circulates from group to group, mini lessons can be slipped in about theme, setting, plot development, and
background knowledge while the students read, reread, and rehearse their parts.
During the development of the theater unit, several readings of the script occur. The first is an
introduction to the script, either read by the teacher or orally as a group (Hudson, 2006, Norton, 2007).
After the students pick their parts, the next reading(s) can be a combination of listening to a tape recording,
reading in pairs or small groups, and/or having the students read to themselves. Then the teacher listens as
the whole group does a dress rehearsal and “offers advice and help as needed” (Hudson, 2006, p. 12).
Offering a copy of the script for readers to take home for the next day’s performance gives readers who
struggle a chance to rehearse on their own. Readers’ Theater is not usually done on a stage with props, so
Norton (2007) suggests that “a director reads the title, the cast of characters, and a description of the
setting or actions” (p. 279) to set the stage for the audience as the final reading is done.
When we examine the benefits of Reader’s Theater, Wayne (2008) suggests that working as a group
gives reluctant readers “opportunities to share delights, confusions, frustrations, and discoveries with
peers, teachers, and adults” (p. 494), and ultimately the motivation to read, reread and develop a character
improves students’ comprehension, fluency and attitudes about what reading can do in their lives (Hudson,
2006).
Conclusion
Using multiple literacy practices and working with different strategies to engage students can help
them overcome their lack of skills and learn what they need to be successful readers. Norton (2007) said it
best when he wrote,
Good readers use many of the strategies we have discussed. They visualize, they ask questions, they
summarize their reading, and when necessary they ask for help. Many students, however, will not use
these effective strategies unless they have many opportunities to discover that the strategies do, indeed,
help them comprehend the materials. (p. 241)
By continuing, even through high school, to give all our students a chance to learn and apply literacy skills,
we are giving them a chance to feel as if they “belong” in a literate society.
References
Allington, R.L. (2002). You can’t learn much from books you can’t read. Educational Leadership, 60(3), 1619.
Ambe, E.B. (2007). Inviting reluctant adolescent readers into the literacy club: Some comprehension
strategies to tutor individuals or small groups of reluctant readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult
Literacy, 50(8), 632-639.
Baling, C. J., & Evans, W. H. (2008). Reading success in the secondary classroom. Preventing School Failure,
52(2), 59-66.
Blum, I. H., & Koskinen, P. S. (1991). Repeated reading: A strategy for enhancing fluency and fostering
expertise. Theory Into Practice, 30(3), 195-200.
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