Readers theatre involves students reading from a script or from a story with different parts that can be assigned to each student.
Students do not need to memorise the lines but they need to practise them sufficiently to become fluent. A component of readers theatre that provides motivation and enjoyment is for groups of students to perform for their classmates or another audience.
How to do readers theatre
- Choose a text that is either a play or a story with a role for each reader, ideally with lots of dialogue.
- Give a part to each student.
- Model reading the whole text fluently and expressively.
- Have students practise their parts, providing feedback when appropriate.
- After a number of practices, have students read to an audience of peers.
More information on readers theatre