Encourage students to predict the characteristics and roles of play characters. Read the first scene of the play to students. Point out printing conventions of scripted plays. For example, characters' names in capitals or boldface are not to be read but are used as signals for the speaker. Stage directions are printed in italics or in parentheses and are not read aloud.
Students volunteer to read the various character parts in the first scene.
Use between-scene discussions to summarize plot development and discuss character portrayal through voice and gestures. Other groups of students could reread the first scene and attempt to incorporate these suggestions into their original interpretations. This procedure could be repeated for each scene. Once they are familiar with the script format, students could be encouraged to adapt literature selections or create their own scripts. Assessment Observe students' willingness and ability to make predictions and inferences about character and plot development.