Reader's Theater improves reading comprehension, fluency and oral communication skills while making reading interaction and fun!
If reading groups and basal instruction aren't inspiring your students to love reading, it may be time to try Reader's Theater.
Reader's Theater refers to the use of scripted plays to encourage student reading. The plays usually do not include complicated props or costumes so that they can be used concentrate on the actual presentation of the words.
Because Reader's Theatre uses drama, students learn to articulate and project while also improving reading skills. It is also a perfect way to differentiate reading instruction since stronger readers can be assigned more difficult or lengthier parts than weaker readers, but all students are engaged in all parts of the reading.
In addition to reading skills, students are encouraged to listen to their classmates since inattention might cause them to miss a line. Teachers may likewise encourage kinesthetic involvement by allowing readers to stand and move while reading their lines.
Teachers who use reader's theater should still take time for pre-reading and post-reading activities:
- Pre-Reading Activities: Introduce point-of-view, ask students to visualize or even draw the setting, require students to silently pre-read their parts and ask questions about vocabulary terms, ask students to make predictions based on the title
- Post-Reading Activities: Ask students to re-tell the story, and discuss literary devices used in the script, use a plot diagram to discuss the conflicts in the story, extend the story by asking students to predict what might happen next
Reader's Theater is also a fun way to introduce famous people and events across the curriculum. Ask students to create scripts for their classmates based on biographies or histories that they read outside of class.
