Research has shown that fluent oral reading learned through performance reading leads not only to engagement in and enjoyment of reading for students but to reading comprehension. Learn more at Reading Rockets.
Below are some steps for this challenge.
STEP 1: READ. Select a book. Choose one with characters that have strong personalities and clear roles in the story. Click here for a list of suggested books.
STEP 2: ASK? Talk a little bit about what happens in the story.
- Where does the story take place?
- Who are the main characters?
- What is the problem? How does it get solved?
STEP 3: PLAN. Choose a character and recall the lines of dialogue from the story. Work with older children to write a simple script that will help them remember their lines. Let them gather props and think about the scenery.
STEP 4: PLAY! Gather the family so that your student can act out a character in their book OR consider recreating a scene with puppets or a video montage. For more tips, visit, ReadWriteThink.org, or ReadingRockets.org.