Readers’ Theatre is a particular type of dramatic pedagogy, which uses scripts and performance to enhance the comprehension of a text. Students work in groups to practise the performance of a script, which has been given to the group or written by the group. Multiple readings of the text, through rehearsal offers opportunities to address fluency, phrasing, intonation and voice production.
Popular stories or picture story books can be turned into scripts for performance, bringing literature to life. Students who are involved in writing and performing scripts for a Readers’ Theatre performance:
- are involved in integrating reading, writing, speaking and listening
- can develop the skills of reading aloud
- engage in an authentic co-operative activity
- participate in an engaging and motivating literacy activity.
In addition to these benefits, Readers’ Theatre has been effectively used with EAL/D students, to teach content and vocabulary and to introduce critical issues (Young, Stokes and Rasinski, 2017).
References
Young, C., Stokes, F. and Rasinski, T. (2017). Readers Theatre plus Comprehension and Word Study. The Reading Teacher. 71, (3), 351 – 355.