Grades 1 and 2 Love Readers TheatreAuthor(s): Sharon Bennett and Kim BeattySource: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 41, No. 4 (Jan., 1988), p. 485Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20199823 .

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tences beginning with and, deleting repetitions, and making multiple sen tences out of run-ons.

(7) Rewriting. I rewrite or type the final story. Occasionally, if a child has

satisfactory motor control and wishes to do so, s/he may copy the story.

(8) Sharing. Each child reads the

story to me and then to others, or into the tape recorder to be shared later.

(9) Ego growth. Each young author is proud of her/his comprehensive story as well as its impressive length.

(10) Bonus. I often select a story to be used as part of our reading program where I extract purpose for reading or

listening, vocabulary, sight words,

phonics instruction, comprehension, etc.

Keeping special children interested in creative thought as well as keeping them free of stress depends on using a

variety of creative writing and lan

guage techniques (inventive spelling and language experience stories dic tated to the teacher or to the tape re

corder) and the avoidance of the overuse of any specific technique for too long a time.

Mildred Fox School, South Paris, Maine

Grades 1 and 2 love Readers Theatre Sharon Bennett Kim Beatty

We wanted to give our 1st and 2nd

graders opportunity to practice reading aloud so that they could develop flu

ency and comprehension, but the usual methods weren't working too well. Round robin reading, for example, is

painfully slow and needlessly stress

ful. And while repeated readings of the same story are claimed to be effective,

when we tried having the children do

repeated readings of the basal stories,

they showed a distinct lack of motiva tion.

The solution came when we noticed the excitement generated whenever the children came to a selection which was

designated as a "play." About that time, we learned about

Readers Theatre whereby a favorite

story, like Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard

Waber, is turned into a script. Since the children act with just their voices, this seemed a logical way to expand on

the excitement of the play format with out the hassle of costumes, props, and

scenery.

Our children were already familiar with and delighted by Ira Sleeps Over.

They eagerly volunteered to repeatedly read their favorite part. Other children became excited about the script, and soon representatives from every read

ing group were blended together by choice, not ability.

When the children, after sufficient

practice, presented their Readers The atre to their classmates, they were met with an overwhelming positive re

sponse. Their self esteem was raised, and they felt encouraged to practice, rehearse, and perform additional

scripts. The result was a significant

improvement in their enthusiasm, flu

ency, expression, and oral language.

Crestwood Elementary School, Rock

ford, Michigan

Objects for story starters

Lorraine McDonald Whetstone

To heighten young students' ability to

tell their experiences, use real objects: little toys from bubblegum machines,

sunglasses, crabshells, junk mail,

plastic hangers, key chains, pencils, etc. Using a variety will bring forth

uniqueness and develop children's feel

ings of worth.

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The Classroom Reading Teacher 485

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