Reading lesson idea, Readers' Theater, middle school and high school students, English teacher ideas

[@martikoller6307]

You can use highlighters in a set of books to do the same thing. For instance, for TKAM, I have an Atticus book highlighted with his lines, a Scout book with her lines, etc., and then I can assign readers by placing the books on their desks. This works class period to class period and year to year.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

GENIUS idea! Thanks, Marti. 😉

[@ivanahokesova6701]

It's great that you have focused on the organisation and setting up the whole thing. I am grateful you shared how you do step by step. Thanks!

[@pattiedortch8296]

We did this with a story in our history book. The kids loved it!

[@blciffa]

Great idea!! Love all your content. Thank you!

[@nikkirae83]

This sounds really great. I would like to try this. Thank you for sharing this idea with us.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

So glad you like this! Definitely give it a go and let me know if it works for you. 😀

[@chrisoulalakkas7401]

Sometimes, you need to step outside, get some air, and remind yourself of who you are and what you want to be.

[@susanmiller5912]

Thanks for the tips! I love your ideas.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

You are so welcome, Susan! Glad you're here with me. :)

[@brieb9750]

This is such a good idea! I’ve always found my 8th graders either LOVE or DESPISE plays...usually more of the former though! I want to try this, but I’m thinking of possible obstacles I might have. How do the kids know it’s their turn? Regular plays prompt you, and I still have students who forget their role! Lol This might be a great idea for a higher-level class if I have one or two next year. Might be a neat idea to turn it into a jigsaw/group thing where they plan, practice, and present a certain scene after we read the text. Just thinking aloud! Time for PPP! Has a good ring!

[@laurarandazzo1158]

For sure, Brie, I do a lot of extra directing in our first few attempts with this technique. Like, I'll read my line and then say, "Okay, Auntie, get ready, your line's coming up." I'm more like part narrator/part director until I get the class well-trained.

[@brieb9750]

@@laurarandazzo1158 👍🏼 Thanks Laura!

[@ClassroomJoy]

Thank you for The Outsiders examples (I have a coworker who teaches that and already lets them dress as the characters 😀). I was wondering, if the class is larger, how you handle the other kids? Do they have an action that goes with this? Thank you!

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Oh yeah, props help, too. When there's a fight, I give kids plastic lightsabers and have them slo-mo fight as they follow my directions as the narrator. For the other kids, some are happy to sit and just listen. Others who want parts are at the top of my list for the next session and they can also be sound effects, like a cheering crowd or the weather. Whenever there's a storm in the story, I like to have the whole class "make it rain" before we begin the reading parts by rubbing hands then snapping then clapping then...well, this video shows it better: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnyneHadjdl4isU

[@KS-ys8vu]

Did I miss it? How do the kids who are reading know when their part is if it isn't color coded?

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Sorry I wasn't clear about that part, KS. The text often cues the actors, especially in a back-and-forth dialogue exchange. If I'm concerned they might lose the thread because the text is unclear, I'll work as the director and narrator helping to guide us through. They get better at picking up the cues the more often we do this, too.

[@KS-ys8vu]

@@laurarandazzo1158 Thank you!

[@elisabethhays2272]

I love your videos. I had a teacher suggest that I read the narrator part of plays. It made such a difference instead of having the kids read it without an example. I can imagine doing this with a novel my kids read. I'm hoping you can answer a question about something else. I'm assessing the amount of work I give my students during novel units. I teach middle school and I usually start the vocabulary a week or so prior to the start of the reading. We do synonyms, antonyms, sentences, and pictures. My question is what is the optimum number of vocabulary words each week? I look at the difficulty of the words and if the words are not difficult, I tend to give them a few more. If they are difficult, I stick with 12 or 13 so the most I would give is 16. Does that sound like it is on target?

[@laurarandazzo1158]

GREAT question, Elisabeth. I actually struggled for about a decade with ineffective vocabulary strategies before finally finding success with a less-is-more approach. I give kids just five words a week as part of our Wednesday bell-ringer, which I call, "Words on Wednesday." Those words are from a list of the words the commonly appear on the SAT but that educated adults are also likely to use in their professional lives. We go deep on those five words, though. (example below) For novel units, I don't give novel-specific vocab. lists anymore. Instead, when we come upon an archaic or high-level word or term or reference, I just stop the action and briefly explain what that thing is and we move on. I remember as a new teacher, I was leading a class through Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men. I was using another teacher's lesson materials (so grateful!) and there was a vocab. list for kids to memorize that included words like "bindle" (a bed roll) and "skinner" (the leader of a horse team) and I thought, Why do the kids need to know those words? They'll see them a few times in this particular novel, but then never, ever call a bed roll a "bindle" ever again. So, yeah...my advice is to give the kids a cheat-sheet of vocab. or terms that'll help them through any chunks of independent reading and then use your vocabulary building time for more universal words. If you want to see my weekly WOW approach, I have a demo video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5KvmmqjgrBpfck Hope this is helpful! 😀

[@elisabethhays2272]

@@laurarandazzo1158 thank you. That's helpful and makes sense.

[@brettelizabethspore]

Do you have any recommendations for a single child homeschooler? I’m thinking something with 2 voices plus a narrator or maybe up to 3 total voices where he can do 2 voices and I can do the narrator and 1 voice. Entering 6th grade. Does NOT like bullies or horror/scary stuff.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Hmm...my experience tilts heavily toward high school, so this is out of my lane. Fifth/sixth grade teachers, any suggestions? Also, the children's librarian at your local library probably has a list of titles that'd work.

[@brettelizabethspore]

@@laurarandazzo1158 He reads at a college level. It's more of a content appropriate issue. So for example we read The Ball and The Cross by G.K. Chesterton and he loved it. But Goosebumps or Harry Potter is a big no. Our library isn't open to the public yet. Wheeee. I'll ask them when they open again.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

@@brettelizabethspore Oh, gotcha. I really liked Alan Gratz's Refugee and Jason Reynolds' track series that starts with the book Ghost. Don't worry; it's about a boy who's a runner and there aren't any ghosts. :) I don't have any of those books with me right now, though, to see if a Readers' Theater approach would be useful. Definitely some titles to check out when the library reopens. Soon, I hope!

[@brettelizabethspore]

Thank you!