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Readers’ Theater
Readers’ Theater is simply a way to bring a story to life via one’s voice. Students use their voice to convey the meaning through use of emotion and intonation and as well as use of gestures, but do not need to memorize lines or use props.
Preparation
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Select a story that includes a lot of dialogue. The story could also include functions, structures, or vocabulary that you want the learners to practice.
Procedure
1. Read the story with students assigned as the different characters.
One person should be the narrator (or that can be the instructor’s role). The first reading can be “bland” to emphasize the point of the exercise. 2. Elicit additional information from students to make the story more realistic and dramatic. E.g., Is a character sharing exciting news? Did the student sound excited when s/he read the line?
Was a character in the dialogue upset about something? Did the student reading the line sound suitably upset? 3. Reread part of the story, giving more emotion to the reading and gestures where suitable to model Readers’ Theater to the rest of the class. Even the narrator should adopt a suitable tone. Encourage students to add emotion and gestures. 4. Have students practice reading the story in groups relevant to the number of characters in the story.
When to Use It
• To have students practice intonation and fluency • To practice critical thinking — if swapping out emotions • To practice a dialogue multiple times without it appearing to be a drill
Level
Skills
Practice
Materials
Copies of the dialogue
Preparation Time
5 minutes for the sample story
Activity Time
10–20 minutes
Variations
1. Have students “perform” the story in front of the class. One group can start and another group can take over to continue depending on the length of the story. 2. Assign new emotions to the story/characters as students read the story a subsequent time. 3. If the story only has two characters, this activity could be done in a Dialogue Line (see page 56), with the teacher or another student being the narrator for the line.
