Flipping Over Reader's Theater!

To: We will read a play today to practice our reading fluency. I will let you read the entire play at your desk and as you are reading it, I want you to be thinking of a part that you would like to read. We will gather in a few minutes to highlight our parts.

With: Gather the students in a circle and have them highlight their parts. As they are waiting for others to finsh highlighting, encourage them to read over their parts and practice. When the whole group is ready, read the play together. Have students gently elbow their neighbor as a reminder if they are forgetting to read.

This will take several days of practice so fluency and expression can develop. You can practice during guided reading or as an end of the day activity.

By: Have students help create an 11x17 poster of the backgroud for the play and and a puppet of their character out of index cards. Glue a popsicle stick at the bottom of their character. Narrators can draw themselves.

When students are ready to be filmed, set up the stage. Set 2 chairs facing back to back from each other with some space between them, tape the camera on a yard stick, set the yardstick on the top part of the chairs' backs (this prevents the camera from moving), and tape the background poster on the floor between the chairs. Students will gather around the chairs on the floor to read their parts and to insert their puppets on the poster. This will take practice too but the end results are worth the work!