Scripts for different purposes

In an exercised develop by Liu (2000), students picked favorite quotes from a text they were reading. They wrote the quotes on paper and placed them in a bag. Students then randomly drew quotes from the bag. This would be their quote to perform.

 

​Initially, students had to recall the plot and determine the logical order in which the quotes should be read. Then they had to:

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• Decide when they should share their quote in the sequence

• Listen attentively

• Negotiate whether the order is accurate

• Negotiate if the same quote should be read in a different way, or placed somewhere else for emphasis

• Reread in different sequences to see the effects of different choices

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This allowed them to see how their choices affected the performance and how to structure an oral performance based on patterns or themes.

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Works best for: Social science readings, novels, poetry, autobiographies, nonfiction texts

Another activity that Liu (2000) tried in his classroom is having students pick a favorite quote from their own written reaction to a text. 

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Once again, students blindly picked a quote from a bag and had to perform it as if it were their own. This exercise challeneged them to be open-minded and embrace perspectives different from their own, treating someone else's voice with the same care as they would their own. One student who participated in this activity shared:

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"Honestly speaking, I did not like the quotes I picked from the box. I did not mean that these quotes were not as well written as mine. What I meant was that these quotes expressed different opinions about the story, which I thought unimportant. However, when I read them aloud in today's activity, I began to like the quotes and I found them meaningful in the context where I chose to participate. This reminds me that I should try to understand my group members' perspectives in our collaborative essay."

- student quote from Liu (2002)

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By inhabiting the words of others, students developed a deeper sense of empathy and understanding. They learned to step outside their own viewpoints and authentically engage with different perspectives - a crucial skill in today's multicultural world.

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Works best for: Any type of text that requires a student reflection

Assign or allow students to choose a specific character from a text or story. Have them prepare and deliver a monologue from that character's perspective during a particular scene or event, exploring that character’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations.

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To add an extra layer of exploration, you can assign one student to write the character's monologue script, while another student performs it. After the performance, both the writer and performer can engage in a constructive dialogue, comparing their interpretations and gaining even more insight into the text.

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Works best for: History texts, fiction/ nonfiction, news articles

Jewitt (2005) emphasizes that as the digital age immerses us more deeply in the internet and screen-based media, reading education must evolve past its traditional emphasis on written language alone. Instead, it should embrace a multimodal approach that considers the interaction of text, image, and sound in communication.

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Incorporating multimodal elements into Readers Theater can be an engaging way to bring this approach into your classroom. Here are a few ideas:

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1.Have students write a script based on an online media forum or comments section of an online article. Not only can they perform this piece, but they could also make the physical script a living work of art, making deliberate choices about fonts, colors, and layouts that convey certain emotions or represent different characters.

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2. Encourage students to create multimedia presentations to accompany their Readers Theater performances. They could incorporate images, videos, sound effects, or even original music to enhance the storytelling experience. 

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3. Explore the use of different digital tools and platforms for presenting Readers Theater performances. For example, students could create animations, character vlogs, digital comics, or even Youtube videos with voice overs.

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Works best for: All texts

When working with academically-dense texts, such as research papers or essays in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) context, you could try having students (or even using ChatGPT) create a script in which the expert author is being interviewed. This could be an engaging activity, particularly towards the end of a semester, where students take on the roles of different experts they have read in class, with a "host" guiding the interview, session, or debate.

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Works best for: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) texts

Another idea for academically dense texts like research papers or essays is to ask students to create a scripted lecture where one student plays the role of the expert author presenting the key ideas to a classroom. The other students can take on different personas, such as:

• The attentive note-taker

• The confused student who is forever seeking clarification

• The skeptic challenging the teacher

This activity tests students' comprehension of the main points as they must effectively "redeliver" the content. It also exercises their inferencing skills as they anticipate potential questions or objections from various student perspectives.

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Works best for: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) texts 

For classrooms with students sharing the same first language (L1), you may consider incorporating translanguaging practices to enhance inclusion and comprehension. As researchers like García and Wei (2014) have shown, allowing students to use their full linguistic repertoire by integrating elements of their L1 promotes a more inclusive environment and helps activate prior knowledge (a key process in fluent reading). To do this, you can:

• Have students translate and perform scripts between their L1 and the target language (L2). They can negotiate how to incorporate both languages, such as linearly or weaving them together throughout.

• Invite students to compare and contrast how key concepts or themes are or would be expressed across languages

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Works best for: All texts