Implementing Reader's Theatere as an Approach to Classroom Fluency Instruction

Young, C. & Rasinski, T. (2009) Implementing Readers Theatre as an Approach to Classroom Fluency Instruction. The Reading Teacher 63(1), 4-13. doi:10.1598/RT.63.1.1

Rasinski states that reading fluency has once again become a goal in elementary reading curriculums. He defines fluency as the ability to read words in a text with accuracy, automaticity, and prosody. This means readers are accurate with reading words, automatic in recognizing and correctly pronouncing words, and use appropriate expression and phrasing. Rasinski (2009) states that fluent oral reading should simply sound like natural speech.

Based on current research, Rasinski identifies three methods that promote fluency in reading. They are: modeling fluent reading, assisted reading, and repeated readings. He states that research has demonstrated that assisted reading and repeated readings lead to improvements in fluency on the texts read by students that also generalizes to new texts (NICHD, 2000, Rasinski & Hoffman, 2003).

In this classroom action research study, Chase Young, a second grade teacher, looked at the overall effects of Reader’s Theatre in improving reading fluency. He hoped that by including Reader’s Theatre as a part of his balanced literacy program, an increase in fluency would occur.

First, participants were described. He had 29 second graders, including 8 girls and 21 boys. Nine ELL students were identified, and he gave a general idea about the reading levels of the students in his class at the beginning of the year (early K to mid 3rd grade). To document the fluency levels he employed two different assessments, the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) and the Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) at the beginning and towards the end of the school year.

Reader’s Theatre occurred daily in his classroom as a part of his balanced literacy program, since assisted and repeated readings are two ways to increase fluency. Young went on to describe his daily and weekly integration of Reader’s Theatre. Time ranged from five minutes to 25 minutes each day. Following the daily mini-lesson and independent reading, students engaged in workstations, and some directly related to Reader’s Theatre. The workstations he used were: Directed Reading – Thinking Activity, Creature Feature, Mental Images, Word Study, Synthesis, Reader’s Theatre, Poetry, Creative Response, Connections, and Social Studies. Each Friday, students performed their Reader’s Theatre to the class.

Based on his results, Young saw a remarkable progress by the students. A graph was included to show the scores in word recognition, automaticity (fluency), prosody, and DRA level from the beginning to the end of the year. Although he was primarily looking at increasing fluency, he saw gains in all areas, with significant gains (based on previous years students) both in automaticity and DRA levels.

I believe that Young’s method, research, and conclusion were truly authentic. He gave specific examples of how he used it in his classroom each day. Sites for scripts were also included. His data analysis could have been stronger by comparing the gains by gender, ELL status, or individual levels. How much was gained by the high readers vs. the low readers? Were there any other factors that might have influenced the gains?

Including Reader’s Theatre in the classroom is a great way to increase fluency. This seems like a reasonable way to help the students become motivated fluent readers.

This article grabbed me from the start. Reader’s Theatre doesn’t require costumes, sets, or props. What could be easier to integrate into a balanced literacy program? I have always looked at theatre in the classroom as a lot of work, making masks, costumes, and sets. After reading this article, and seeing the results, I believe I can incorporate it into my classroom seamlessly. The students love to perform, and besides increasing fluency, it also improves oral speaking and self-confidence.

Developing fluent readers and writers is very important to me as an educator. I work hard to find ways to motivate and encourage reading. Reader’s Theatre is a great way to do this and I hope to incorporate it into my classroom soon.