Reader's Theater

I learned about reader's theater in literacy class last semester. I thought it was a great idea to implement into a classroom. Reader's theater allows the student to role play with characters from various stories. The students can better comprehend a story when they have a chance to act out various scenes from the story. The students can also better understand the characters and their distinct characteristics when they role play. Students would love to have the chance to act out their favorite characters from their favorite stories. When I was younger, I would have loved having the chance to act as different characters. I wish my teachers implemented this fascinating concept into their classroom.
As a future teacher, I would want to incorporate the reader's theater because I think it is a great tool to help students develop their fluency, comprehension, and their reading expression. The Joy of Children's Literature states that "the teacher can introduce children to this fun activity and then gradually turn over the responsibility to the students for writing the script, assigning parts, obtaining props if desired, and performing for each other." Once students become accommodated to the reader's theater and its script, the students can start creating their own scripts and props to further their comprehension of the story.
All in all, reader's theater is a wonderful activity for students to participate in after reading a story. Students will be able to learn about their characters, while still having fun role playing.