Readers theatre is a presentation by two or more participants who read from scripts and interpret a literary work in such a way that the audience imaginatively senses characterization, setting, and action. This book offers 50, two-page reproducible scripts to entice the preschool and kindergarten group into beginning to read. These patterned…

Test scores across the country show American students are far more able to read narrative than nonfiction text. Some research speculates this is due to a great lack in the background knowledge of many children. Librarians are beginning to realize that a unique fit for the school librarian is as a provider of background knowledge materials for…

Unlike traditional Readers Theatre, which is typically limited to literature-based scripts, Curriculum-Based Readers Theatre (CBRT) allows teachers and students to create scripts based on any topic, any work of literature, any textbook, or almost any collection of facts. It can be easily incorporated into the existing curriculum, and because this…

Provides a test that acquaints students with the metrical structure of a poem by selecting a familiar song that will accommodate the words of the poem. (PD)

Gives instructions for creating a shadow puppet theater in the classroom. Suggests this as a useful technique for motivating oral communication, particularly with shy children. (SJL)

Suggestions are offered in this paper for adapting C. S. Lewis's poems for oral interpretation. A discussion of Lewis's lifelong correspondence with his friend Arthur Greeves provides insights into Lewis's perceptions of his own writing. Eighty poems selected from Lewis's "Poems" as appropriate for oral interpretation are classified…

Outlines common abuses that occur when students first use dramatic analysis in oral interpretation. Offers guidelines to help make students' efforts more productive; uses William Carlos Williams's poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" as an example. (PD)

Outlines an exercise that gets students to experience the oral composition of poetry. Describes methods for implementing the exercise; discusses results and advantages. (PD)

This paper presents an outline of rehearsal procedures designed to provide instructors and students of the beginning interpretation class with a concrete, consistent framework for preparing literature for solo classroom performance. The outline offers a five-step process, and discusses each step in the process. First, the student must select a…

Shows how teachers can begin with the sound of a poem in performance as a springboard to a critical understanding of the writer's art. Provides suggestions helpful in staging performances. (GT)

Argues that reading literature and poetry aloud dramatically is one way to catch youngsters' attention, turning them into lifelong lovers of the written and spoken word. Offers tips to prepare for an effective oral reading, including warming up the voice, and getting to know the text by breaking it into the three critical elements of any story:…

Describes an exercise that introduces students to the unique characteristics of the third-person narrator and also improves skills in observation, story telling, and analysis. (PD)

Presents the script of a Readers Theater production to complement a previous article on Bertholt Brecht in theory and practice (EJ 225 131). (JMF)

Presents a discussion on the interpretations of museums and zoos. Introduces the applications of living history, museum theater and explains the terms interactors, explainers, and curators; keepers; and technicians. Lists the locations having the explained applications. Includes 29 references. (YDS)

These dynamic literature-based activities will help teachers energize the entire social studies curriculum and implement national (and state) standards. The author presents hundreds of "hands-on, minds-on" projects that actively engage students in positive learning experiences. Each of the 62 units offers book summaries, social studies…