Reader's Theater Workshop Wednesdays

Wednesday afternoons in our class has been dubbed "Reader's Theater Wednesdays."

For a half hour or so each Wednesday afternoon the class will participate in by performing a Reader's Theater.  A Reader's Theater is a 'play' based on literature or poetry.  It may contain parts for two or more readers.  The readers are using their voices to perform instead of gestures or action.  Typically, it doesn't involve memorizing.

Students build confidence in public speaking while building reading comprehension and fluency.  Our first workshop consisted of a short 'play' about punctuation.  Working with a partner the students took turns being Reader 1 and Reader 2.  Roles were then reversed.  A final reading was done where students practiced the passage using expression.  Several pairs came to the front of the room and read for the class.  As the year progresses I plan to use more complex Reader's Theater pieces.

If you would like to read more about the benefits of  Reader's Theater, Linda Cornwell's article in Scholastic, goes into detail. She describes it as an "integrated approach for involving students in reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities."

Certainly the students were very excited, and said they were looking forward to the next one! Love the enthusiasm of this group!

For my students:  What did you like/not like about the Reader's Theater?