie Strong Reprise). Laura, in spite of her fears, continues to be drawn to Almanzo while at the same time remains unhappy with her life and unsure of her future. She struggles to be the responsible grown woman she envisions she must be. Ma advises Laura to always keep her wild spirit (Wild Child) and Laura is finally set free. When Almanzo proposes, Laura agrees to marry him, as long as she will not have to obey him (Faster/The Prairie Moves Reprise). Laura and Almanzo marry, and the Ingalls family and the people of De Smet look forward to a bright and happy future (Go Like The Wind/Finale).

Ma and Pa prepare to send Laura and Mary from home, in two different directions (The Prairie Moves Reprise). Laura starts teaching at the Brewster School, while Mary heads to college in Vinton, Iowa (Prairie Strong). A beleaguered Mrs. Brewster resents having Laura stay with her, and makes life miserable. In De Smet, Nellie Oleson laments over missing Laura (Without An Enemy). Laura struggles to manage her classroom, and Mary adjusts to life away from home (How Can You Be So Good Reprise). Almanzo surprises Laura by coming in his sleigh to take her home for weekends (Faster). As weeks go by, Laura begins to make progress with her teaching, but Mrs. Brewster grows more openly despondent over her feelings of being trapped in the untamed and empty land as she must “obey” her husband (Teach The Wind). Fearful she may be journeying down a similar path, Laura tells a startled Almanzo she’s not interested in anything more than

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Cast of Characters Laura Ingalls: Headstrong, feisty, and

independent, Laura Ingalls shares her father’s sense of adventure and love for life. In real life: Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)

became one of the most beloved children’s authors of all time when, in her sixties and seventies, she wrote the Little House series of novels. The novels were the inspiration for a long-running television series, as well as Little House on the Prairie, the Musical.

Charles “Pa” Ingalls: Laura’s father. A hunter,

trapper, carpenter, and adventurer, Pa is constantly seeking a better life for his family. In real life: Charles Philip Ingalls (1883-1902) was born in New York State. Charles Ingalls spent much of his life moving around the American frontier looking for new opportunities and security for his family. He served as a Justice of the Peace in De Smet, and was respected as one of the town’s founding citizens.

Caroline “Ma” Ingalls: Laura’s mother. Gentle

and caring, but strong and determined, Ma wants her daughters to have an education and lead civilized lives. In real life: Caroline Lake Quiner Ingalls (1839-1924) was

born in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. After working as a teacher, she married Charles Ingalls. She lived in De Smet, South Dakota from 1880 until her death in 1924.

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Mary Ingalls: Laura’s oldest sister;

sweet, patient, and well-behaved with a passion for learning, Mary goes blind after a bout of scarlet fever. In real life: Mary Amelia Ingalls (1865-

Ridge. His name was actually pronounced AI-MAN-zo.

Mr. Oleson: the owner of the General Store in De Smet.

In real life: William Owens and his wife

1928) went blind at age 14 in 1879 after an illness and stroke. She attended the Iowa College for the Blind, graduating in 1889. After college, she returned to De Smet, and later moved to Carrie’s home in Keystone, South Dakota, where she died in 1928.

Margaret ran a store in the town of Walnut Grove, Minnesota, when the Ingalls family lived there. In her books, Laura changed their last name to “Oleson.”

Miss Wilder: Laura, Mary, and Car-

rie’s schoolteacher in De Smet; Almanzo Wilder’s sister.

Carrie Ingalls: Laura’s younger

sister, who looks up to and admires Laura and Mary.

In real life: Eliza Jane Wilder was Alman-

In real life: Caroline Celestia “Carrie”

Ingalls (1870-1946) grew up to be a newspaper editor in Keystone, South Dakota, the town at the base of Mount Rushmore.

Mr. Boast: a friend of Pa’s in De Smet, who is also filing a homestead claim near De Smet.

zo’s bossy older sister and Laura’s teacher in De Smet. She appears in Laura’s books Farmer Boy and Little Town on the Prairie. Called “E.J.” by her family and friends, she eventually moved to Louisiana, and became a key figure in Rose Wilder’s life.

Willie Oleson: a schoolmate of the

Ingalls girls; the younger brother of Nellie Oleson.

In real life: Robert Boast and his wife Ella

were close friends of the Ingalls family. The Boasts were the second family to permanently live in what became the town of De Smet.

In real life: Willie Owens was Nellie Owen’s

younger brother. he later went blind in an accident with firecrackers; he went to a college for the blind as well.

Almanzo Wilder: a young homestead-

Cap Garland: a schoolmate of the

er in De Smet, who eventually marries Laura Ingalls.

Ingalls girls and a friend of Almanzo Wilder; he and Almanzo go find wheat on the prairie during the hard winter.

In real life: Almanzo James Wilder (1857-

1949) grew up in New York State before moving west to Minnesota and South Dakota. In 1885, he married Laura Ingalls. In 1894, Laura and Almanzo moved to Mansfield, Missouri, where they lived at Rocky Ridge Farm. A master woodworker, Almanzo carved many pieces of furniture at Rocky

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In real life: Oscar Edmund Garland, knows

as “Cap,” was one of Laura’s schoolmates in De Smet. Before Almanzo began courting her, Laura had a bit of a crush on Cap. Cap Garland died in 1891 near De Smet in a farm machinery explosion.

Nellie Oleson: Laura’s archenemy;

the snooty, haughty, and manipulative daughter of a town storekeeper. In real life: The character of Nellie Oleson is

based on three of Laura’s childhood classmates: Nellie Owens, Genevieve Masters, and Stella Gilbert. Nellie Owens was the daughter of a storekeeper in Walnut Grove. Genny Masters knew Laura in both Walnut Grove and De Smet, and served as the basis for Nellie in Little Town on the Prairie and These Happy Golden Years. Stella Gilbert was briefly interested in Almanzo, before Laura and Almanzo began courting.

Mary Power: One of Nellie Oleson’s best friends.

In real life: Mary Power was one of Laura’s best friends during her teenage years in De Smet. She married a banker, and lived across the street from Ma and Pa Ingalls for many years.

In real life: Daniel Loftus was a storekeeper

in De Smet. When Almanzo and Cap Garland brought the much-needed wheat to town in the long winter, Mr. Loftus paid for it...then tried to make a handsome profit! Daniel Loftus and his wife are buried in the De Smet Cemetery.

Mr. Brewster: a homesteader who

hires Laura for her first teaching position. In real life: The unpleasant “Brewster” family in These Happy Golden Years is based on the Bouchie family that lived twelve miles south of De Smet. Mr. Brewster was a cousin of Robert Boast.

Mrs. Lib Brewster: Mr. Brewster’s

unhappy wife; she is having a lot of difficulty adjusting to life on the prairie. In real life: The unhappy Mrs. Brewster

in These Happy Golden Years is based on Olive Bouchie. Many women on the frontier experienced severe depression from the harsh living conditions.

Ida: another of Nellie Oleson’s best friends.

In real life: Ida Brown’s real name was Ida

B. Wright, and she was the adopted daughter of De Smet’s Reverend Brown. Ida Brown and her beau Elmer McConnell were the witnesses at Laura and Almanzo’s wedding.

Dr. Tann: a doctor who cares for Mary when she is going blind.

Blanche: Mary’s good friend at college. In real life: Mary’s College for the Blind still

exists and provides services to blind and visually impaired students. It is now called the Iowa Braille and Sight Savign School, and it is still located in Vinton, Iowa.

Clarence, Ruby, Tommy, Martha:

In real life: Dr. Tann appears in Laura’s

novel Little House on the Prairie. George A. Tann was an African American doctor who cared for the Ingalls family when they contracted malaria in Kansas.

Laura’s students at the Brewster school.

In real life: Isaac, Clarence, and Fanny

Ruth Bouchie were students of Laura’s at the Bouchie School south of De Smet.

Mr. Loftus: a townsman of De Smet.

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Elementary School

Plot

Understanding ACTIVITY OBJECTIVE:

Reinforce the plot and concepts of Little House on the Prairie, the Musical.

EXERCISE:

Complete the crossword puzzle below.

ACROSS

DOWN

1. Laura’s younger sister 4. Mary becomes _________ after becoming ill 5. The Ingalls travel in this direction for a better life 7. Pa travels here to file his homestead claim 8. Laura’s job with the Brewsters 10. Laura teaches at a school __ miles away 11. A new town where the Ingalls settle

2. The US government opens new land in ________ Territory 3. A winter of ________ keep the supply trains away 6. The snobbish girl at Laura’s school 5. The crop destroyed by a prairie fire 9. Laura’s older sister

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Junior High and High School

Character Analysis

OBJECTIVE: To fully understand a character by exploring the details of their life. TIPS: In order for actors to truly understand a character, they must learn as much about the character as they can. This means they delve into every aspect of the character’s life. The audience only sees a short snippet of a character’s life, and it is up to the actors to honestly portray a real person by taking the character’s past and personality into consideration. EXERCISE: Choose a character from Little House on the Prairie, the Musical that you would like to explore. Follow the guide below and answer all of the questions regarding your specific character. Some of the answers might have been mentioned throughout the play, but many of the questions will require creativity on your part. Character’s Full Name: Nickname: Age: Appearance: Place of Birth: Religion: Current Occupation: Current Employer: Income Level: Education: Marital Status: Children: What is his or her most prized possession, and why? Does s/he live with anyone? Describe the area in which s/he lives (big city, town, rural, other): Is this his or her ideal home and location? If not, what would s/he prefer? What is his or her mannerism and demeanor? What is his or her first childhood memory? What is the most important childhood event that still affects him/her? Why? What is his or her first romantic love? How does the character relate to others? How does your character react to change? What is your character’s greatest flaw? 24

OVERTURE TO

HISTORY: The Homestead Act “Uncle Sam is Rich Enough to Give Us All a Farm!” “On every side now the prairie stretched away empty to far, clear skyline. The wind never stopped blowing, waving the tall prairie grasses that had turned brown in the sun. And all afternoon, while Pa kept driving onward, he was merrily whistling or singing. The song he sang oftenest was: ‘Oh come to this country, And don’t you feel alarm, For Uncle Sam is rich enough To give us all a farm!’” - Laura Ingalls Wilder, By the Shores of Silver Lake The Ingalls family’s pioneering way of life - in real live, in the Little House books, and in Little House on the Prairie, the Musical - was created by the United States government. On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a new law called the Homestead Act, which declared that any citizen of the United States could “claim” 160 acres of surveyed government land and set up a farm, or “homestead.” The land was often advertised as “free for the taking.” Many of the 270 million acres of land made available through the Homestread Act lay west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, and included the present-day states of Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas. After paying an inexpensive fee and filing a claim at a US Land Office, homesteaders were required to “improve”

their land by living on it, building a home, and planting crops. Other settlers took land where the government required them to grow and cultivate trees on the empty prairies. If the homesteader fulfilled the government’s requirements and occupied the homestead for five years, the land became the homesteader’s. 160 acres of valuable farm land? For free? And all you had to do is live on it for five years? Sounds easy, right? Not really. The Act’s requirements proved to be absolutely impossible for many settlers. Many homesteaders had little or no farming experience, and growing crops in the West was a difficult task for even the most experienced farmers. Many homesteads in the dry plains were too small to produce profitable crops, and the cost of irrigation far exceeded the land’s value.

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There were many other obstacles. Horrifying environmental conditions including tornadoes, dust storms, hail storms, prairie fires, and deadly blizzards - threatened homes and families. Weeks and sometimes months - of total isolation from other people caused depression. Medical care was often poor or nonexistent. Keeping a farm operating and a family clothed, fed, and sheltered often required money that homesteaders simply didn’t have. Despite the odds, thousands of settlers from all walks of life - including recently freed slaves and immigrants from across Europe and around the world - went to the frontier to meet the challenge of “proving up” a claim. Single women and African American citizens were also permitted to file homestead claims, and thousands did. Between 1862 and 1986, when homesteading ended, more than 2 million people made a “bet with Uncle Sam” and filed claims. Only 783,000 ultimately obtained the deeds for land. Successful homesteading required determination, perseverance,

resourcefulness, careful planning, years of backbreaking work, and good luck. Several of the characters in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books and in Little House on the Prairie, the Musical, including Pa Ingalls, Almanzo Wilder, Eliza Jane Wilder, and even Carrie Ingalls (as an adult) filed and held down homestead claims. Though many homesteaders failed, the Homestead Act had an incredible and lasting impact on American life. The Act literally turned the United States into a “land of opportunity,” where almost anyone had the chance to own their home and land. The land improvement completed through the Homestead Act enabled the United States to become an agricultural superpower. The Homestead Act gave the United States its heritage of determined pioneers, scraping a life out of untamed lands, and building up farms, towns, and railroads. The Homestead Act gave Laura Ingalls wilder and her family opportunity, and a reason to keep moving West. The Homestead Act gave us the Little House books, the beloved television series, and now, the musical.

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Elementary School

History

Experiential ACTIVITY OBJECTIVE:

Reinforce the ideas of the Homestead Act of 1862.

EXERCISE:

Complete the word search puzzle below.

WORDS TO FIND: BLIZZARDS COLORADO CROPS DAKOTAS FARMERS

GOVERNMENT HOMESTEADER ISOLATION KANSAS LAND MONTANA

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NEBRASKA PIONEERS PLAINS TORNADOES WEST

Junior High and High School

History

Experiential OBJECTIVE: Understand the impact The Homestead Act of 1862 had on American life and culture. TIPS: The Ingalls family decides to “head west” to claim land under the Homestead Act of 1862. Under this new law, any citizen of the United States could “claim” 160 acres of surveyed government land and set up a farm, or “homestead.” Read over the historical information found in this Guide explaining how the Homestead Act worked. EXERCISE: The Homestead Act of 1862 was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. Have students do research on the Act to determine why President Lincoln signed this law. What were the benefits to the country? To the American people? To the land? How did this law affect Native Americans? Discuss when this law expired and why. What do you think would happen if the law was still in existence today?

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Overture to

LIFESTYLES: Science Farming Many homesteaders, including the Ingalls family, earned their living by farming. Farming is the planting, growing and harvesting of crops (plants) that can be both eaten by the family, and also sold to other families. The composition of the soil makes a big difference on the success of farming and the types of plants that can be grown in that soil. The ideal type of soil for farming is called “loam.” This is the perfect mix of soil that has both clay and sand. Smart homesteaders would check the soil of their potential homesteads to determine if it consisted of loam by using a “ribbon test.” Ribbon testing was done by adding water to a small clump of soil until it makes a moist ball. Next, the soil was gently rolled between the palms of the farmer’s hands. If the soil formed a nice, long “ribbon” of soil, the sample had too much clay, and may not yield a good harvest. If the ball fell apart, it had too much sand. When the results were somewhere between these two extremes, the soil is most likely loam and ideal for planting.

Weather Weather played a large role in the daily life of the pioneers. Until they could grow trees of significant size, the homesteaders had no defense against the weather on the Plains. A series of unusually wet and mild years in the 1860s fooled the homesteaders into thinking the weather conditions were fair enough for living. Many claimed the climate had been changed by their presence. Once the extreme weather returned in the 1870s, it remained a problem ever since. Tornadoes, dust storms, hail storms, prairie fires, and deadly blizzards threatened homes and families.

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Overture to

LIFESTYLES: Visual Arts Quilting Quilting was a common part of prairie life. Quilting was not only an activity that helped pass the time during long winters, it also created a much needed resource - warm blankets, and quilters often told stories in the patterns they created in their quilts. While the men talked eagerly of overcoming challenges and settling on the abundant rich farmland awaiting them the womenfolk were all too aware of the dangers and hardships that lay ahead. Another factor that made women more reluctant about migrating west was their close ties with women friends and family. Most likely these dear friends would never see each other again. To ease this separation friendship quilts were sometimes made for the woman leaving for westward lands. A friendship quilt served as a remembrance of dear ones left behind. The women gathered together all the quilts, blankets and comforters they could either make or acquire. While very special quilts were packed in a trunk or used to wrap precious china, everyday quilts were left out for bedding. It wasn’t long before women found this bedding to be necessary for many other uses. A folded quilt offered a little padding on the wagon seat for the person driving the oxen or any one riding over the long rough trail. When winds rose up and screamed across the dusty plains blankets, quilts and comforters were used to cover the cracks and any other openings that let the choking dust inside the wagon. Once a pioneer family reached their destination quilts and blankets were still needed for uses beyond bed coverings. Instead of keeping rain and wind out of the wagon they covered windows and doors of log cabins and dugouts. Sometimes they were used to partition off a room in an otherwise one room structure. There was a need for emotional sustenance as well. Putting a favorite quilt on the bed gave a woman a sense of connection with her former way of life. Something of beauty was very much needed in her barren home. Arriving in the new land did not immediately change life much especially for the early settlers in a region. The family still had to live in tents, the wagon or a crude lean to until a log cabin or sod house could be built. It took a few years to establish first a farm and then a home. These years were often difficult and lonely.

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Elementary School

Lifestyles

Experiential OBJECTIVE: Explore and understand story telling through visual art. TIPS: Quilters often told stories in the patterns they created in their quilts. Think of a story you would like told for years to come, or create a list of your favorite things, activities, or memories. EXERCISE: Create your own storytelling quilt. Explain to students they will create a visual representation of one of their favorite things, or a part of a story on their own quilting squares. To create these squares, give each student 9, 4x4 inch pieces of construction paper. (Make sure to use a variety of colors for the squares.) Students can design their square using markers, crayons, paint, or even other pieces of construction paper. After the students complete their squares, have them join the pieces of paper together creating their own patchwork “quilt” depicting their favorite things or story.

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Junior High and High School

Lifestyles

Experiential OBJECTIVE: Understand the relationship between climate and agriculture in specific parts of the U.S. TIPS: Hold a class discussion on students’ current understanding of the relationship between climate and agriculture. What types of crops grow in different parts of the country, and how does climate affect the decision to grow crops in different regions? How are farmers affected by climatic variations such as drought, flooding, and early frosts? EXERCISE: Ask students to imagine that they have decided to purchase a farm in the Great Plains region. Ask them to research the climate of the area, paying particularly attention to temperatures, precipitation levels and patterns, and the length of a typical farming season. Also have them find out how weather and climate affect farmers in general. Have them answer the following questions: * What are the average high and low temperatures in January and July? * Is there a period of the year when the farm will need to be fallow or uncultivated (e.g., the coldest parts of the winter)? * What is the average annual precipitation? * When does this region get most of its rainfall? * How does weather affect other factors that are important for operating the farm, such as insect reproduction, types of crops that will thrive, etc.? * What will be your greatest weather-related concerns? How will the weather affect your operations? Hold a closing class discussion on students’ research findings. What interesting things have they learned about agriculture and climate? If they were farmers, what would they need to keep in mind about climate and weather in order to ensure the success of their farms?

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Overture to

Language: GLOSSARY

Acre

Cipher

A plot of land, about the size of a football field. Homestead claims on the prairie were 160 acres.

Beau

Pronounced “bōw,” it means a boyfriend or sweetheart.

To figure out numbers or do mathematics.

Claim

A section of undeveloped land “on sale” from the government to American citizens. If a homesteader lived on a claim for five years and improved it, the claim became his or her property.

Bison

Another name for American buffalo.

Blizzard

A severe winter storm of low temperatures, heavy snow, and strong wind that blows the snow around making it difficult to see, even a few feet in front of you.

Cutter

A lightweight, open sleigh, pulled by one or two horses and used for winter travel during the 19th century.

Dakota Territory

The land that later became the states of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota

Braille

Threshing Wheat

A printed alphabet of raised dots, which enables people who are blind to read with their sense of touch.

Buggy

A small, light carriage usually pulled by a single horse.

To beat the seeds out of a grain of wheat.

Harvester

A farm machine that harvests, threshes, and cleans grain.

Haystick

Calico

Pieces of cut hay twisted into sticks to provide heating fuel for a wood stove.

A rough cotton fabric, often printed with a bright pattern.

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Land Office

Slate & Slate Pencil

A division of the federal government that oversaw the surveying, homesteading, and sale of public land in the American west.

A slate is a small, personal blackboard about the size of a license plate used by 19th century school children. A slate pencil was the shape of school chalk today, and could be made of chalk, clay, or soapstone.

Scarlet Fever

Sod

A disease featuring fever, rash, and sore throat. Today, it is easily treated with antibiotics. In the 19th century, it could be deadly.

The surface layer of the ground, containing grass and its roots.

Sunbonnet

Shanty

Hats that protected the wearer’s face from sunlight and blowing dust, which had a brim or hood that stuck out as much as eight inches from the wearer’s face.

Small, shed-like homes hastily built by homesteaders on their claims.

“The use of words in itself is an interesting study. You will hardly believe the difference one word rather than another will make until you begin to hunt for a word with the right shade of meaning...have you ever thought that words have color? The only stupid thing about words is the spelling of them.” - Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1940s

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Elementary School

Language Activity

OBJECTIVE: Reinforce understanding of the language used in Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. EXERCISE: Using the glossary list from this study guide, unscramble the words below. 1. euCrtt

____________________________

2. ouSnnntbe 3. guyBg

______________________________

_______________________

4. Chriep ____________________________ 5. yahSnt ________________________________ 6. iolCac ________________________________ 7. eauB ______________________________

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Junior High and High School

Language Activity

OBJECTIVE: Trace the evolution of language. TIPS: Analyze each word in the Glossary and try to explain its origin. How are the words and expressions used in Little House on the Praire, the Musical? Suggest words that might be present-day alternatives to the words in the Glossary. EXERCISE: Look at each of these words and their meanings, find a comparable word in today’s language. If an object no longer exists, describe an equivalent. Create your own miniature thesaurus. Include pictures or drawings.

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After the Show RELATIONSHIPS: Choose two characters in the show who held a relationship that changed from the beginning to the end. Write about the initial relationship, the changes that occur, and the final relationship. Consider the journey each character had to take in order to reach the resolution. REFLECTING: Remember your favorite moment of Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. Write about the details that made that certain moment so special to you. Consider what was going on with the lights, the set, the actors, and the music. CHARACTER: Did any of the characters remind you of people you know? Choose the character that you think is most like you. Describe your reasoning. What are your similarities to this character? What are you differences? Would you have handled situations in the show differently than that of your character?

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