This article presents guidelines to the elementary teacher for producing a class play. The script for a short adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland" is appended on pages 47-49. (SJL)

Drawing its materials from any genre, a Readers Theater differs from the usual theatrical presentation in that its action takes place in the reader's mind and is then projected to the audience. The one requirement for "production" is the reader or a group of readers--a stage is unnecessary. On a simple level, it emphasizes placement of readers,…

With the current education climate so focused on accountability, teachers need to ensure that their teaching practices are supported by today's content-specific standards. To meet this need, "A Comprehensive Guide to Readers Theatre" shows not only how to implement Readers Theatre in the classroom but also how to use it to meet current literacy…

Introducing students to the magic of theater and helping them develop dramatic skills, this book presents nine reproducible scripts for short plays (15 to 25 minutes) with characters and story lines that will appeal to young people. The scripts in the book encompass a variety of story types, from adaptations of well-known fairy tales to original…

The primary pedagogical principle of Reader's Theatre is that it "dramatizes" literature to provide both a visual and an oral stimulus for students who may be unaccustomed to using their imagination to experience literary works like novels, poems, essays, or short stories. Promoting a suggestive, "theatrical mind" approach to…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to creating and performing original artistic presentations. It begins with…

Intended especially for teachers who might be a little intimidated by the art of playwriting, this guide provides a step-by-step plan for using drama in the classroom in grades 4-8 to build children's language arts and thinking skills. The guide features a series of engaging activities where students will learn how to write dialogue, set scenes,…

Noting that knowledge of grammar rules does not ensure correct usage in one's own writing, describes an approach used in a summer workshop to promote awareness of appropriate idiom where 35 highly motivated black students produced 'Snow White' using their own script, half in standard dialect and half in black dialect. (JG)