Readers Theater

Readers Theater is an instructional strategy in which readers bring stories to life by reading a script for an audience.  After reading a story and practicing a script, students perform the story for their classmates.  No props, memorization, or costumes are required.  Students only need their voices and plenty of opportunities to practice the text so that they can communicate the meaning of the text expressively, smoothly, and confidently.  Readers Theater is a great way to motivate students of all ages to strengthen their fluency, word recognition, and comprehension abilities.

How Readers Theater can foster fluency, comprehension, and motivation in struggling readers

Readers Theater combines several effective instructional strategies in a fun, motivating, and entertaining way.  Researchers have found that all readers, especially struggling readers, benefit from this dynamic method of interacting with text and with one another. 

Readers Theater builds students' motivation, fluency, comprehension, and confidence.  Studies of have shown that Readers Theater has a positive effect on students' motivation and attitudes toward reading (Martinez et al., 1998; Rinehart, 1999)).  Even reluctant readers are eager to practice for Readers Theater performances (Tyler & Chard, 2000).  Through rereading and practicing their parts, students develop increased ability to read fluently (Worthy, 2005).  In addition, Readers Theater helps students understand and interpret what they read (Wolf 1993, 1998) and has shown to have a dramatic impact on overall reading proficiency (Griffith & Rasinski, 2004).  Readers Theater can also help build classroom community because all students can contribute meaningfully to a performance, including those students who may be reluctant to participate in other forms of oral reading (Worthy, 2005).

   
Teacher Tips

How do you use Readers Theater in your class?  Submit your ideas here!

Resources and Links

Websites

Readers Theater tips from Aaron Shepard
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/Tips.html

Books

Readers Theater for building fluency:  Strategies and scripts for making the most of this highly effective, motivating, and research-based approach to oral reading by Jo Worthy (Scholastic, 2005)

• This helpful teacher resource guide explains why Readers Theater is an effective teaching strategy, how to implement in your classroom, and how to create your own scripts and integrate Readers Theater in various content areas.  The appendix includes eight scripts of popular children's literature, including The Librarian from the Black Lagoon, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and a selection from How to Eat Fried Worms. 

Extraordinary Women from U.S. History: Readers Theatre for Grades 4-8 by Chari R. Smith (Teacher Ideas Press, 2003)

Articles

"I never thought I could be a star": A Readers Theater ticket to fluency by Miriam Martinez, Nancy L. Roser, and Susan Strecker.  The Reading Teacher, Vol. 52, No. 4, p. 326-334.

Fluency beyond the primary grades: From group performance to silent, independent reading by Jo Worthy and Karen Broaddus.   
The Reading Teacher, Vol. 55, pp. 334-343.

• Presents suggestions for incorporating fluency practice in reading classes. Importance of fluency to comprehension; Components of reading fluency; Promotion through performance.

A focus on fluency: How one teacher incorporated fluency with her reading curriculum by Lorraine Wiebe Griffith and Timothy V. Rasinski.  The Reading Teacher, Vol. 58, Oct 2004, p126-137.
Provides information on methods of instruction and ways for integrating reading fluency with the curriculum in the U.S. Importance of reading fluency in successful reading instruction according to the National Reading Panel; Information on the theory of automaticity in reading; Purpose of Readers Theatre scripts; Data on gains in fluency and comprehension for several at-risk students in the 2001-2002 school year.

References

Griffith, L. W. & Rasinski, T. V. (2004).  A focus on fluency: How one teacher incorporated fluency with her reading curriculum.  The Reading Teacher, 58, 126-137.

Martinez, M., Roser, N. L., & Strecker, S. (1998).  "I never thought I could be a star": A Readers Theater ticket to fluency.  The Reading Teacher, 52, 326-334.

Rasinski, T. V. (2003).  The fluent reader: Oral reading strategies for building word recognition, fluency, and comprehension.  New York: Scholastic.

Rinehart, S. D. (1999).  "Don't think for a minute that I'm getting up there": Opportunities for readers' theater in a tutorial for children with reading problems.  Journal of Reading Psychology, 20, 71-89.

Tyler, B. & Chard, D. J. (2000).  Using Readers' Theater to foster fluency in struggling readers: A twist on the repeated reading strategy. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 16, 163-168.

Wolf, S. (1993).  What's in a name?  Labels and literacy in Readers Theater.  The Reading Teacher, 46, 540-545.

Wolf, S. (1998). The flight of reading: Shifts in instruction, orchestration, and attitudes through classroom theatre.  Reading Research Quarterly, 33, 382-415.

Worthy, J. (2005). Readers Theater for building fluency:  Strategies and scripts for making the most of this highly effective, motivating, and research-based approach to oral reading.  New York: Scholastic.