The pedagogical principle of experiential learning embodied in the oral interpretation of literature through Readers' Theater provides an avenue to accomplish a seemingly daunting task. Students' participation in reading, interpreting, discussing, writing, assessing, and performing their own creative responses to a literary work promotes a…

In order for students to learn how to construct meaning from text, teachers must apply instructional strategies that will help readers transition from simple decoding of words to fluent word identification. This article will provide an overview of the literature related to the role of fluency in reading; explain research-based recommendations for…

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…

This study investigated the impact of Readers Theater on eighth-grade students, the majority of whom were reading below grade level. Over six weeks of a short story unit, one class participated in Readers Theater. The comparison group of like-ability students received more traditional literary and vocabulary instruction. Quantitative measures…

Reaffirms the position of directors (Peter Brook, Tyrone Guthrie, Peter Hall, and others) concerning the "balance of power" between director and playwright in transforming a playscript into a theatrical performance. (PD)

Interest in oral traditions has benefitted the field of interpretation in two ways: a new emphasis on the social and cultural contexts of performance, and an expanded perspective on performance manifestations. In Richard Schechner's concept of "restored behavior," the interpreter engages in a reconstruction of living behavior independent…

Affirms the value of liberal arts in educating the mind. Examines the literature of oral interpretation and theatre arts from 1960-82, discussing themes, research problems and needs, trends and directions. Notes, among other conclusions, that the nature of classroom practices in oral interpretation and theatre arts needs study. (PD)

Examines reasons why those who engage in performance and direct performances take up the burden. Considers performance an authentic, primary experience; a way of knowing; and also a way of knowing what is worth knowing. (PD)

Explores the extent to which the scholarship of interpretation-in-performance parallels the knowledge of written literary criticism and contends that solo and group performance is a form of "published scholarship". (MH)

Directors of plays can make rehearsals interpretively productive, but they must first reject directorial approaches such as beginning rehearsals without analyzing the script, projecting images of the play as it is read, and using the script merely to summarize meanings, static themes, morals, and nothing more. Making rehearsals interpretively…

The interrelationship of performers, text, and audience in reader's theater may be better understood through philosopher Martin Buber's key concepts of polarity, dialogue, and inclusion. These concepts operate within four polar tensions identified by Buber: that between the performer and the character represented; that between the performer and…

Defines metaphorical staging as group interpretation that gives a ritual or symbolic stage form to literature and illustrates this concept by describing the staging of D. H. Lawrence's story "The Horse Dealer's Daughter". (MH)