Curated OER
Literary Terms: Take Me to the Theater!
Take your class to the theater! First graders will examine characters that actors play such a villians and heroes. Then participate in creating plays and performing in them. They will also research what it takes to create scenery, props...
EngageNY
Narratives as Theater, Part I: What is Readers Theater?
Discover the exciting world of readers theater! Scholars learn all about the reading strategy, reading a script about American heroes and completing an I Notice/I Wonder chart. Next, pupils participate in readers theater using the script.
Candace Fleming
A Reader's Theater Script for Oh, No!
If you are reading Judy Freeman's Oh No! or your class loves animals, use a reader's theater exercise to bring the story to life. After assigning 12 parts to your young actors, have them act out the story with a script that will be...
EngageNY
Introducing Readers Theater: Pygmalion
It's time to put on a show! Scholars participate in a Pygmalion Readers Theater. They discuss the text-dependent questions from the previous lesson and revisit the Eliza Character Tracker. To end the lesson, individuals reflect on their...
Curated OER
Learning About Fiction Genres in the Elementary School Library
Teaching about fiction genres can be challenging. The instructional activity here, designed for library media specialists, offers a fun way to do it. In the instructional activity, learners visit the library and learn about the...
Curated OER
A Lesson To Accompany "The First Bank of the United States: A Chapter in the History of Central Banking"
Here is an interesting topic. Learners examine the economics that led to the founding of the First Bank of America. They participate in a reader's theater experience depicting the debate between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater: If You Take a Mouse to School
In this reading worksheet, students participate in a 2 character reader's theater play based on the book If You Take a Mouse to School.
Curated OER
Civil War Reader's Theater Lesson Plan
Students participate in a reader's theater about the Civil War. In this performing arts lesson, students review the Civil War through a reader's theater. They practice reading their parts to work on expression and fluidity before...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater
Conduct a Reader's Theater. Third, fourth, and fifth graders rewrite books with a baseball theme to a Reader's Theater format. They form groups of four or five, practice reading the script, and then perform it for an audience.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Dramatic and Theatrical Aspects in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”: A Common Core Exemplar
“So I’m going to have a copy of this play put in the cornerstone and the people a thousand years from now’ll know a few simple facts about us.” Our Town is used as the text in a Common Core exemplar that examines the dramatic and...
Curated OER
Characters in Live Performance
Your intermediate or advanced thespians choose dramatic scenes to perform in duos, small groups, or solo to demonstrate vocal and physical characterization. Use class time to prepare and rehearse. Detailed rubrics work for peer assessment.
Michigan Reads!
Reader's Theater with Animal Masks for Preschoolers
Take a trip to the farm with a fun preschool lesson! Kids decorate animal masks and participate in a reader's theater, based on different songs and additional props.
Orlando Shakes
Shakespeare in Love: Study Guide
What word has two syllables and means a ray of moonlight? If young readers guessed moonbeam, they are correct! With the Shakespeare in Love study guide, participants test their guessing skills in an exciting game of Shakespeare Taboo...
Curated OER
Children of War
Take a closer look at the impact of war in this language arts and social studies activity. Middle schoolers use primary sources to conduct research as they relate to the effects of war on children. They compare and contrast the effects...
Orlando Shakes
A Christmas Carol: Study Guide
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens has delighted readers for generations. An in-depth study guide gives an overview of an adaptation of the classic story for the stage. Along with summaries of the plot and key characters, theater goers...
Curated OER
Using Reader's Theater in the Classroom
Here are some suggestions for using Reader's Theater in the classroom.
Civil War Trust
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Through a careful reading and examination of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, scholars take part in grand conversations about the novel's contents, slavery, and the impact the book had on it. Furthermore, learners analyze an...
Learning to Give
Teaching Playwriting in Schools
The world is a stage, and so is your classroom! Hone the skills of the next generation of Tony® award winners with a set of exercises, reference pages, writing prompts, and excerpts from famous plays.
California Department of Education
Preparing for My Future
Your future is what you make it! Eighth graders launch their career searches in the first of six career and college readiness lessons. Scholars research to discover their extracurricular options both in and out of school, then locate...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Inside the Wire: Internment of Prisoners of War in Alabama during World War II
Create an open environment of discussion and collaboration with several exercises in a thought-provoking resource. Pupils conduct a gallery walk and lead a discussion before filling out a question sheet and chart during the learning...
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby
Students participate in a reader's theater, adapting scenes from The Great Gatsby. In this reading comprehension lesson plan, students interpret a given scene from The Great Gatsby in a readers' theater. Students analyze the scene for...
Scholastic
Voyage on the Mayflower for Grades 6–8
Imagine living in the hold of a sailing ship for 63 days, enduring rough seas and autumn storms. As part of a study of the voyage of the Mayflower, class members examine an online resource that details life about the ship, watch a slide...
Curated OER
Patriotic Performance
Students participate in a patriotic performance. In this patriotic lesson, students sing, do reader's theater, tell historic facts and joke. This lesson includes several attachments including the script that was used.
Curated OER
Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Students participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...