Implementing Readers Theatre as an Approach to Classroom Fluency Instruction

Abstract

This article describes how Readers Theatre was implemented as an engaging means for reading fluency instruction in a second‐grade classroom. A weekly Readers Theatre format was utilized over the course of a school year. The format was added to the existing literacy program. Data collected during the school year revealed significant gains in reading fluency. The readers grew more than expected for the typical second grader. Students, parents, and other school personnel viewed Readers Theatre as an enjoyable and motivating instructional tool. Overall the strategy was relatively easy to implement and produced the desired results through an engaging classroom experience. تلخيص البحث: تصف هذه المقالة الطريقة التي تم فيها تنفيذ مسرح القراء كوسيلة جذابة لدى التعليم المرونة القرائية في الصف الثاني الابتدائي. وقد تم استخدام نظام مسرح القراء أسبوعياً على مدار العام الدراسي وهو نظام قد أضيف إلى برنامج تعليم القراءة والكتابة القائم. وقد كشفت المعطيات المحصول عليها خلال العام الدراسي عن تقدمات هامة في المرونة القرائية. إن القراء تحسنوا أكثر من المتوقع بالنسبة لطالب الصف الثاني. نظر الطلاب والآباء وموظفو المدرسة إلى مسرح القراء كوسيلة ممتعة وأداة تعليمية حافزة. كانت الإستراتيجيا العامة سهولة التنفيذ وأخرجت النتائج المراد الحصول عليها من خلال تجربة صف جذاب. 本文描述在一班小学二年级课堂教学中，如何实施「阅读者剧院」教学策略，以带领学生投入流畅阅读的学习。「阅读者剧院」教学策略在整个学年中每周进行，添加于现有的读写教学中。从该学年期间收集得的研究资料显示，学生的阅读流畅度有显著的增益。这些阅读者的阅读能力增长，超越于一般小学二年级学生的预期增长度。学生、学生家长和其他学校人员，均认为「阅读者剧院」是一个令人愉快和能引发学习兴趣的教学工具。整体而言，这教学策略较容易实施，幷能通过让学生投入学习的课堂经验，产生所期待的成绩。 Cet article décrit comment le Théâtre de Lecteurs a été mis en place en tant que moyen motivant pour enseigner la lecture courante dans une classe de seconde année. On a utilisé un format hebdomadaire de Théâtre de Lecteurs tout au long d'une année scolaire. Ce format est venu en supplément du programme de littératie existant. Les données collectées pendant l'année scolaire ont révélé des gains significatifs en lecture courante. Les lecteurs ont progressé au‐delà de ce que l'on attendait d'élèves ordinaires de seconde année. Les élèves, les parents, et d'autres personnels scolaires ont considéré que le Théâtre de Lecteurs est un outil pédagogique plaisant et motivant. En outre cette stratégie est relativement facile à mettre en place et produit les résultats attendus au moyen d'une expérience scolaire séduisante. Благодаря “театру читателей” маленькие актеры‐второклассники с удовольствием осваивали беглое чтение вслух. Театр функционировал один раз в неделю в течение всего учебного года, дополняя основную программу по развитию грамотности. Собранные за год данные показали существенную динамику в беглости чтения, более высокую, чем принято ожидать от детей этого возраста. Ученики, их родители и работники школы считают “театр читателей” приятным и крайне мотивирующим методом обучения. В целом, это сравнительно легкий в организационном плане, результативный и увлекательный учебный опыт. Este artèculo describe cómo El Teatro de Lectores (Readers Theatre) fue implementado como una manera interesante de lograr la fluidez en la lectura en un aula de ...

Using performance methods to enhance students' reading fluency

“…Students merely entertained audiences with expressive renderings of the text. Since Readers Theater's rejuvenation, the research base that advocates for the use of Readers Theater has grown (Young & Rasinski, 2009;Griffith & Rasinski, 2004;Keehn, Harmon, & Shoho, 2008;Martinez, Roser, & Strecker, 1998). Thus far, research indicated that the authentic performance component not only served as a motivational tool to promote repeated readings, but it also enhanced an oft neglected component of reading fluency-prosody (Dowhower, 1991).…”

“…Thus far, research indicated that the authentic performance component not only served as a motivational tool to promote repeated readings, but it also enhanced an oft neglected component of reading fluency-prosody (Dowhower, 1991). For example, a study conducted by Young and Rasinski (2009) indicated that consistent implementation of Readers Theater throughout the school year increased students' reading prosody by 20%.…”

Alternative Text Types to Improve Reading Fluency for Competent to Struggling Readers

“…An ever-growing body of scientific studies, conducted in actual and authentic classroom or clinical settings, have found that the use of alternative texts such as poetry, song lyrics, readers theater scripts, and speeches leads to improvements not only in measures of reading fluency (accuracy, automaticity, and prosody), but also, and more importantly, in reading comprehension and overall reading achievement (Crosby, Rasinski, Padak, & Yildirim, 2014;Griffith & Rasinski, 2004;Iwasaki, Martinez, Roser, & Strecker, 1999;Rasinski, Yildirim, & Zimmerman, 2014;Vasinda & McLeod, 2011;Wilfong, 2008;Young, Mohr, & Rasinski, 2015;Young & Rasinski, 2009;Zimmerman, Rasinski, Melewski, 2013). These studies employed a simple methodology in which students regularly engaged in repeated readings of poetry, scripts, and other alternative texts for the purpose of eventually performing the texts for an audience.…”

The Efficacy of Using Language Experience Approach in Teaching Reading Fluency to Indonesian EFL Students

“…It is also defined that reading fluency as the ability of the reader to group words into meaningful phrases quickly and effortlessly (Corcoran, 2005;Griffith & Rasinski, 2004;Kuhn, 2004;Rasinski, 2004). In reading fluency, there are three important aspects namely accuracy, automaticity, and prosody (Garreth & O'connor, 2010;Moran, 2006;Young & Rasinski, 2009). Absolutely, those elements of reading fluency are crucial as they influence the students' reading proficiency.…”