Reading street view • 5th grade • week 19 • jan. 5-6

Building Comprehension:Through both improvised, script reading (Reader’s Theater) and moreformal, memorized performances, students can explore the nature of story,learn about life, and empathize with other people. Dramatic performanceenables students to enjoy literature and poetry in an active, participatoryway. The language continues to “live” in their minds and is a resource fortheir own writing as they try out new ways of using written language.Performances also enhance vocabulary, fluency, and team work.In process drama the teacher and students take on the roles of charactersfrom their literature study and enter into an imagined world that is stronglyguided by their interpretation of the text. Process drama leads students intoan aesthetic experience because it places the reader in the story – as if it ishappening now. Process drama brings the act of ongoing construction ofmeaning into full view and builds deeper comprehension about characters,plot, and the whole story.Comprehension Skill Questions:• How does the author reveal the character in the play (dialogue, actions, etc.)• What is the main conflict between ___?• What clues does the author give us to help us predict __(foreshadowing)?• What are the most important events?• How does the setting (time and place) contribute to the story?• What two or three sentences summarizes the whole story?• What is the author’s message?• Who tells the story? Is this the best person to tell it? Why?• How would you retell the story in a few sentences?Differentiation:You may need to explicitly teach the unique features of drama:• Dramas are written in a special form called a script. The script contains alist of characters, the lines the characters say, and the stage directions.• A play is usually divided into parts called ‘acts’, and each act is divided intodifferent ‘scenes’. A scene is usually one event in the story.• Some plays have a narrator who gives the audience information about whatis happening in the play.• The characters’ names appear before the lines of text they speak.• Stage directions tell the characters where to go on the stage, how to move,and how to say their lines.Anchors of Support:Use the same graphic organizer you used to summarize other narrative texts to write asummary for a drama:• Story Arc/Story Map• Somebody Wanted/Needed But So Then• Story ElementsStrategy for Narrative Summary:-Somebody (identify the character(s)-Wanted (describe the character’s goal)-But (describe a conflict that hinders the character)-So (describe how the character reacts to the conflict)-Then (describe the resolution of the conflict)*Remember to focus on information that is mostsignificant.Have students summarize the main ideas of each scene. The STAAR is now askingstudents to summarize parts of a text, including a scene within a drama.Teacher Tips: Favorite children’s picture books that contain dialogue can easily be adapted into reader’s theater plays. This can be an excellent extension activity foryour high level readers.Language Arts Reading Street View Last Updated: December 19, 2011 Page 15