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READER'S THEATER

The Power of Reader's Theater
An easy way to make dramatic changes in kids' fluency, writing, listening, and social skills

By Jennifer O. Prescott

Watch very young children at play, and you'll often see some fine dramatic work. Quite naturally, young children invent characters, scenes, and stories, infusing their creations with expressive voices and invented dialogue. Settings are developed; dramatic conflicts arise and are solved. "Playing" and "a play" can turn out to be very similar. Drama, as many teachers are discovering, is not only fun and natural for children, it also encourages emotional growth, motivation, and engagement. And one form of drama, known as Reader's Theater, has been found to be particularly effective in building reading fluency. Called simply "RT" by many advocates, Reader's Theater can also boost listening and speaking skills, enhance confidence, and transform reluctant readers into book lovers.

Reader's Theater in Five Easy Steps
  1. Choose a script.  Choose a prepared script, or have kids choose a book from which to develop an RT script.

  2. Adapt the script.  If adapting, kids identify speaking parts (including narrators) and break down the story into dialogue.

  3. Assign Parts.  Kids might try out different parts to get a feel for them, then choose their roles themselves.

  4. Highlight parts and rehearse.  Kids highlight their dialogue, then practice their lines at home and in groups during school.

  5. Perform.  The cast reads the play aloud for an audience, often made up of parents or younger students.

Reader's Theater Resources

Books
  • Break a Leg! The Kids' Guide to Acting and Stagecraft, by Lise Friedman (Workman, 2001).
  • 15 Easy-to-Read Mini-Book Plays (K-2), by Sheryl Ann Crawford & Nancy I. Sanders (Scholastic, 2001).
  • Folk Tale Plays From Around the World That Kids Will Love!, by Marci Appelbaum and Jeff Catanese (Scholastic, 2001).
  • 25 Just-Right Plays for Emergent Readers (K-1), by Carol Pugliano-Martin (Scholastic, 1998).
  • Readers Theatre for Beginning Readers (Grades 1-4), by Suzanne I. Barchers (Teacher Ideas Press, 1993).
  • Frantic Frogs and Other Frankly Fractured Folktales for Readers Theatre, by Anthony D. Fredericks (Teacher Ideas Press, 1993).


Web Sites



Free Scripts!