Sometimes it’s hard to find just the right RT
for your class. What’s the solution? Create one of your own. It’s easier than
you might think, especially if you get started with a great children’s book.
Here are some suggestions. Many RT scripts
have just five to ten parts, but scripts based on nonfiction picture books
about animal behaviors or how a variety of animals survive in a particular
habitat can easily include a role for every student in the class. If you’re
working with a small group, some of the animals mentioned in the book can be
omitted, or students can perform multiple roles. If you have a large group,
struggling readers can share a role.
In addition to animal
character roles, your script should include several narrators. They will
introduce the animals and, when necessary, provide transitions between scenes.
The best RT scripts also include a few choruses—lines spoken by many or all of
the actors. They help students stay focused and foster cooperation and
camaraderie.
While narrator
speeches are usually best suited for your most accomplished readers, animal
roles should vary in difficulty to accommodate children at various levels of
emergent literacy. For struggling or reluctant readers, create parts that
consist of an animal sound and just a few simple words. For average readers,
write lines that are one or two sentences long and occasionally include a
challenging word. That’s the perfect way to address CCSS for ELA in the Reading
Informational Text #4.
As you create a
script, don’t be afraid to modify or rearrange the author’s text to meet your
needs. Add animal sounds to make the readings more fun. Cut information that
seems too advanced. Focus on animals that live in your area or that you think
will resonate most with your student population. Your ultimate goal is to
create lively, engaging scripts that your students can’t resist reading over
and over.
To see the adaptation process first hand,
let’s look at how I adapted my book, When Rain Falls (illus. by Constance
R. Bergum; Peachtree, 2008) into a script that is always a huge success during
school visits.
Picture Book Text
If you look at the
published book, you will see that in creating the script, I ignored the text on
pages 3, 4, and 5. It didn’t work for RT.
Pages 6-7
When rain falls in a forest…
… scurrying squirrels suddenly stop. They
pull their long, bushy tails over their heads like umbrellas.
Pages 8-9
A hawk puffs out its feathers to keep
water out and warmth in.
Chickadees stay warm and dry inside their
tree hole homes.
Pages 10-11
A doe and fawn take cover under a leafy
tree canopy.
A red fox family nestles in a warm, cozy
den.
Readers Theater Script
Notice
how I converted the picture book
text into roles for a chorus, a narrator who is a more advanced reader or an
adult, and six different animal characters. I simplified the text in some
places, added fun sound effects, and incorporated a bit of humor. Each narrator
speech introduces the animal that is about to speak, so struggling readers as
well as audience members can follow the performance more easily.
Chorus 1: When
rain falls in a forest . . .
Narrator: A
scurrying squirrel suddenly stops.
Squirrel: Tsst!
Tsst! Tsst! I pull my tail over my head. It makes a great umbrella.
Narrator: Higher
up, there’s a hawk.
Hawk: I
puff out my feathers to stay warm and dry. Ker-ree,
ker-ree.
Narrator: What
does a chickadee do?
Chickadee: Dee-dee, dee-dee. I hide inside my tree
hole home.
Narrator: A deer takes
cover under a leafy tree canopy.
Deer: All the leaves and branches block
the rain.
Narrator:
Foxes nestle together inside a
warm, cozy den.
Fox 1: I could
use a nap.
Fox 2: Me too. [Big yawn.]
Interested in giving
it a try? I’ll be back with more specific suggestions in January.