Curated OER
Reader's Theater
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.
Curated OER
Drama: The New Friends
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,...
Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
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...
University of North Carolina
Drama
Watching a theatrical production can profoundly impact a person, but how would one convey the experience in writing? A handout helps readers organize their ideas and effectively write about plays, productions, and performances. Scholars...
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby
Students 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. Students analyze the scene...
Curated OER
The American Revolution: A Play
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.
Curated OER
Reader's Theatre for 1st Grade
First graders participate in reader's theatre. In this drama instructional activity, 1st graders choose a Scholastic play and use stick masks to perform the story. The students are videotaped and analyze their performance
Teacher Created Materials
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
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...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater
Pupils 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.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Dramatic and Theatrical Aspects in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”: A Common Core Exemplar
“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...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater, Get Ready
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.
Curated OER
Animal Farm - The Rest of the Story
Students 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.
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Days 13 and 14
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...
Orlando Shakes
A Christmas Carol: Study Guide
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens has delighted readers for generations. An in-depth study guide gives an overview of an adaptation of the classic story for the stage. Along with summaries of the plot and key characters, theater...
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar Quotes
Can you identify who said what in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar? Ten separate quotations prompt young readers to choose from four speakers. Prove your knowledge with this multiple-choice quiz.
Curated OER
As You Like It Quiz
How well do your readers know As You Like It? Find out with this quick multiple-choice quiz. Most questions focus on characters and who did what.
Curated OER
Othello Quiz
Focusing on the words uttered in Shakespeare's Othello, select the speaker from several options. All but one question give parts of lines and either ask the reader to identify the speaker or complete the quote.
Curated OER
Sophocles' Oedipus the King
Introduce your class to the Greek tragedy with a study of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Learners examine the features of a Greek tragedy, Sophocles’ achievements and contributions, and the universal themes that make the drama an...
Curated OER
Analyzing Atmosphere: Macbeth Murder Scene and Dagger Speech
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...
Curated OER
Sequencing Stories
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...
Curated OER
The Trial of Monty Terry
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...
Curated OER
Lon Chaney: Three Faces of Lon Chaney
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...
Curated OER
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Learners 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...
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Macbeth
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...