Part of the Program Not the Whole Program

It has been suggested that you should have more than one script ready to go at your program so that everyone will have a chance to read.  At our branch we have had great success with using just one readers theater script per program.  First of all the readers theater script is only one part of our program.  We make things, recommend books, and play games.  Second of all by making our readers theater scripts participation stories everyone has a part in the story one way or another.

What to do When There Isn't Enough Characters

So, it is a great story but there are only 3 characters. Then the question is what to do.  Well, every script I have written has a narrator.  The narrator can have some long speeches in a story and the point of readers theater is to make sure everyone has something to say.  Why not have more than one narrator?  No one every said you could only have one narrator.  So, that's what I did with one of my scripts.  There were parts for 3 narrators and it worked fine.  In the script I just labeled them narrator 1, narrator 2, and narrator 3.  I thought the children might question this, but not one of them did. 

No Plain Name Tags Here

 Each person who has a part in the readers theater has a name tag.  At our branch we just use yarn and put the name tag around the neck of each character.  To give a little more personality to our characters we added something new to the name tags.  We have pictures of the characters along with their names.  This really sparked some excitement in the audience.  Where did we get the pictures?  No, I can't draw.  We just took some coloring pictures off the Internet and mounted them on construction paper.  It is amazing how little things like this can perk up a program.

To Edit or Not, That is the Question

The readers theater I wrote this week sounded good when I read it for the 20th time but then I actually put it into action today.  It was good but it didn't sound exactly the way I heard it in my mind.  Yes, it was time for a little editing.  I just can't seem to hear where it needs editing in my mind when I read to myself but as soon as I hear other people reading the script I know right a way where it needs a little help.  So, I say editing, will bring the script to life.  It adds a little punch to the story.

Copyright Questions

I have had so much fun turning a great picture book into a readers theater script but I am always worried I might be infringing on copyright.  So I went to ALSC (Association for Library Services to Children) for some help, This website has great ideas for helping you put together a script,  Readers Theater: A "How to" Guide.

It is at this ALSC website that I found out I wasn't in trouble with copyright laws because "Fair Use" is in play.  In other words if you adapt a copyrighted work for education use such as Readers Theater is is considered "Fair Use."  The scripts I have put together are for library programs only and I do not post them on the Web.  I feel so much better.

Something for Everyone

So, what do the children who are not part of the readers theater script do?  Yes, they are suppose to be listening to the story but that doesn't always happen.  I have found that if the children who are in the audience have a part in the story they are happier and listen better to the story.  In just the last year I have discovered a way to get the children in the audience involved.  I have turned the readers' theater into a participation story.  Yes, now the story becomes a readers theater participation story.  I pick out specific words that require the audience to made a sound for or a word for.  For example if the audience hears the word snore they would make a snoring sound.  Of course some times the script has to be worked on to make sure there are enough participation words.  It is amazing to watch the children in the audience when they have a part in the story.  There is just so much more excitement in the room.

Choosing Topics for Scripts

Each month at Kids Club we have a different theme.  So, I match our readers theater topic to the theme of our Kids Club.  What is really fun to do if it is an animal theme, is to recreate one of the popular fairy tales.  For example the theme is tortoises then I go with the story of the Tortoise and the Hare.  I make the story have things in it that are found in the kids' lives today.  The hare might have a cell phone and so he would stop here and there to text his friends during the race.  The hare would go work out at his health club to get ready for the race.