So, your family loves to read, but you wish you could get more out of books. Well, fret not! With reader's theater you can bring your favorite stories to life. Readers Theater is a strategy that teachers use to increase fluency and comprehension in readers. It builds confidence and helps the reader learn to read aloud with expression. Not only does Readers Theater work in the classroom, but it can also be a great reading activity for families to use at home. My son and I recently read The Perfect Sword by Scott Goto on our Kindle Fire via the Reading Rainbow app. After reading the story, my son wanted to act it out. I told him we could do it as long as we used the book (I didn't want to forget my lines). We threw on some sheets (don't tell my wife) and grabbed some plastic samurai swords and acted out the story as we read through the book a second time. Afterwards, I asked my son to retell the story. I was amazed to find that he remembered every detail. He even gave me reasons for why he acted out certain parts of the story the way that he did. It was an amazing experience!
So, how can your family have fun with Reader's Theater? Well, here are some simple guidelines, courtesy of readingrockets.org, to use when doing readers theater:
- Use a story that can be divided into parts. This way, each member of your family can have a part to read. If there are not enough reading parts some family members can be the audience or extras in the play.
- Assign parts to each person.
- Read the story orally for practice.
- Perform assigned parts in front of an audience. The audience can be made of family members who didn't have a reading part.
- (Finally, one from me) Use of costumes/props can make the experience more fun.
If you don't have any books that you think would make good Reader's Theater you can find free scripts online by clicking any of the links below:
- http://rtscripts.weebly.com/
- http://www.thebestclass.org/rtscripts.html
- http://www.readinga-z.com/book/scripts.php
- http://edhelper.com/Readers_Theater.htm
Well, read on and act out! Seriously, have fun! This week's featured books are a great place to start.
This Week's Featured Books:
No one in the world is quite like Oddrey. She is unique in every way. So, when her teacher announced that the class would be performing The Wizard of Oz, Oddrey was sure that she would get the starring role. What a surprise to find out that the teacher had cast her as a tree. This great story, from Blue Spruce Award-winning author-illustrator Dave Whamond, is about the wonders of being an individual. It's a must read!
Author: Dave Whamond
Audience: Ages 4 to 8
Length: 32 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Owlkids Books (2012)
ISBN-10: 1926973453
ISBN-13: 978-1926973456
Living under a variety theater has been the perfect way to learn great skills. Each member of the Roly Poly family has developed talent--acting, dancing, singing, performing magic tricks, etc. Now, they've finally been given the opportunity to showcase their talents. Watch out world! This is a wonderful book written in Spanish and full of wonderful illustrations.
Author: Monica Carretro
Audience: Ages 5 to 7
Length: 36 pages
Language: Spanish
Publisher: Cuento de Luz SL (2011)
ISBN-10: 8493824046
ISBN-13: 978-8493824044
Have you ever wanted to be a star? Well, Darlene sure has. She signed up for acting class determined to succeed, but in her first role, she stumbles and spills water all over the stage. Is he career destined to be one disaster after another? Read the book and find out!
Author: Amy Schwartz
Audience: Ages 4 to 8
Length: 32 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (2007)
ISBN-10: 1596432306
ASIN: B0044KMW44
One of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies comes to life for kids in this book. A complicated work that often has adults stumbling has been made kid-friendly by Lois Burdett. Now kids can enjoy a story of revenge and power, love and betrayal, sword fights, and ghosts. Filled with letters and journal entries written by other kids as if they were the characters in the story, this would be a great addition to your family library.
Author: Lois Burdett
Audience: Ages 7 and up
Length: 64 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Firefly Books (2000)
ISBN-10: 1552095304
ISBN-13: 978-1552095300
No comments:
Post a Comment