Fluency Through Reader's Theater

Students will begin the unit with a basic introduction to idioms and idiomatic use found in text. They will first illustrate a couple idioms in their writing journal as well as on the iPad2 and share them with their peers on the document camera.

Next, students will be assigned short plays to rehearse. They will design simple sets, rehearse lines, and practice becoming their characters as they read with expression and practice fluent reading skills.

Students will then invite their parents and school administration to view their short theater productions. These will be filmed by the students using a flip video camera.

The next step will be to edit their short productions using a variety of editing tools. These short films will be assessed through a whole group approach.

The end result will be a remarkable keepsake and invaluable experience through which the students may extend into individual productions or more in-depth editing challenges.