Reader’s Theater

Sandra Tinajero

TEKS: 3rd Grade Reading §110.14. (2)  Reading/Beginning Reading/Strategies. Students comprehend a variety

of texts drawing on useful strategies as needed. Students are expected to:◦ (A)  use ideas (e.g., illustrations, titles, topic sentences, key words, and

foreshadowing clues) to make and confirm predictions;◦ (B)  ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about

stories and other texts and support answers with evidence from text; (8)  Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand,

make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:◦ (A)  sequence and summarize the plot's main events and explain their influence

on future events;◦ (B)  describe the interaction of characters including their relationships and the

changes they undergo; and◦ (C)  identify whether the narrator or speaker of a story is first or third person.

(13)  Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Expository Text. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about expository text and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:◦ (A)  identify the details or facts that support the main idea;◦ (B)  draw conclusions from the facts presented in text and support those

assertions with textual evidence;◦ (C)  identify explicit cause and effect relationships among ideas in texts; and◦ (D)  use text features (e.g., bold print, captions, key words, italics) to locate

information and make and verify predictions about contents of text.

TEKS: 3rd Grade Writing §110.14.

17)  Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text. Students are expected to:◦ (A)  plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for

conveying the intended meaning to an audience and generating ideas through a range of strategies (e.g., brainstorming, graphic organizers, logs, journals);

◦ (B)  develop drafts by categorizing ideas and organizing them into paragraphs;

◦ (C)  revise drafts for coherence, organization, use of simple and compound sentences, and audience;

◦ (D)  edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling using a teacher-developed rubric;

◦ (E)  publish written work for a specific audience.

ObjectivesThe student will be able to:

◦ use the book’s cover, illustrations, and key words to make predictions of a book.

◦ recognize the elements of a story by summarizing the plot, explain details or facts, identify the main idea of a story, and arranging sequence of events from the story.

◦ create: 1) their own ending of the story by writing a descriptive paragraph or 2) write a letter to one of the main characters for the final project. (* Note: The students will be able to choose whichever prompt they would like.)

◦ use their social skills by presenting their finished work to the rest of the classroom.

◦ remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create -using Bloom’s Taxonomy.

MaterialsBook: The True Story of the Three

Little Pigs◦Have multiple copies in case

students want to read alongWriting & Construction PaperPencils/Crayons/Color

Pencils/MarkersScissorsGlue/Glues Stick/Tape/Stapler

Anticipatory SetBefore beginning with the activity, make sure that all of

the students know the original story of The Three Little Pigs. If they don’t, read them the story or show them the story online so they can see and hear at the same time.

Now that everyone knows about the original story of The Three Little Pigs, for the introduction to the activity, ask the students:◦ What do you know about the story The Three Little Pigs?◦ What is the main idea of the story?◦ Who was the villain in the story?◦ What happened towards the end?

Afterwards, mention to the students that you will read the story The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (written by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith) and ask first:◦ Based on the book cover, what do you think the book will be

about?

Remember1) Read The True Story of The Three Little Pigs

to the students. Use gestures and ask questions during reading such as “What do you think is going to happen next?”

2) After have finished reading the book, now ask the students questions to see what they remember:◦ What was the main idea of this story?◦ Who was truly the villain in this version of the story?◦ What happened towards the end?◦ How is this story compared to the original story of

The Three Little Pigs?

Procedure: Bloom’s Taxonomy

Understand3) Have the students

summarize the story in their own words with a partner.

4) Then as a class, discuss the story and explain to the students how we sometimes have to hear other people’s side of the story or point of view.

Procedure: Bloom’s Taxonomy

Apply5) Ask the students:

◦Have you ever been in a situation where friends were arguing with each other and you don’t know who started the fight or why?

◦Did you had to hear both sides of the story in order to figure it out what happened?

◦Would it have been ok to only hear one side of the story from only one of your friends?

Procedure: Bloom’s Taxonomy

Analyze6) Have the students compare and

contrast The Three Little Pigs with The True Story of The Three Little Pigs by using a Venn Diagram.

7) Have the students write down the sequence of events from beginning to end to see if they are able to identify this element of a story.

Procedure: Bloom’s Taxonomy

Evaluate8) Ask the students:

◦Based on hearing these two versions of the story, which of the main characters would you rather have as a friend? Why?

◦Is it ok to believe a story from someone, even if you didn’t hear the other person’s side of the story? Why or why not?

Procedure: Bloom’s Taxonomy

Create 9) For the final project, have 2 writing prompts available for

the students: ◦ 1) Create your OWN version of The Three Little Pigs.◦ 2) Write a letter to one of the main characters from the

story, the wolf or the three little pigs. Ask them anything you want, let them know that you believe or don’t believe them, and/or ask them what could they have done differently so nobody would have gotten hurt. Use your imagination.

11) Once the students write the prompt, they will paste their work onto a construction paper and decorate it. They must also draw the pictures as well.

12) When their papers are done, they will come up in front of the class, one by one, and present and read their papers to the class.

Procedure: Bloom’s Taxonomy

AssessmentAsk the students for review:

◦What is the moral of the story?◦What is the main idea of the story?◦What is the plot of the story?◦What happened are the sequence of events: beginning to end?

Their final project will also be used for assessment.

ClosureRemind the students that how

sometimes it’s important to hear both sides of the story or point of view.

Finish the activity by making the children wonder: ◦What other stories can have different

points of view just like The True Story of The Three Little Pigs? (Goldilocks & The Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.)

Resources

Sousa, David A. How The Brain Learns. 4th Edition. 2011. Corwin Press/Sage Publications. Text.

TEKS For English Language Arts & Reading. Texas. 2010. Web. Retrieved from: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter110/ch110a.html

The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.teachingheart.net/truepigs.html

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs Extension Activities. Scholastic. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/true-story-3-little-pigs-extension-activities