Readers Theater is just what it sounds like: theater for readers. This basically means that any book you read in your classroom can be turned into a theater piece acted out by your students. This concept will open a whole new world to your students about reading and the lessons learned within the pages of books. Consider book choice, practice time and production of the readers theater in your classroom.
Choosing a Book for Readers Theater
Although there are many resources for teachers to find scripts for readers theater online, having the students write their own script provides a wealth of educational opportunities. Any book that that the students are capable of reading can be made into a readers theater book. This may require you to have several readers theater books going at once if you have several reading levels in your class, or you can use a read-aloud book as a readers theater choice.
Allowing Time to Practice the Readers Theater
Once you and the class decide to do a readers theater on a book, the students need to first work together to write a script. This is great writing practice. Help the students make a list of the characters and main ideas in the story. Assign different roles to the students to help smooth out the script writing process. Roles can include master writer, dialogue writer, narrator, and event organizer. This way everything gets organized appropriately into the script.
After the script is written, parts must be given to the students, making an effort to give every student a role. Allow the students to practice each day for the rest of the week in preparation for a Friday production. If students are unable to memorize their lines, you can make individual scripts for them to follow along. Thursday, allow students to bring in costumes if they have one, to do a dress rehearsal.
Readers Theater Production
After spending time practicing the readers theater script all week, provide an opportunity for the students to put on a grand production. Invite other grade level classes to watch, and if you would like, you can invite parents to come as well. Allowing the production to take place on a Friday will enable you to have a short reception after to congratulate the students on a job well done.
Students will love the opportunity to get involved in the stories they read through Readers Theater. The first time you do this in your class, you will have to guide the students through the process and ensure that every student is involved. Each subsequent time, relinquish some of your involvement over to the students, allowing them to become more and more in charge of the process, as long as every student remains involved.
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