Reader's Theatre

Reading fluency is back in fashion, garnering a whole element to itself in the New Language Curriculum. Once I saw Readers’ Theatre in action many years ago, I knew it would be a hit with the children I teach. This drama-based methodology gives children the benifit of repeat reading, eliminating the emphasis over time on decoding and word-attack skills, whilst shifting the focus to fluidity and expressive reading. I am fairly happy with how my Readers’ Theatre stations are structured. An adult is needed for this station to work well however. Down below, you will find details on how I structure my Readers’ Theatre sessions over the course of 5/6 sessions. I have found this to be the perfect amount of time to spend on one script before the children get bored of it.

Lesson Structure

Down below, you will find a sample station structure for a ‘Reader’s Theatre’ lesson cycle. This station would be one in a rotating block of stations for the year. These usually run for 7-10 weeks depending on the needs of the children. This station does need an adult to run successfully. Further below, you will find the resources needed to set up this station in your classroom.

Organisation

For this station the children will need the following:

One copy of the week’s script per child
One copy of the script for the adult
A recording device (for session 1 and 6)
Copy of the self-assessment sheet per child.
Earphones for each child
5-way Audio-Splitter (available on Amazon)

Lesson 1: Self-Assessment

The session starts off by assigning characters to different children. On some scripts, the roles are clearly differentiated so you may want to give roles. Alternatively, children can choose a role they wish to read as. The first task is to record the group reading through the full script for the first time. This is recorded. When they are finished, each child is given a self-assessment grid for this reading. The group plugs in their earphones into the audio-splitter and listens to the reading, focusing on answering their self-assessment grid. They each choose one aspect of their fluency that they want to work on this cycle.

Lesson 2: Familiarisation

The teacher gives out the scripts again. The group read through the script silently once, underlining any words they are not sure of. The group then discusses any words that were underlined to try use the context to find the meaning. Then the children read through the entire script once in their heads. The group then reads through the script in a whispered voice. Finally, the group will read through the script aloud for the adult at the station.

Lesson 3: Focus on Volume

Today’s focus is on reading at a natural volume. Discuss with the group why reading at the correct volume would be important during the Readers’ Theatre. Ask the group if they can think of a time when they would need to raise their volume or lower their volume for their character. Children then look at their characters’ lines and mark any lines that need to raise volume or lower volume. One person will demonstrate how to read their lines at a natural volume. If time allows, read through the script practicing volume.

Lesson 4: Focus on Pace

Today’s focus is on reading at a natural pace. Discuss with the group that if you read too slowly the audience won’t understand what is happening because there won’t be any connection between the words. If you read too fast, the audience won’t be able to hear the words and won’t understand again. One person will demonstrate reading at a natural pace, too slow a pace and too fast a pace. Practice with a partner or group reading at a natural pace and volume today.

Lesson 5: Focus on Expression

Today’s focus is on reading with expression for performance. Ask the group to look out for punctuation marks that would give us a clue about how we should read our lines? Look for full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, and speech marks. Discuss how the characters are feeling. How would that affect the way they say their lines? Children write emotion prompts above appropriate lines. Read through lines once using the appropriate expression for their characters and punctuation.

Lesson 6: Performance and Assessment

The final day of the cycle is dedicated to applying all the work done over the last week or so. Ask the group if they can recall the elements of reading fluency that we focused on this week (volume, pace, expression). The group will have one practice read if needed before recording their read through. This is their ‘final read’. Children are given the same self-assessment sheet that they filled out on their ‘first read’. They listen to their ‘final read’ and fill out their second self-assessment grid. They also look at their ‘target’ box and see if they made an improvement.

Station Resources For Download

Teacher Station Instructions

Student Self Assessment

Teacher Reading Fluency Grid

Where to Find Scripts?

RT Scripts

Dr. Chase Young

This website has a huge number of RT scripts available to download for free. There are classic fairy tale scripts and original stories. Each story includes the number of parts beside the download link.

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Reader's Theater Editions

Aaron Shepard

I really like using Aaron Shepard's scripts. Not only are the stories interesting and engaging, like Lightening Larry, but they also sometimes include a video of professionals performing the same script which is great for the children to see!

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RT Scripts and Plays

Teaching Heart

This US-based website has compiled a huge variety of different RT scripts and plays from across the internet. There are links to individual scripts, ebooks with longer plays and much more

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