5 Reader’s Theater Myths Debunked (and Tips to Make it Work in YOUR Class!)

Guest post by Sarah Wiggins

I first heard about reader’s theater in college and thought, “How fun! I will definitely do that when I have a class of my own.” When I did get my very own classroom, however, I was overwhelmed with everything that I was supposed to fit into my reading block. How could I possibly add one more thing? In my mind, I had made it this giant production that required tons of time and involved massive preparation including sets, costumes, and tense practice sessions. I soon realized I had been thinking of reader’s theater all wrong and letting the misconceptions prevent me from utilizing a valuable teaching tool.

Maybe you have believed some of these misconceptions, too, and my goal is to help debunk the myths.

MYTH #1—Reader’s theater must be a big production. 
TRUTH: You can make reader’s theater as big or as small as you want it. You don’t have to have props, sets, or any of that. The fact that it is divided into parts is special enough.

Try This:

• Just print the scripts and go. 
• Have students sit in their chairs in a circle with everyone’s knees facing the center, no need for “places” or acting, just reading. 
• If you do want to go all out, wait until the last week of school or the week before winter break. Divide students into groups, and put them in charge of producing a play. Hey, that energy has to go somewhere.

MYTH #2—Reader’s theater takes too much time. 
TRUTH: Reader’s theater doesn’t have to require a huge time commitment. Carve out 15-20 minutes when you can.

Try This:

• Pass out a script after the test on Friday or in place of a textbook story one day. 
• Try finding scripts that match up with your social studies or science standards, and do reader’s theater during those times. 
• Pack up a few minutes early, and let students practice their scripts until their bus is called. 
• Do reader’s theater in lieu of morning work a few days a week. Just have students come in and begin working on a script instead of completing a worksheet.
• Use it as a literacy center with a new script each week.

MYTH #3—Reader’s theater is just putting on a class play for fun. 
TRUTH: Unlike doing a play, where the focus is the acting, reader’s theater focuses on reading. The repeated reading aloud enhances fluency and word recognition skills. Not to mention, it addresses the Common Core speaking and listening standards. Added bonuses are teamwork, cooperative learning, and problem solving skills.

Try This:

• Rather than reading a script as a whole class, divide your class into groups for reader’s theater. This way, each student gets more actual reading practice.
• Before beginning reader’s theater in your classroom, set guidelines for fluent reading practices and behavior so that students know this is not just playtime. You may even create an anchor chart with your students like the one below.

MYTH #4—Reader’s theater takes too much preparation and paper. 

TRUTH: Initially, there is some work involved to get it going, but it will pay off in the end. Plus, you can re-use scripts from year to year.

Try This:

• Make 5 copies each time you get a new script. Print on the backs of pages when possible. 
• Highlight the parts ahead of time. If there are more than 5 parts, choose parts that have fewer lines and double them up. It’s ok for one student to read multiple parts. 
• Keep the pre-highlighted scripts in plastic sleeves in a three-pronged folder.
• Invite a trustworthy parent volunteer to do the highlighting and setting up.

MYTH #5—Reader’s theater is just for little kids. 
TRUTH: Reader’s theater can be adapted for students of all ages. Even “big kids” get excited when you break out a script.

Try This:

• Find engaging scripts on your students’ reading levels. Many scripts are based on well-known books. Look for high interest topics, popular characters, and higher-level vocabulary. You may even find scripts that address your content area topics.

Think you’re ready to give it a try? Here is a FREE script to get you started. How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow is a four-page script for grades 3-5 based on a familiar chapter from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

Don’t worry if it doesn’t go perfectly the first time. Just jump in and try it! See how it goes, and tweak it as needed. It will get easier each time as your students get accustomed to your expectations.

Sarah Wiggins has spent eight wild and crazy years in the classroom and believes learning is more than a worksheet. She is on a quest to help students think outside the box, and she likes to share creative, practical teaching ideas on her blog, Using My Teacher Voice.

How to Earn 10,000 Scholastic Bonus Points (It Really Works!)

Who loves Scholastic Reading Club? I do! I do! I love how every month they send a new flyer that's packed with great reading selections. I also love how they reward teachers with bonus points for their classrooms. A few years ago Scholastic started offering a fabulous deal in August and September where you could get thousands of bonus points with your first order.

Of course there was a catch - back then, your order had to be $200 or more. With an order that size, you could get 4,000 bonus points. Wow! I couldn't even begin to imagine what I could do with that many points! I also wondered, "How in the world am I going to get an order that large? Lately I haven't even gotten many $20 orders!"

But I couldn't walk away from a deal that sweet, so I decided to give it a try. I explained Scholastic's offer to my students and put the challenge to them. I told them that we would be able to use those bonus points to buy books and materials for our classroom, and I sent a letter to parents explaining our goal. Amazingly, we not only met that goal but we surpassed it by about $30! My class was thrilled when FOUR big boxes of books showed up a week later! It was exciting to hand out the books, and I loved spending those bonus points on books throughout the year. I was able to purchase dozens of sets of books for literature circles and for my reading workshop program.

Classroom Goal-Setting Lesson
Over the years I tweaked my system and turned it into a complete goal-setting program. I actually used the program as a way of teaching my class how to set goals and create action plans. Every year it worked better and better, and I began to tell other teachers about it.They system worked for them, too! Eventually I typed up detailed directions, complete with a customizable letter to parents, a star-themed poster for tracking our progress, and coupons.

Earn 10,000 Points in 2017
Fast forward to 2017.... This year's minimum is much higher, but the offer also has the potential for much greater rewards. With an order of $300 you can get 10,000 points! The system is basically the same, but it will take a little more persistence to reach the top goal. Don't give up because you can do it!

I recently updated my packet based on the new Scholastic flyers that were sent out, so if you were using my system from last year, please download the new version of How to Earn 10,000 Scholastic Bonus Points from my TpT store. Even if you don't think you can reach a goal of $300, any size order will generate loads of additional points, so why not give it a try?

Fun Twist on Book Reports!

Five Looks on a Book is a simple and fun activity that offers a nice twist on the traditional book report. Students name five adjectives that describe their book and then write one supporting detail for each adjective. You can download this freebie from my Reading Workshop page on Teaching Resources.

The original idea for the activity came from 3rd grader Adrienne Duarte, and I created the graphic organizer to go with her idea. When I first shared this activity online, Facebook fans helped me brainstorm adjectives to describe books. We came up with 99 different adjectives, and Stephanie Schifini compiled and alphabetized the list. Thanks, Adrienne and Stephanie!

If you use this activity with students, I would recommend having students brainstorm adjectives for books before showing them your list of 99 adjectives. In fact, why not make it a challenge? Tell them that you have a list of 99 adjectives and you want to see if they can come up with a list of 99 adjectives without looking at your list!  

Post a large sheet of paper on a bulletin board and allow students to add adjectives throughout the week. When they have found as many as possible, reveal your words and compare the two lists. After students complete their worksheets, arrange them on the bulletin board around the poster. Title the board, "Take A Look!" and you've just created an instant bulletin board display!

Five Looks on a Book is such a quick and easy activity that you could easily repeat it several times throughout the year, or even once a month. You can download this 3-page freebie from my Reading Workshop page on Teaching Resources. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Create Easy Reading Mini Lessons

Did you know that you can create a mini lesson for just about any reading skill by using a simple 3-step process? All you need is a short read aloud text and a graphic organizer. On Sunday evening, I was interviewed by Charity Preston on Blog Talk Radio about my new Graphic Organizers for Reading book, and I shared how easy it is to create reading mini lessons with this method. In my example, I used the children's book Teacher from the Black Lagoon and the Cause & Effect Rockets graphic organizer my daughter Wendy helped me create. (She's the artistic one!) This is one of the graphic organizers in the book, but since I described it in the sample lesson, I wanted to be sure you could download your own copy. I also embedded the 15-minute recording of the Blog Talk Radio show below in case you'd like to listen to it.

You can find more information about Graphic Organizers for Reading on my Teaching Resources website. Enjoy the show!

Heartfelt Causes & Effects

Last week I read an adorable book called Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch. I couldn't believe that it was published over 20 years ago! It's about a lonely man who receives a Valentine candy heart with a card that says, "Somebody loves you." His whole demeanor changes and, as a result, he develops many friendships. But then he finds out that the candy heart was a mistake, and he reverts to his former quiet self. Of course the story has a happy ending, but you'll have to read the book to find out what happens!

Anyway, as I was reading the book, I thought about how our words and actions can impact others in both positive and negative ways. A smile or a kind word can go a long way to brighten someone's day. I wanted to create a reading lesson to go along with the story, and I thought it would be the perfect text for exploring cause and effect - both in the book and in our own lives.

So I created the Heartfelt Causes & Effects graphic organizer from the Cause and Effects Rocket graphic organizer in my newest ebook, Graphic Organizers for Reading: Teaching Tools Aligned with the Common Core. First, students find three different cause and effect situations in the story. Then they write each cause on one rocket's flame and its effect on the body of the rocket. The rocket theme helps them understand cause and effect relationships because the exhaust (or flame) released from the end of the rocket makes the rocket move forward.

In addition to creating the graphic organizer, I wrote a complete lesson for using Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch with your students. Click the title of the book to find it on Amazon where you can review the reviews and learn more about it. Download the entire lesson with printables from the Seasonal page on Teaching Resources during February or any time of the year from Laura's Best Freebies, a page with over 75 freebies of my very best free resources for teachers. I hope you enjoy the lesson!






Disclaimer: This post includes an Amazon affiliate links at no cost to you.

Christmas Paper Chain Connections Craftivity

I love dreaming up new seasonal activities, but I always try to make them educational. A few days ago I remembered how I used to love to make paper chains to decorate our Christmas tree, and I realized that this craftivity could easily be adapted to the classroom by having students write on the slips of paper first. In fact, this idea would fit perfectly into a lesson on making connections while reading!

Making connections helps the reader make sense of what he or she is reading, and we often teach our students about three different types of connections: text to text, text to self, and text to world. Children are often taught to recognize and distinguish between these three, so I created a printable to make it super easy for students to record and classify their connections. (For some great mini lessons on teaching connections, read Stephanie Harvey's book, Strategies That Work.)

You can use this activity just before the holidays and have students create paper chains to decorate their Christmas trees, or you can do the activity at another time during the year and make paper chains for fun. The Paper Chain Connections activity can also be used with a "reading marathon" right before the holidays. Everything is fully explained in my free holiday lesson packet called Christmas Decoration Connections. You can download it from my Seasonal page on Teaching Resources during December, or my TeachersPayTeachers store any time of the year. If you download it from TpT, please take a moment to rate it. I hope you and your students enjoy this activity!

Teaching Resources ~ http://www.lauracandler.com