With practice and careful coaching, Readers Theatre helps students improve their reading skills and learn to engage with texts in a unique, enjoyable and gratifying way. Readers Theatre is an oral reading activity that closely resembles radio drama. Two or more readers stand or sit side by side, usually in a semicircle, holding scripts and reading their parts to portray characters, narration or exposition.
Physical movement is minimal.
Instead, speech conveys the action. You can really motivate students with Readers Theatre. It gives participants a purpose for repeated reading, leading to fluency. Internalized, such fluency transfers to effective silent reading as well. Readers Theatre lets students apply comprehension skills, including author's purpose, character traits, mood and theme.