“Reader’s Theater is an authentic, entertaining, and educationally powerful way to read and communicate meaning. Reader’s Theater yields improvements in students’ word recognition, fluency, and comprehension.”
10 scripts per grade aligns to Science, Social Studies, & ELA standards to build knowledge and language in context.
Vertically aligned topics allow siblings to share knowledge and conversation from their specific classrooms.
Learn new facts and content knowledge while also increasing vocabulary.
More than just a script! Word study, biographical, or historical information provides background and context.
“I have a K student and her sister is in 1st. The mom loves how we are working on similar topics and the girls talk about them at home all the time. Ex. The first grader picked a character and was talking about a trait her character had. The K student said she knew about characters and traits and picked one of her own from a story she loves. The mom loves how the girls are connecting. ”
– Connecticut Teacher
Each Reader’s Theatre script is used to model a specific element of fluency, such as pausing, pacing, intonation, prosody, or expression.
Improve oral reading fluency.
Develop oral expression and speaking skills.
Boost decoding and word recognition skills.
Identify character traits and explore voice, mood, and feeling to dramatically express character traits.
Fluency Skill
Subskill
Pausing
Full Stop
Short Pause
Pacing
Slow
Fast
Varied
Intonation
Volume
Stress
Pitch
Prosody
High-Frequency Word Phrases
Prepositional Phrases
Compound Sentences
Units of Meaning
Expression
Dramatic
Feeling
Mood
“Systematic review & meta-analysis: readers’ theatre showed effects on fluency (accuracy, Automaticity, and prosody) and on comprehension. Appreciate that readers’ theatre can act as a pedagogical bridge between word reading & comprehension.”
–Nell Duke, literacy researcher
Reader's Theater can add variety, fun, interest, and-most importantly--purpose to your reading time!
Capitalize on students’ natural instincts for imagination, drama, and performance
Become motivated to read and reread.
Develop confidence and positive self-image.
Use imagination and creativity.
Extend attention span. Develop interpersonal, social, and collaborative skills.
Flyer
Learn More about the Reader’s Theatre Grade-Level Collections.