Abstract of Master Thesis
We Aren't Living Happily Ever After:
Embodying Characters in Readers Theater to Promote Comprehension
by Cassie Angley
Embodying Characters in Readers Theater to Promote Comprehension
by Cassie Angley
Readers Theater is an old genre of Theater integrating oral interpretation and presentational Theater. The high interest of the scripts chosen for a Readers Theater production and the repetition of rehearsing text promotes fluency, expressiveness, and motivation. Readers Theater is one method that may support comprehension by developing students’ understanding of character. Very few Readers Theater studies measure comprehension. I set up a study where nine fifth and sixth-grade students from a summer literacy program each embodied a character. I wanted to know if Readers Theater could help teach character comprehension. I created a comprehension assessment tool, called a Character Map, where students identified a character’s traits, objectives, passions, problem, evolution, a direct text reference, and an internal thought reference. In this four-week study, students increased their understanding of traits, problem, and metamorphosis of the characters they portrayed. Not only did Readers Theater help increase character comprehension, it also led also to deeper comprehension of the story.
Academic Research
Summary
The two articles below are Young and Rasinkski’s research on using Readers Theater in the classroom. Article 1, published in 2009, focuses on using Readers Theater as a tool to teach fluency. In article 2, published in 2017, their research and curriculum evolved to include comprehension and vocabulary study. RTW! builds on Young and Rasinkski’s curriculum by adding in theatrical training that invites students to explore and embody character.
The two articles below are Young and Rasinkski’s research on using Readers Theater in the classroom. Article 1, published in 2009, focuses on using Readers Theater as a tool to teach fluency. In article 2, published in 2017, their research and curriculum evolved to include comprehension and vocabulary study. RTW! builds on Young and Rasinkski’s curriculum by adding in theatrical training that invites students to explore and embody character.