Reader's Theater: Making Reading Come Alive

One way to get some of your most reluctant readers to read is by introducing Reader's Theater into your classroom.  I've found that the majority of my students love Reader's Theater and are willing to reread the text multiple times (YEAH, talk about improving fluency!) and read in front of others.  When evaluating my students' beginning of the year motivation surveys, I noticed that many of my students indicated that they did not enjoy reading aloud.  By introducing more Reader's Theater into my classroom, my students are gaining oral reading confidence and improving their fluency.  Check out the article from Education World for more information on using Readers Theater to increase reading motivation. 

Reader's Theater:  A Reason to Read Aloud by Cara Bafile

If you've decided to introduce reader's theater into your classroom, remember the following guidelines when selecting your texts (according to Judy Freeman):

• Peppy dialogue
• A little action
• Laugh-out-loud parts
• Lively narration
• Enough roles for all

Most of my students have greatly enjoyed the 12 Fabulously Funny Fairy Tale Plays by Justin Mccory Martin.  These twisted tales allowed for my students that are reading below grade level (everyone has some struggling kiddos, right?) to be successful with a text that doesn't seem babyish. 

For my students that are reading closer to grade level, I have found Joan M. Wolf's Cinderella Outgrows the Glass Slipper and Other Zany Fractured Fairy Tale Plays to be a great fit for my classroom.  Both can be found on Amazon or possibly at your local library. 

For my students that are reading above grade level, I have given them the chance to write their own fractured fairy tale script and present it to the classroom.  It's great to hear some of your student's wit and sarcasm put to good use! 

Finding High-Interest Books

As a 5th grade elementary teacher, I've seen my fair share of students that are FAR from excited about reading.  These are the students whose eyes glaze over when it is time for reading from our basals or guided reading groups.  They are reluctant to participate in a literature circle or independent reading.  It's not that they don't know how to read, it is more often the case that they haven't found the book that hooks them.

Last year, after reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I shared this book with my class.  I LOVED the book and was excited to recommend it to my students.  By the end of the day, I had a group of boys that were begging me to purchase multiple copies of it so they could form a new literature circle (two literature circles were just finishing up their current books).  Seeing how excited my students were, I went out and purchased the books that night.  The lit. circle started two days later and they were off and running!  They boys read their books during lit. circle time, during independent reading time, at home, on the bus, during morning work time...  They couldn't put it down!  Their excitement was contagious and pretty soon we had a sign up sheet going for those that wanted to read the book next.

At that time, many of my students became "real" readers.  They found the excitement that comes with reading and were hooked.  Once they finished reading The Hunger Games they were rushing to get their hands on Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games.  They had found an author (and genre) they enjoyed and found the pleasure of reading.

Imagine if we could help each of our children find the book that allows them to fall in love with reading!  I think our reading classrooms would look and sound completely different if everyone was excited about reading.  One way that I use to help spark that excitement is by using book talks.  During my book talks, I share some of my favorite books.  It is really hard to "sell" a book if I haven't actually read it myself.  When I am searching for a new book to read (generally YA fiction), I browse the following book blogs for recommendations:
The Book Whisperer
Guys Read
Greetings from Nowhere
I think that if you check out those blogs, you will find a book that may hook a reader!