This site was created to make finding a readers' theater script easier for teachers. The number of readers needed for each script is found at the end of the title.
Happy reading!
Reader’s Theater
Third grade has been using Readers’ Theater on a daily basis this year. We are using it to help students develop prosody (fluency and expression) as they read.This year we have a group of students who are not at all able to sit and read independently for any length of time.We needed to find a way to help them to read more and learn to enjoy the act of reading.We decided to replace our 6 Minutes Solutions time with Readers’ Theater. The kids are extremely excited about practicing and performing and it forces them to really think about what is happening in the story and to begin to engage with the words. They choose their own piece and decide which part they prefer.If there are any disagreements they decide amongst the cast who should perform (often using rock, paper, scissors) and this is helping them learn to be problem solvers instead of complainers.We have been using Voice Lessons from Bruce Lansky’s website to help them to understand the amazing difference they can make in their performance by using their voices. Now students come up with their own ideas about what words to emphasize and how to make their voices sound.Students take the scripts home to practice at night with parents, so they are becoming involved as well.We videotape or make a podcast of their performance on Friday and often invite other teachers, specialists, etc. to be our audience.Recently we had students respond to their reading by writing (and performing) their own scripts using a story from the basal (fables).They turned the fables into a script by thinking about who was talking throughout the story and about which parts should be spoken by a narrator. Students were very excited about doing this and now are doing the same scripting using library books and creating their own from scratch (originals). We have noticed a carry-over of prosody to their own oral reading (during running records, reading directions in class, reading math problems, etc). We hope this is an indicator that they are using expression in their silent reading as well… as this should greatly increase their comprehension.