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Entire Librarylesson-planThird GradeReading & WritingAction! Students Create Reader's Theater

Lesson Plan

Action! Students Create Reader's Theater

Students will have a blast turning a reading passage into a Reader's Theater skit. This lesson teaches them to use dialogue to help readers understand the experiences of different characters.
Need extra help for EL students? Try the Characters and Dialogue pre-lesson.
Grade
Third Grade
Subject
Reading & Writing
English Learner
English Learner Content
View aligned standards
RL.3.3
RL.3.10
W.3.3.b
Need extra help for EL students? Try the Characters and Dialogue pre-lesson.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to create a script by writing dialogue for a story's characters.

The adjustment to the whole group lesson is a modification to differentiate for children who are English learners.
EL adjustments

Introduction

(5 minutes)
Act it Out: "Casey at the Bat""Sugar and Spice"Reader's Theater: Casey at the BatSugar and Spice
  • Explain that dialogue is the words that characters say.
  • Tell students that dialogue helps the readers understand the actions and thoughts of the characters.
  • Tell students that dialogue in a skit or play looks different than it does in prose or a poem.
  • Explain to students that they are going to use characters' words and actions in a passage to create a skit, or a Reader's Theater script.

Beginning:

  • Provide a student-friendly definition with a labeled example of prose, poem, and skit.
  • Allow ELs to look up the terms (dialogue, prose, poem, skit) with a home language resource.

Intermediate:

  • Have ELs discuss what they know about dialogue with a partner and then share out as a whole group. Allow them to use L1 or L2.
  • Provide a word bank for students to use when discussing what they know about dialogue.
  • Show examples of dialogue in prose and a poem.