I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE using readers' theater in my classroom. My students really get into it because the characters really come alive for them. The elements of the story really become clear.
This year I was able to turn the week before Christmas (when absolutely nothing can usually pull the students away from the visions of sugar plums) into a romp into the world of fluency and expression. I chose a reader’s theater play for each class. One class did a version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss that I adapted into readers’ theater format, and the other three classes had plays based on “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement C. Moore. On the last day before Christmas break, we have a tradition of caroling for local senior citizens. When we got back from caroling, this year the students performed their plays for the whole school. One of my favorite parts of the performances was watching one of my students exclaim, “Boo hoo to the Whos!” Students in my classes were still quoting his amazing expression at the end of the year.
My seventh and eighth graders do readers’ theater on a regular basis. I subscribe to Scope magazine through Scholastic. One of the best parts of this magazine is the readers’ theater play in each issue. My students and I look forward to each volume!
While I was searching for readers’ theater scripts for Christmas, I found a lot of different resources to utilize. I would like to put them in one place!
| Readers’ Theatre Digest | This site contains many wonderful articles on incorporating readers’ theater in the classroom. |
| Aaron Shepard | Aaron Shepard is an author who created Readers’ Theatre scripts for many wonderful folk tales, fables, and stories. The best part: the scripts are free! |
| Timeless Teacher Stuff | This site has scripts and other resources I found helpful in implementing readers’ theater in my classroom. |
| Readers Theater All Year | This site has some free scripts. It also includes a description of readers theater as well as other useful resources. The “All you can Eat” option is available for under $5/month. The scripts are also separated according to holiday/occasion so it is easy to find what you are looking for! |
| Grandview Library | There a lot of scripts aimed toward students in grades K-3 at this site. Older students can have a lot of fun preparing these scripts to perform for younger students. Choices range from beloved fairy tales to more modern children’s stories. |
| Teaching Heart | This site has various scripts compiled from different resources. There is also good information on creating your own scripts and evaluating readers’ theater. |
| Super Teacher | Although this site gives full access to paying subscribers (about $20/year), it also has some free goodies! |
| Giggle Poetry | This is one of my favorite sites in the world! It has a lot of poems for students to read, and there is a whole section called “Poetry Theater” divides the poems into parts. |
| The Best Class | This is the website of Mr. Young. He is a former literacy specialist. He has a lot of scripts and each script shows the number of parts in the menu! |
| Library Point | This is the site of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library. There is an article about reader’s theater in the teacher’s section which includes some free scripts. |
| Teachers.net | This page is a wonderful site for teachers. At the lesson plan page, search ‘readers theater,’ and you will find a plethora of scripts. |
| Playbooks | This site has a lot of scripts available for purchase. |
| Reading Online | This site is run by the International Reading Association (IRA). There are very good resources here! |
| Sherlock’s Wiki | A ton of great scripts! |
| Reading Lady | This is the blog of the Reading Lady. Not only does she have a lot of wonderful scripts, but she also has great resources for comprehension, author studies, poetry, six trait, and assessment. |
| PBS Kids | This site has a lot of play scripts. The format is a little difficult to read, but these plays have production notes in them. |
| Whootie Owl | This site has a lot of good scripts, and you can also submit your own scripts! Then there is a spot to submit performance video. |
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