Readers Theatre:

A Shared Reading
Celebration!

Presented by:
.Linda.Amira.Zayani.Hidayah.

What Is Readers Theatre?

Readers Theatre involves children in oral
reading through reading parts in scripts. Unlike
traditional theatre, the emphasis is mainly on
oral expression of the part.
Neill Dixon, Anne Davies, Colleen Politano,
Learning with Readers Theatre, 1996

What Is Readers Theatre? (contd)

Readers Theatre is theatre of the imagination. It involves
children in understanding their world, creating their own
scripts, reading aloud, performing with a purpose, and bringing
enjoyment to both themselves and their audiences.

Neill Dixon, Anne Davies, Colleen Politano,
Learning with Readers Theatre, 1996

Achieving Reading Fluency with Readers Theatre
Readers Theatre
Research Proven to Develop
Reading fluency
Reading comprehension
Oral language
Vocabulary
Listening skills
Positive attitude
Cooperation
Achieving Reading Fluency with Readers Theatre
Why Readers
Theatre?
Readers Theatre:
provides a Real purpose and context for reading;
makes reading an Event, a celebration that can be shared
with an Audience;
enhances student learning by Doing ;
promotes a learning Environment that is social, active,
creative and supports risk takingFUN!
involves Rehearsal students have multiple opportunities to
practise their reading and speaking;
improves literacy Skills.


Readers Theatre and Boys

Boys often enjoy working
with readers theatre scripts,
which allow them to feel like
active participants in a
story.

p.22

Readers Theatre Step by Step
1. Immerse students in the Readers Theatre text form.

2. Select an engaging story or script.

3. Read the story aloud (or a portion of the story).

4. Identify and highlight different character voices.

5. Read aloud to make final edits.

6. Adapt the story to script form.

7. Assign roles and rehearse!

8. Perform for an audience.

9. Reflect on your experience.




Achieving Reading Fluency with Readers Theatre
Readers Theatre
Procedure
Group is orientated to
the script
Students practise reading all of
the script, perhaps with audio
support as a group, in pairs,
or alone
Parts are allocated.
Practice continues at
school or at home
Group presents
to audience
Scripts are
allocated to
group/s
Achieving Reading Fluency with Readers Theatre
Readers Theatre
Factors That Make a Difference
Audio support for:
Model
Support
Non-threatening practice
Motivation
Increase in reading mileage
Exposure to texts that may not have otherwise
been accessible


Achieving Reading Fluency with Readers Theatre
Readers Theatre
Factors That Make a Difference
Scripts are written specifically for
Readers Theatre

Achieving Reading Fluency with Readers Theatre
Readers Theatre
Factors That Make a Difference

Scripts
are multi-levelled with
parts that are on, above and
below level so students can
work in mixed ability
groups, learning with and
from each other.




Readers Theatre
classroom
suggestion: All the
worlds a stage.
Session1
Teacher models fluest and
expressive reading by reading
aloud .
Focus on some of problematic
pronounciation .
Eg: Schwa sound,
consonant clusters,
suprasegmentals.
Students will read silently
Discuss the meaning and the
content together.
Session2
Divide students into groups .
Time to concentrate on different role.
Each students reading aloud a different
role every time.
Circulate among the groups, teacher
will coach and give advice.

Session3
Have students divide up the parts.
Students will work on their own
parts(role)
Begin to prepare for their performance.
SESSION 4
Reading and Rehearsal Stage
Read and rehearse their parts with group
members
At the end session, they make character
nametags and plan any necessary
movement
Decide where groups will stand during
their turn
SESSION 5
Performance Stages
Perform for the class / audiences
SESSION 5
Improvement for future endeavours
May have learners assess themselves and
their group members effort leading up
to the reading.
o Ask learners to respond to statements
Next time, to improve my reading fluency, I
plan to,
To achieve my goal, I will

SESSION 5
Improvement for future endeavours

To encourage self- or peer reflection
Provide a checklist of statements grouped
into the following categories :


Put a check mark next to the areas you feel you/ your partner did well:
1. Phasing / Fluency
(I/My partner) paid attention to the authors language
(I/ My partner) read longer phrases.
(I/ My partner) has good expression.
2. Pace
(I/ My partner) used good speed when reading.
(I/My partner) did not pause too much.
3. Accuracy
(I/ My partner) could read the words easily.
(I/ My partner) read quickly, but
(I/ My partner) words sounded meaningful.
Why the method of RT was developed???

Old fluency-building techniques have been
neglected- time constraints, teacher philosophy,
and misuse of techniques
To help struggling readers improve their fluency,
accuracy, and comprehension
As a necessary preparation for silent reading

To strengthen readers skills and self-confidence
To encourage L2 learners to enjoy reading and to
practice the skill more frequently
Video Invasion