Reader's Theater is an excellent strategy to use in the classroom and applies to any grade level. I can see myself using this in an elementary classroom as well as in high school English classrooms. Reader's Theater is simply readers reading a script adapted from any piece of text (story or chapter books work well). This approach is great for developing fluency, engaging students through cooperative learning, and provides a great way to integrate reading, writing, speaking, and listening. It's also fun for students and provides a deeper way to comprehend the text being studied.
Ideally, I would use this in different reading units and have different groups perform different stories. For example, in an elementary classroom, I would have students practice and perform different folk tales during that unit. At a middle or high school level, I would have student groups perform chapters of their book depending on the unit of study. If I were to apply this strategy to a social issues novel study where each student was involved in various book clubs, I would have students pick the most important scene to perform. Students would take on the roles of analyzing the characters and performing for their peers. This would serve as an after reading strategy. If a teacher wanted to set the scene and provide some prior knowledge before launching a reading unit, another approach would be to provide scripts in advance. I believe it provides a bigger challenge for students to create their own scripts using the character quotes and actions pulled straight from the text. If students also know what is expected of them during reading, this will keep them more engaged and active in the reading process.
I think this is a different approach to reading and makes the classroom interactive and fun. I am always striving to make my students feel like they are in charge of their learning and this learning strategy allows for that to happen.
