Conduct a Reader's Theater. Third, fourth, and fifth graders rewrite books with a baseball theme to a Reader's Theater format. They form groups of four or five, practice reading the script, and then perform it for an audience.

Reader's Theater is a great way to build fluency, intonation, and dramatic flare. The class reads the theater piece, "The New Friends" paying attention to how they express emotion and feeling as they read. They discuss the use of plot,...

How do novels differ from plays? Explore with your class the text features of fiction and drama by reading The Hidden One: Native American Legend and then performing a reader’s theater script based on the story. Class members create a...

For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...

“So I’m going to have a copy of this play put in the cornerstone and the people a thousand years from now’ll know a few simple facts about us.” Our Town is used as the text in a Common Core exemplar that examines the dramatic and...

How important are sound effects in films? In stage plays? In radio programs? To gain an understanding of the impact of these special effects, class members watch a short video spoof of the sound in a scene from Star...

Learners participate in a reader's theater, adapting scenes from The Great Gatsby.  In this reading comprehension lesson, students interpret a given scene from The Great Gatsby in a readers' theater.  Learners analyze the scene...

No lesson accompanies this drama about the American Revolution. With 13 speaking roles, the short script could be used for a class production, a lesson on the parts of a play, or to supplement your social studies curriculum.

Bring Julius Caesar to life with a reader's theatre approach that engages the entire class. The opening exercises model the importance of reading with expression while choral reading exercises permit class members to practice their...

Students access a variety of websites that present the topic of Reader's Theater. They consider how to use Reader's Theater in the classroom and participate in a Reader's Theater presentation.

Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act II, Scenes I and II) lacks explicit details of the murder of King Duncan, yet the author creates an atmosphere that allows us to visualize the event. Readers interpret the "Dagger Speech" by writing stage...

Students recognize what features make a play. In this reader's theater lesson, students read the play Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria told by Aaron Shepard and determine what features make this a play and what the author's purpose was.

Young scholars participate in a reader's theater using farm animals in the novella Animal Farm. In this Animal Farm lesson plan, students evaluate interpretations using the text, personal experience, and historical events.

First graders participate in reader's theatre. In this drama lesson, 1st graders choose a Scholastic play and use stick masks to perform the story. The students are videotaped and analyze their performance

Students read a chapter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and define new words for their dictionaries. In this vocabulary lesson students choose two or three assignment from a list of projects and complete it using...

Students explore dramatization. In this literacy fluency and drama lesson, students listen to the story Mop Top by Don Freeman and add related sounds at the appropriate times. Students role play, pantomime, and add sounds to  create...

Students identify the elements of line, shape, and color and expressive qualities of pictorial representation. Students create their own puppet frog using emotion and perform in a reader's theater. Students listen to various pieces of...

Students research and analyze the Federal Reserve System. They participate in a reader's theater, acting out the roles typical of a courtroom drama as they determine whether the defendant, Monty Terry, is guilty or innocent of...

Students watch the Lon Chaney episode of American Masters, read chapters from three original books on which Chaney's films were based, and use a reading strategy called Reader's Theater to adapt each chapter into a script. After...

After reading Act II of The Tragedy of Macbeth, give your class this prompt to complete. One other question is listed along with information regarding the divine right of kings. A full plan is not written out here, but the prompt is a...

Students examine the U.S. Constitution. In this American history lesson, students explore the founders' vision of U.S. government as they participate in readers' theatre, role-playing scenarios, and constitutional analysis activities.

Eighth graders use first-hand slave narratives that show conditions of slavery. They paste text into Appleworks and publish with a picture clipped from web sites. They create a group account of life during slavery to prepare for reading...

Learners examine the importance of oral traditions while reading various fairy and folk tales. Given a piece of clay, they can mold it into any shape they want and pass it to their neighbor which keeps building the object. They use...

Students investigate the causes and possible consequences of climate change in the north, and realize their choices and actions can help reduce climate change. Some of the skills involved in the lesson are discussion, synthesis,...