Bring Difficult Narrative to Life

You wouldn’t give your 4th graders Tolstoy or Dostoevsky to tackle. And why not? They’d be left in the wake of complex sentences and compounds. So how can you avoid putting that same burden on your struggling readers and English Learners (ELs)?

While you may not be giving your ELs War and Peace, the transition from picture books to early readers to chapter books can seem equally daunting. If you’re looking to make difficult narrative more accessible, take a look at these research-based, helpful hints for the whole class.

Try Reader’s Theater
Reader’s Theater is a type of performance that requires no props, costumes, or scenery. Players don’t interact directly with each other but rather read each line to the audience, in character.

Reader's Theater is ideal for ELs and struggling readers. They must follow along in the script to know when their part comes, but they’re only directly responsible for reading a certain number of lines. This allows them to feel more comfortable reading out loud in public. It also gets students excited to be involved as a class. In your Resource Guide, you'll find the script for Missing Manny, a mystery play with funny characters perfect for Reader's Theater. Download the entire script here.



According to Cara Bafile at Education World, Reader’s Theater “blends students’ desire to perform with their need for oral reading.” In her article, Reader’s Theater: A Reason to Read Aloud, Bafile offers stories and tips on making your Reader’s Theater successful. But remember: Reader’s Theater is not a last minute project. Preparation is key. Be sure to include the following steps when introducing each new script:

1. Make one copy of the script for every student.
2. Read the entire script out loud while your students follow along.
3. Label repetitive phrases as “All” and encourage the class to read those sections together.
4. Help students highlight their assigned lines, so they can practice reading it out loud.

Play It Up
Now go one step further and put on a full production. Students will get excited not only to make the scenery and costumes but to practice their lines (translation: more reading) and rehearse for the big day. They won’t even realize they’re increasing their fluency and comprehension.

Make Your Own
Looking for more scripts and coming up short? After the success of your Reader’s Theater, your students are bound to want more. Look no further than your nearest bookshelf. You can take a harder narrative and transform it into a reader’s theater script. Just look for dialogue-dense sections (which usually correspond with the funniest or most dramatic parts) and perform different scenes from the book. As narrator, you can give students background to build up the next scene.