6 Strategic Steps to a Rewarding Readers' Theater Experience

Sometimes we all just need what my neighbor likes to call “Fresh Eyes”. We need a new perspective for what we’re doing, a renewed purpose for how we’re persevering through our days. Remember that we are ideally equipping our students to be Readers for LIFE!

6 Strategic Steps to aRewarding Readers’ Theater Experience!

A few years ago, I heard a staggering statistic that most kids (especially boys!) will stop reading for enjoyment by 8th grade! 8th grade! That means that this Elementary and Middle Grades window of time is CRUCIAL to winning kids over to becoming readers for life! Of course, WE KNOW that becoming lifelong readers will help them to be more successful overall in so many areas of life, but they don't know that and they aren't able to think that far ahead. 

That's why creative strategies like Readers’ Theater are so important! We as teachers can build our students' fluency and strengthen their internal reading voices alongside them, while demonstrating that reading can be FUN! I’ve heard a lot of teachers say that they hear a lot about Readers’ Theater, but they are just not sure how to actually pull it off in your classroom. Honestly, successful Readers’ Theaters always start with a solid, usable script! I've created some of my own for both primary and upper elementary that I think work very well. (You'll find them over at The Owl Spot ) 

So I want to give you 6 surefire great steps towards a rewarding Readers' Theater experience! Here we go! 

1. Do some planning ahead of time! Choose a high interest script and make sure that everyone gets their OWN copy. Plan your timeframe. (Most teachers like to start on Monday and wrap up on Friday! Just 15-20 min per day works great!) 

2. Model reading the script out loud for your students. (Feel free to pull in some colleagues like a librarian, lunch aide, secretary, or principal to add that extra boost of fun!) 

3. Divide your students into Readers’ Theater groups so that everyone in a group has a part. (Plan your groups ahead of time and assign parts ahead of time! Most teachers prefer for each group to have at least one strong reader.) Encourage your students to go ahead and highlight their own individual part. 

4. Read through the script several times to ensure correct pronunciation and to model fluency, intonation, and good oral reading practices when there is punctuation. Students should always be following along with their own script to build their own sight word recognition. 

5. Allow each group to practice at their seats and then again in front of the class. Provide appropriate, constructive and helpful feedback to your students. Remind them that there is no need to memorize their parts! The whole concept behind Readers' Theater is that they will be READING their parts and working through a script! 

6. Allow for your students to perform their Readers' Theater as a wrap up. There is no need for costumes, but some simple fun character name tags or simple accessories seem to go a long way to boost enthusiasm and interest! (We all have those students who love to be creative! Why not task them with some simple character tags for the different parts?) Feel free to invite a younger grade in to enjoy your Readers' Theater. Audiences give a greater sense of purpose to the readers. 

I hope that you are as excited as I am to get my students improving their reading skills through Readers' Theater! Next time, we'll be looking at more specific strategies to squeeze out even more benefit from the time spent using Readers' Theater in the classroom! 

Have Fun and Get Reading! 

Martha 

 ****Because you have been a loyal follower, I want you to be one of the first people to know my big exciting news!! The Owl Spot is opening on Etsy! My Etsy store is currently under construction, but I am so excited for all of the phenomenal resources that I will be able to make available to all of my teacher friends! Check out The Owl Spot Shop on Etsy!

I just can’t believe how fast this school year is flying by! Here we are and it’s somehow 2023! I’ve been trying to work in my annual Dad joke of immediately saying on January 1st that I haven’t done that or seen people since… wait for it… LAST YEAR!!! I still think it’s funny every time I say it, whether or not the other person laughs along, looks confused, or rolls their eyes! But as teachers, it can be very easy to lose track of just how long it has been since we have done something with our class.

For example, when was the last time that you surprised your class with a Readers Theater?   

It’s probably been a while. And yet research is consistently supporting the concept that repeated reading boosts fluency, comprehension, and even sight word vocabulary!  So why don’t more of us do more of Readers Theater? I’m guessing that it’s that age old Educators’ Albatross of too much to do and not enough time to do it. I totally get it, but I know that Readers Theater has great value in grades k-12, so it’s worth making time for! My niche is elementary, although I know that Speech classes use Readers Theater in middle and high schools. I love to use it in primary grades and upper elementary to practice oral reading, increase reading with expression, and if we’re honest, it’s FUN!   It’s a boredom buster for sure! Somehow kids feel like they are getting away with something everytime I bring out a script to do!   I love seeing their faces light up and the immediate engagement with the scripts.That kind of enthusiasm means that you have their full attention and they are ready to get started!   

But how DO you get started with Readers Theater? Sometimes it’s not knowing where to start or how to find good scripts. (I can save you some time and effort there if you want to check out my selection of great Readers Theater scripts over at my TpT store The Owl Spot!!) But sometimes it’s just not knowing what to do with the script once you have it.    

Stay tuned and I’ll walk you through an easy can’t miss approach to Readers Theater over the next couple weeks!   

Martha 

The Owl Spot

Novel Units from The Owl Spot

 

Our students LOVE a good story. It's what keeps them engaged in their learning. So, if you teach with novels or use them simply as a read aloud, you'll want to check out these units. Each image is a link - click and discover something new to use this year!

1. Frindle by Andrew Clements - includes printable and digital access! Newly updated.

2. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry - includes printable and digital access! Newly updated.

3. Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan - includes printable and digital access! Newly updated.

4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - includes printable and digital access! Newly updated.

5. The Giver by Lois Lowry - only printable unit, but will receive an update soon! Purchase now at lower price and you won't have to pay the increased price when updated.

6. Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo - only printable unit, but will receive an update soon! Purchase now at lower price and you won't have to pay the increased price when updated.

7. The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies - only printable unit, but will receive an update soon! Purchase now at lower price and you won't have to pay the increased price when updated.

8. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - only printable unit, but will receive an update soon! Purchase now at lower price and you won't have to pay the increased price when updated.

9. Wonder by R.J. Palacio - only printable unit, but will receive an update soon! Purchase now at lower price and you won't have to pay the increased price when updated.

10. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White - only printable unit, but will receive an update soon! Purchase now at lower price and you won't have to pay the increased price when updated.

11. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl - only printable unit, but will receive an update soon! Purchase now at lower price and you won't have to pay the increased price when updated.

12. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia McLaughlin - only printable unit, but will receive an update soon! Purchase now at lower price and you won't have to pay the increased price when updated.

13. Magic Tree House Dolphins at Daybreak by Mary Pope Osborne - This is a printable only unit. At this point, there is no plan for a digital update.