BLAST School Outreach Lights, Camera, Action! Reader’s Theater for Lights, Camera, Action! Reader’s Theater for School-Aged Children Laura Bandura and

BLAST School Outreach

Lights, Camera, Action! Reader’s Theater for Lights, Camera, Action! Reader’s Theater for

School-Aged ChildrenSchool-Aged Children

Laura Bandura and Bonny YeagerLaura Bandura and Bonny Yeager

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

What Is Reader’s Theater?

• Activity in which students, while reading directly from scripts, are able to tell a story in an entertaining way without props, costumes, or sets

• Reading activity in which students are NOT asked to memorize their lines

• Students are encouraged to "ham it up" and use intonation and gestures appropriate to their characters

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh BLAST School Outreach

Importance of Reader’s Theater

• It provides repeated reading practice--an important factor in building FLUENCY!

• Repeated reading practice also improves students' confidence and enthusiasm for reading

• It is an enjoyable change of pace from everyday reading practice sessions in school


Importance of Reader’s Theater

• It is a wonderful opportunity for children who have not experienced success in the classroom to provide their peers with entertainment and expertise

• Words and phrases which might be beyond a reader's demonstrated reading level can, through repetition, be more easily assimilated into a working vocabulary


Reader’s Theater- A “Dramatic Success”

• “A 1999 study in The Reading Teacher by Strecker, Roser, and Martinez… showed that 2nd graders who did Readers Theater on a regular basis made, on average, more than a year's growth in reading.”

-Jennifer O. Prescott, Scholastic Instructor


Who is Reader’s Theater For?

• Everyone!– Most Reader’s Theater scripts can be adapted to fit the

reading level of children of all ages and reading abilities

– Preschool students can participate in Reader’s Theater by acting out the parts read by the teacher or by participating in repeated text.

• English Language Learners - Stories are made immediately accessible by providing a

visual context for the words that are read.


• Explain student responsibilities and what reader’s theater entails

• Model story by doing an interactive read aloud first

• Talk with students about how successful readers look at the text and the illustrations to understand what is going on in the story

Reader’s Theater for Non-Readers


Reader’s Theater for Non-Readers

Example: Whole Group Reader’s Theater– Yo! Yes? By Chris Raschka


http://syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=0531071081/LC.JPG&client=einet&type=hw7

Reader’s Theater For Readers

• Explain student responsibilities• Model story by doing an interactive read aloud

first• Highlight each part in the script to help students

stay on track• Talk with students about how successful

readers read with expression• Give students time to look over the scripts and

ask about words they may not know


Example: Scripted Reader’s Theater

• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon ScieszkaFound on www.timelessteacherstuff.com/readerstheater/TruePigs.html

CHARACTERS: (9)

Narrator 1 Narrator 2 Narrator 3

Narrator 4 Narrator 5 Narrator 6

Pig 2 Pig 3 Wolf


http://www.timelessteacherstuff.com/readerstheater/TruePigs.html

Strategies for Success

• Questioning:– “How do you think a snake would sound?” – “How might your character be feeling when he

or she says…” – “What do we need to do with our voices when

we see an exclamation point, a question mark…”


• Repetition:– Present the same Reader’s Theater several times

in a week/two weeks, each time changing something up a bit

– When a child has the opportunity to read a book/story several times that they begin to feel comfortable with that book/story




• Creative Expression:– Focus on the book’s illustrations during the

read-aloud, matching intonation with character depiction

– Have the students make puppets, use props, create scenery, etc. This will not only help them to understand their characters, but will also help to build interest



• Signage:– Using signs to represent parts is an easy way to keep

readers on task and focused on what part they are to read.

– Helps the teacher see who is playing what role in order to provide assistance with difficult text or to keep students on task.

– Helps the other students see who is playing what role in order to visually understand the script.


Where Can I Find Quality Scripts…

• Resource books

• Websites

• Authors’ Websites

• Yourself!


* See handout for lists of recommended books and websites

Adapting Books into Scripts: Fiction/Picture Books

• Books or folktales are best suited for adaptation when they: – are rich in dialogue / lively narration– have well-defined, exciting characters– have compelling storylines (action, humor, etc)– are tales that "flow" along at a steady pace,

action and conflict– enough parts for groups of kids


Adapting Books into Scripts:Fiction/Picture Books

• The Very Ugly Bug by Liz PichonAdapted by Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh BLAST School Outreach


Characters:Narrator 1 Green BugNarrator 2 Ugly BugNarrator 3 Mr. Ugly BugRed Bug BirdBlue Bug

• Stone Soup– Teach cross-cultural concepts through folktales– Compare and contrast different versions of the

tale

Adapting Books into Scripts:Fiction/Picture Books


http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.heritagesource.com/images/PictureBk/StoneSoup-w.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.heritagesource.com/Heritage%2520Pages/picture.htm&h=216&w=264&sz=40&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=J1MXVY7Zwbt-ZM:&tbnh=92&tbnw=112&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstone%2Bsoup%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Adapting Books into Scripts: Nonfiction Books

• Provides good material, especially those about historical figures

• With a little imagination, students can even transform a science book into a play by personifying animals and natural objects

• There is a lot of excitement with bringing their natural world to life in the classroom

• Can have students adapt shorter selections into their own Reader’s Theater scripts


Using Poetry in Reader’s Theater

• Very similar to adapting fiction/picture books for reader’s theater

• Poems are ideally suited for Reader’s Theater when they have:– Beautiful, flowing and fun language

– Use of imagery, alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme

– Conversational parts that can be easily adapted to dialogue

– Humor!


Using Poetry in Reader’s Theater

• Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman

• Meet Danitra Brown by Nikki Grimes

• Eric Carle’s Animals Animals


Breakout: Adapting Scripts

Using the materials provided to you, think about how you can use the book to create a

fun, engaging Reader’s Theater script.


Incorporating Reader’s Theater

• Complement the School CurriculumExample:– The Perfect Pet by Margie Palatini– “Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog” by Judith Viorst– “Pets: True or False?”

• Turn into a Reader’s Theater Game Show



“Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog” by Judith ViorstPoem for 6 Readers, adapted by Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh BLAST School Outreach

Reader 1: Mother doesn’t want a dog.Reader 2: Mother says they smell,Reader 3: And never sit when you say sitReaders 1,2,3: Or even when you yell. Reader 4: And when you come home late at night,Reader 5: And there is ice and snow,Reader 6: You have to go back out becauseReaders 4,5,6: The dumb dog has to go.


“Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog”


Reader 1: Mother doesn’t want a dog.Reader 2: Mother says they shed,Reader 3: And always let the strangers inReaders 1,2,3: And bark at friends instead. Reader 4: And do disgraceful things on rugs,Reader 5: And track mud on the floor,Reader 6: And flop upon your bed at nightReaders 4,5,6: And snore their doggy snore. Readers 1 & 2: Mother doesn’t want a dog.Readers 3 & 4: She’s making a mistake.Readers 5 & 6: Because, more than a dog, I think All Readers: She will not want this snake.

• Enhance Thematic Programs or StorytimesExample: Australia Thematic Program– Wombat Goes Walkabout by Michael Morpurgo– Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein



• Independent Activity– Keep copies of Reader’s Theater Scripts

available to children– Provide blank script pages for students to write

or adapt their own scripts– Encourage children to work together to create

scripts or props, then plan a performance night and invite parents and community members



That’s a Wrap!

Reader’s Theater is an excellent tool to improve upon students’ fluency and

expression while reading.

Above all, they will have fun with books!


References

Cecil, N.L. (2003). Best practices for early literacy. Scottsdale: Holcomb Hathaway, Publishers, Inc.

Prescott, J.O. (2003). The power of Reader’s Theater. Scholastic Instructor. Retrieved April 24, 2007 from http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/readerstheater.htm.

Lobrom A. & Selman, R. (2007). The interdependence of social awareness and literacy instruction. The Reading Teacher, 60(6), 528-537

Livingston, N., Kurkjian, C., Young, T., & Pringle, L. (2004). Nonfiction as literature: An untapped goldmine. The Reading Teacher, 57(6), 582-585.


Documents

BLAST School Outreach Lights, Camera, Action! Reader’s Theater for Lights, Camera, Action! Reader’s Theater for School-Aged Children Laura Bandura and