Readers Theatre integrates oral reading, literature, and the performing arts. This strategy can entice the most reluctant and disinterested reader to become engaged in reading.

Readers Theatre

Grades
|
Readers Theatre
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Recurring Lesson
Students develop scripts, perform, and use their voices to depict characters from texts, giving them the opportunity to develop fluency and further enhance comprehension of what they are reading.

Grades
|
Readers Theatre Rubric
3 - 12
Printout
| Assessment Tool
This rubric is designed to be used for any Readers Theatre performance. Students are scored both individually in the areas of delivery and cooperation and as a group in the area of active, on-task participation.

Grades
|
Readers Theatre With Jan Brett
1 - 2
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students in grades 1-2 use Jan Brett's Hedgie's Surprise for a Readers Theatre experience.

Grades
|
Reading Idol! Bringing Readers Theatre Center Stage in Your Classroom
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students produce a Readers Theatre performance to compete to be named the Reading Idol. Students vote on the final performances and record them as podcasts.

Grades
|
Recording Readers Theatre: Developing Comprehension and Fluency With Audio Texts
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students investigate audio texts of mystery stories, evaluate them in terms of both literary and audio qualities, and create Readers Theatre scripts, which they use to record their own podcasts.

Grades
|
Performing Literature to Promote Fluency and Comprehension
Grades
1 - 5
Strategy Guide Series
This study guide outlines three reading methods--Readers Theatre, choral reading, and performing poetry-- that can be used to promote fluency and comprehension.

Grades
|
Integrating Literacy Into the Study of the Earth's Surface
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Water covers 71% of the earth's surface—does it get the instructional time it deserves in your busy curriculum? Students wade right in to the study of bodies of water as they read and discuss science trade books and work together to develop Readers Theater scripts based on selected titles.

Grades
|
A High-Interest Novel Helps Struggling Readers Confront Bullying in Schools
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students read a work of realistic fiction about bullying and gain understanding through writing, Readers Theatre, and discussion.

Grades
|
Audio Broadcasts and Podcasts: Oral Storytelling and Dramatization
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Unit
After exploring Orson Welles' 1938 broadcast of H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, students create their own audio dramatization of a text they have read.