[anthony d. fredericks] fairy tales readers theatre

RECENT TI TLES IN TEACHER IDEAS PRESSREAD ERS THEA TRE SE RIES

Mother Goose Readers Theatre for Beginning ReadersAnthony D. Fredericks

MORE Fran tic Frogs and Other Frankly Fractured Folktales for Readers TheatreAnthony D. Fredericks

Songs and Rhymes Readers Theatre for Beginning ReadersAnthony D. Fredericks

Readers Theatre for Mid dle School Boys: In vestigating the Strange and Mys teriousAnn N. Black

African Legends, Myths, and Folk tales for Readers TheatreAnthony D. Fredericks

Against All Odds: Readers Theatre for Grades 38Suzanne I. Barchers and Mi chael Ruscoe

Read ers Thea tre for Af ri can Amer i can His toryJeff Sanders and Nancy I. Sanders

Build ing Flu ency with Read ers Thea tre: Mo ti va tional Strat e gies, Suc cess ful Les sons, and Dy namic Scripts to De velop Flu ency, Com pre hen sion, Writ ing, and Vo cab u laryAnthony D. Fredericks

American Folklore, Leg ends, and Tall Tales for Readers Thea treAnthony D. Fredericks

Multi-Grade Readers Theatre: Pic ture Book Au thors and Il lustratorsSuzanne I. Barchers and Charla R. Pfeffinger

More Readers Theatre for Mid dle School Boys: Ad ventures with Mythical CreaturesAnn N. Black

Fun with Finance: Math + Lit eracy = SuccessWritten and Illustrated by Carol Pe terson

FAIRY TALESREADERS THEATRE

Anthony D. Fredericks

Read ers Thea tre

A Teacher Ideas Press Book

Li brar ies Un lim ited

An Im print of ABC-CLIO, LLC

Copyright 2009 by An thony D. FredericksAll rights re served. No part of this book may be re produced in any form or by any electronic or mechanicalmeans, including information stor age and re trieval sys tems, without permission in writing from the pub lisher, ex-cept by a re viewer, who may quote brief pas sages in a re view. An ex ception is made for individual librarians andeducators who may make cop ies of por tions of the scripts for classroom use. Reproducible pages may be cop iedfor classroom and educational programs only. Performances may be vid eotaped for school or library pur poses.Li brary of Con gress Cat a log ing-in-Pub li ca tion DataFredericks, An thony D. Fairy tales readers thea tre / An thony D. Fredericks. p. cm. A Teacher Ideas Press Book.

In cludes bib lio graph i cal ref er ences and in dex. ISBN 978-1-59158-849-8 (hard copy : alk. pa per) ISBN 978-1-59158-851-1 (ebook) 1. Fairy talesStudy and teaching (El ementary) 2. Fairy talesHistory and criticism. I. Title. LB1575.F74 2009 372.676dc22 200901746413 12 11 10 9 1 2 3 4 5This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook.Visit www.abc-clio.com for details.ABC-CLIO, LLC130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911Santa Barbara, Cal i for nia 93116-1911This book is printed on acid-free paperManufactured in the United States of America

Con tentsIn tro duc tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Part I:Readers Thea tre in the Class room and Li brary

Chapter 1: Get ting Started with Readers Thea tre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Chapter 2: Per forming Readers Theatre for an Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Part II:Fairy Tales

Beauty and the Beast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17The Elves and the Shoemaker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22The Emperors New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Hansel and Gretel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Jack and the Beanstalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36The Princess and the Pea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Rapunzel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Rum pel stilts kin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54The Lit tle Red Hen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59The Gin ger bread Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Goldilocks and the Three Bears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Chicken Lit tle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Little Red Rid ing Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77The Three Lit tle Pigs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81The Ugly Duckling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85The Three Billy Goats Gruff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Sleep ing Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Cinderella . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Part III:Fairy Tales (with a Touch of Humor)

Beauty and This In credibly Ugly Guy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Coughy: The Dwarf Snow White Never Told You About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Dont Kiss Sleeping Beauty, Shes Got Really Bad Breath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Goldilocks and the Three Hamsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Little Red Riding Hood Punches the Wolf Character Right in the Kisser. . . . . . . . . . . . 123The Gingerbread Boy Gets Baked at 350 for 1520 Minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Ref erences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 More Teacher Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

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In tro duc tion

Say the words Once upon a time . . . to any adult, and you will prob ably see a smile slip acrosshis or her face. Those are magical wordswords that conjure up stories of long ago. For most of us,they bring back pleasant memories of someone (our parents or a favorite teacher) reading (aloud) astory or book. Those words may remind us of simpler timestimes long be fore we had to worryabout home mortgages, saving for our kids college tu ition, retirement plans, or even be havioral ob -jectives. The mem ories were sweet, and the rec ollections were always pleasurable.

Think how those same four words might af fect the students with whom you work. Think of themental journeys or creative ad ventures you can share with young sters as you lead them throughthe magical world of chil drens lit erature. Imag inations are stim ulated, and minds are filled with thedelicious sounds of lan guage in ac tion! It is that lan guagethe language of feeling, emotion, and pas -sion that excites young sters and helps them ap preciate the role literature plays in their ev eryday lives(as it has for gen erations).

And what better way to bring childrens lit erature alive than through the magic of readers thea-tre? Readers theatre offers young sters in teresting and unique in sights into the util ity of language andits value in both its printed and oral forms. It is language arts in its pur est form: It boosts listeningand speak ing skills, en hances writ ing abil i ties, pow ers read ing de vel op ment, de vel ops pos i tiveself-concepts, and transforms re luctant readers into en ergized read ers. Quite sim ply, it is lit eraturebrought to life and life brought to literature.

FAIRY TALES AND READERS THEATREFairy tales have been a tra dition of many cultures and coun tries. They are part and par cel of the

human ex perience, because they underscore the val ues and ex periences we cherish as well as thosewe seek to share with each other. No where is this more important than in to days classroom or li -brary. Per haps it is a nat ural part of who we are that fairy tales command our at tention and help us ap-preciate the values, ideas, and tra ditions we hold dear. So too, should stu dents have those sameexperiences and those same pleasures.

Fairy tales con jure up all sorts of visions and pos sibilities: faraway lands, magnificent ad ven-tures, en chanted princes, beau tiful princesses, evil wiz ards and wicked witches, a few ogres and de -mons, a cou ple of castles and cottages, perhaps a mys terious for est or two, and certainly tales ofmystery, in trigue, and adventure. These are stories of tradition and timelessness, tales that enchant,mystify, and ex cite through a marvelous weaving of characters, settings, and plots that have stoodthe test of time. Our senses are stim ulated, our men tal im ages are energized, and our ex periences arefortified through the magic of storytelling.

vii

Fairy tales are also a way of sharing the power and in trigue of lan guage. I sup pose part of mybelief that the shar ing of fairy tales is the quint essential classroom ac tivity lies in the fact that it is anopportunity to bring life, vi tality, and sub stance to the two-dimensional letters and words on aprinted page. So too, is it an interpersonal ac tivity, a never-fail way to connect with minds andsouls and hearts.

When chil dren are pro vided with reg u lar op por tu ni ties to be come fairy tale sto ry tell ers, theydevelop a per sonal stake in the lit erature shared. They also begin to cultivate per sonal in terpretationsof that lit er a ture, which leads to higher lev els of ap pre ci a tion and com pre hen sion. Prac tic ing andperforming fairy tales as readers theatre is an involvement en deavor, one that demonstrates andutilizes numerous languaging activities.

Readers theatre is a storytelling de vice that stimulates the imagination and promotes an appre-ciation for fairy tales. Sim ply stated, it is an oral in terpretation of a piece of lit erature read in a dra -matic style. Teachers and li brarians all across the country have long pro moted the powerful ben efitsof drama for their students: pos itive emotional growth, in creased lev els of mo tivation, and ab soluteengagement in the tasks of learning.

Simply put, readers theatre is an act of involvement, an op portunity to share, a time to creativelyinteract with others, and a per sonal in terpretation of what can be or could be. It pro vides nu merousopportunities for young sters to make fairy tales come alive and pul sate with their own unique brandof per ception and vision. In so do ing, fairy tales be come per sonal and reflective; chil dren have abreadth of op portunities to be storytellers, just like the storytellers of long ago who created thesetimeless tales.

WHAT YOUR PRINCIPAL NEEDS TO KNOWIn this era of accountability and standards-based ed ucation, many ed ucators want to know if

classroom practiceswhether traditional or in novativehave an im pact on the literacy growth ofstudents. Significant re search on the use of read ers thea tre in el ementary classrooms has dem on-strated its pos i tive ef fects on com pre hen sion de vel op ment, mo ti va tion to read, at ti tudes to wardlearning, and appreciation of reading as a lifelong skill.

What follows is a brief sum mary of some significant re search on the im pact of readers theatre on theliteracy growth of students. Feel free to share this information with in terested ad ministrators, par ents, orcommunity mem bers. Suffice it to say, read ers thea tre is a re search-based practice that has been dem -onstrated to have a significant and pow erful impact on stu dents reading growth and de velopment. Creative and critical think ing are en hanced through the uti lization of readers theatre. Chil -

dren are active participants in the interpretation and delivery of a story; as such, they de -velop thinking skills that are di vergent rather than con vergent, and in terpretive skills that aresupported rather than directed. (Fredericks 2007)

Readers thea tre provides an ac tive, an alytical frame work for reading and helps students tounderstand and in terpret what they read. (Wolf 1998)

Read ers thea tre pro vides trou bled read ers with suc cess ful read ing ex pe ri ences; it can re-shape images of fail ure into those of suc cess and ac complishment. Readers thea tre forms abridge be tween trou bled read ing to sup ported read ing, and ul ti mately, in de pend ent read-ing. (Dixon et al. 1996)

Readers theatre [promotes] oral reading flu ency, as children [explore] and [in terpret] themean ing of lit er a ture. (Mar ti nez et al. 1999)

We are gaining ev idence from class room re search that read ers thea tre yields im provementsin stu dents word rec og ni tion, flu ency, and com pre hen sion. (Rasinski 2003)

viii In tro duc tion

[Readers theatre] is valuable for non-English speaking children or non-fluent readers.Readers theatre provides them with positive models of lan guage usage and in terpretation . . . . It allows them to see language in ac tion and the various ways in which language can beused. (Fredericks 2001)

Even re sis tant read ers ea gerly en gage in prac tic ing for read ers thea tre per for mance, read-ing and rereading scripts many times. (Ty ler and Chard, 2000)

Second grad ers who did readers theatre on a reg ular basis made, on av erage, more than ayears growth in reading. (Strecker et al. 1999)

As stu dents take on the roles of char acters [in read ers thea tre], they also take on the roles ofcompetent readers. (Fredericks 2008a, 2008b)

The re search is clear: Class room teach ers and li brarians who make readers thea tre a regular andsys tem atic com po nent of their lit er acy in struc tion and in tro duc tion to lit er a ture will be pro vid ingthose stu dents with positive op portunities to succeed in all as pects of reading growth and de velop-ment. Word rec og ni tion, vo cab u lary, flu ency, and com pre hen sion can all be en hanced con sid er ablywhen readers theatre becomes part of the educational offerings in any classroom or library.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF READERSTHEATRE?

Above and be yond the substantive research supporting the use of readers theatre as a positiveclassroom and li brary activity, heres what I like so much about readers theatre: It allows chil dren tobreathe life and sub stance into lit erature, an in terpretation that is nei ther right nor wrong, since it will be colored by kids unique perspectives, ex periences, and vi sion. The readers in terpretation of apiece of lit erature is in trinsically more valu able than some pre determined trans lation that might befound in a teachers manual, for example.

Many teachers sub scribe to the no tion that reading in volves an active and en ergetic re lationshipbetween the reader and the text. That is, the readertext relationship is re ciprocal and in volves thecharacteristics of the reader as well as the na ture of the ma terial (Fredericks 2001). This philosophyof read ing has par tic u lar ap pli ca tions for teach ers and li brar i ans build ing ef fec tive lit er acy pro-grams. As you might expect, it also serves as a foun dation for the implementation and effectivenessof readers theatre.

With that in mind, here are some of the many ed ucational val ues I see in read ers thea tre. Thesehave come from my own work with young sters as a former classroom teacher and reading specialist,a thor ough re view of the literature on readers theatre, as well as my ob servations of, and conversa-tions with, classroom teachers through out the United States and Canada. 1. Readers theatre brings literature to life! For many students, par ticularly those strug gling with read-

ing, words on a page of ten appear as lifeless charactersdevoid of ex pression, emotion, or in-volvement. Readers theatre, how ever, pro vides both accomplished and struggling readers with alively and active interpretation of books. Readers get to see and par ticipate in a personal in terpreta-tion and involvement pro cess that activates the words, characters, and plots of stories.

2. Students are con nected to real literature in au thentic situations. They are exposed to qual ity lit-erature from a wide range of authors and a wide range of gen res. Many readers thea tre scriptsare based on real lit erature sources, and stu dents can begin de veloping their own in terpreta-tions of lit erature through the creation of their own scripts based on those books. In fact, one of the best ways to help children enjoy and extend their ap preciation of good books is by encour-aging them to write and per form readers theatre productions after reading an appropriate piece

Introduction ix

of lit erature. Readers theatre can also be used to in troduce children to good literature. Af terperforming a readers theatre script, children will be stimulated to read the original source, notto compare, but rather to ex tend their learning op portunities. Readers theatre may precede thereading of a related book or be used as an ap propriate fol low-up to the reading (oral or silent)of a good book. Quality literature and readers theatre are complementary elements of theoverall literacy program that underscore childrens active engagement in text.

3. Children can learn about the major features of childrens literature: plot, theme, setting, point ofview, and characterization. This oc curs when they are pro vided with op portunities to de sign andconstruct their own readers theatre scripts (after experiencing pre pared scripts such as those in thisbook or scripts that you create us ing books and lit erature shared in reg ular reading in struction).

4. Readers theatre helps students fo cus on the in tegration of all of the lan guage arts: reading,writ ing, speak ing, and lis ten ing. Chil dren be gin to see that ef fec tive com mu ni ca tion and thecomprehension of text are in exorably in tertwined. Most state standards in the language arts,and all re search re ports about best prac tices in lit eracy, underscore literacy as an integrated se -ries of re lated com ponents. In other words, lit eracy growth is not just growth in readingit isthe development of reading in con cert with the other lan guage arts. The section be low (Hey,What about Standards?) pro vides the specific con nections between each of the English/language arts standards and readers theatre. Its in teresting to note how readers theatrepromotes, enhances, and so lidifies stu dents mastery of 11 of the 12 English/language artsstandards (92% of the standards are en hanced with readers theatre).

5. Teachers and li brarians have also discovered that read ers thea tre is an ex cellent way to en-hance the de vel op ment of im por tant com mu ni ca tion skills. Voice pro jec tion, in to na tion, in-flection, and pro nunciation skills are all pro moted through out any readers theatre production.This places more value on the pro cesses of lit eracy instruction than on the prod ucts (e.g.,standardized test scores).

6. Readers theatre allows chil dren to experience sto ries in a supportive and nonthreatening formatthat un der scores their ac tive in volve ment. This is par tic u larly ben e fi cial for those stu dents whoare strug gling with reading. Struggling readers of ten envision reading as something done to atext rather than as something done with a text. This shift in per spective is of ten a crit ical fac -tor in the suc cess young sters can eventually enjoy in reading. A change in at titude, a change inviewpoints, and a change in pur pose often lead be low-level readers to some new and in terestingdis cov er ies. Mo ti va tion, con fi dence, and out look are all pos i tively af fected when stu dents be-come the players and the per formers. Equally im portant, the development and en hancement ofself-concept is facilitated through read ers thea tre. Be cause children are working in concert withother children in a sup portive atmosphere, their self-esteem mushrooms ac cordingly.

7. Readers thea tre stim ulates the imag ination and the cre ation of visual im ages. A process of mentalimagery helps readers construct mind pic tures that serve as a way to tie together pre dictions,background knowl edge, and textual knowledge in a satisfying ex perience. Once im ages are cre-ated, they become a permanent part of long-term memory. Just as im portant, they assist in the de -velopment of in dependent readers who are connected with the sto ries they read. It has beensubstantiated that when young sters are provided with op portunities to create their own mental im-ages, their comprehension and ap preciation of a piece of writing will be enhanced con siderably.

8. The central goal of reading in struction is com prehension. Comprehension is based on onesability to make sense of printed ma terials. It goes be yond ones abil ity to remember details orrecall factual information from text. Sev eral re searchers (Wiggens and McTighe 1998; Wiske1998) sug gest that students com prehend when they are able to a) con nect new knowledge totheir prior knowledge, b) in terpret what they learn, c) ap ply their knowl edge to new situations,and d) explain and pre dict events and actions. Readers theatre provides stu dents with rich op -

x Introduction

por tu ni ties to ac com plish all four el e ments of read ing com pre hen sion in a learn ing en vi ron -ment that is both supportive and en gaged. Giv ing meaning to print is one of the major resultsof readers theatre, just as it is one of the major results of comprehension in struction.

9. Cunningham and Allington (2003) have shown that readers theatre is a perfect mul tilevel ac-tivity that al lows teachers to group students het erogeneously rather than by ability, as is donein traditional reading pro grams. It pro vides teachers with varied op tions to group stu dents byinterest and de sire rather than by reading level. Parts can be as signed that are sufficiently chal-lenging (in structional level) with out forc ing stu dents to deal with ma terial at their frus trationlevel of reading. Because students will have multiple op portunities to practice their readingmaterials at an appropriate level, they will be able to achieve lev els of both com petence andfluency not nor mally pro vided in more traditional, round robin reading activities.

10. Readers thea tre is a participatory event. The char acters as well as the audience are all in ti-mately in volved in the de sign, structure, and de livery of the story. Children begin to realizethat reading is not a solitary activity, but rather one that can be shared and dis cussed with oth -ers. As a re sult, read ers thea tre en hances the de vel op ment of co op er a tive learn ing strat e gies.Not only does readers theatre require young sters to work to gether to ward a common goal, buteven more important, it sup ports their efforts in do ing so.

11. Because it is the per formance that drives readers theatre, chil dren are given more op portunitiesto in vest themselves and their per sonalities in the production of a readers theatre. The samestory may be subject to several dif ferent presentations depending on the group or the individ-ual young sters in volved.

12. When children are pro vided with op portunities to write or script their own readers theatre,their writing abilities are sup ported and en couraged. As children become fa miliar with the de -sign and format of readers thea tre scripts, they can begin to utilize their own cre ative talents indesigning their own scripts. Readers theatre also exposes stu dents to many ex amples of qual -ity lit erature. That lit erature serves as pos itive mod els for their own writ ing. Just as au thors ofchildrens books write for au thentic purposes (e.g., to en tertain, to in form, to con vince), so toowill stu dents un derstand the value of purposeful writing as they craft orig inal readers theatrescripts or ad aptations from pop ular books and stories.

13. Readers theatre is fun! Children of all ages have de lighted in us ing readers theatre for manyyears. It is de light ful and stim u lat ing, en cour ag ing and fas ci nat ing, rel e vant and per sonal. It is aclass room or li brary ac tiv ity filled with a cor nu co pia of in struc tional pos si bil i ties and ed u ca-tional ven tures.

HEY, WHAT ABOUT STANDARDS?In re sponse to a demand for a cohesive set of standards that address overall curriculum design

and com pre hen sive stu dent per for mance ex pec ta tions in read ing and lan guage arts ed u ca tion, the In-ternational Reading Association, in concert with the National Coun cil of Teachers of Eng lish, de vel-oped and promulgated the IRA/NCTE Stan dards for the Eng lish Language Arts. These stan dardsprovide a fo cused out line of the essential com ponents of a well-structured language arts curriculum.

The 12 standards place an emphasis on lit eracy development as a lifelong pro cessone thatstarts well before youngsters enter school and con tinues throughout their lives. Thus, these standardsare in tentionally integrative and multidisciplinary. Just as im portant, they support and un derscorethe values of readers theatre (see above) as a mul tipurpose language arts activityone ap propriatefor both classroom and library.

The chart on p. xii pro vides an abridged version of the Standards for the Eng lish LanguageArts. Along with each standard (as ap propriate) is how readers theatre serves as a valuable and in no-vative teaching tool in support of that standard.

Introduction xi

Eng lish/Lan guage Arts Stan dards* Read ers Thea tre Sup port

1. Students are en gaged in a wide va riety ofprint and nonprint resources.

Read ers thea tre in tro duces stu dents to awealth of lit erature from a va riety of lit erarysources.

2. Students are ex posed to many genres oflit er a ture.

Readers thea tre offers students a range ofreading materials that span the eight basicgen res of chil drens lit er a ture.

3. Students use many reading strategies tocom pre hend text.

Readers thea tre invites students to as sume anac tive role in com pre hen sion de vel op mentthrough their en gage ment and par tic i pa tion.

4. Stu dents com mu ni cate in a va ri ety ofways.

Readers thea tre invites students to practicereading, writing, listening, and speaking in anen joy able and ed u ca tive pro cess.

5. Students learn through writing. Read ers thea tre en cour ages stu dents to de-velop their own scripts and share them with are cep tive au di ence.

6. Students use a va riety of languagecon ven tions to un der stand text.

Read ers thea tre en cour ages stu dents to dis cussand un derstand how language conveys ideas.

7. Students are in volved in personallymean ing ful re search pro jects.

Read ers thea tre in vites young sters to ex am ineand ex plore stories from a wide range of per spec tives.

8. Stu dents are com fort able with tech nol ogy.

9. Stu dents gain an ap pre ci a tion of lan guagein a variety of venues.

Readers theatre encourages stu dents to look atlanguage and lan guage use in a host of educa-tional for mats.

10. Non-Eng lish-speak ing stu dents de velopcompetencies in all the language arts.

Readers theatre offers mod els of Eng lish usein a fun and en gaging for mat.

11. Students are members of a host of literacycom mu ni ties.

Read ers thea tre pro vides cre ative, in ves ti ga -tive, and dy namic op portunities to see lan-guage in ac tion.

12. Students use language for per sonalrea sons.

Read ers thea tre of fers in nu mer a ble op por tu ni -ties for students to en gage in per sonally en-rich ing lan guage ac tiv i ties.

*Modified and abridged from Standards for the Eng lish Lan guage Arts, In ter na tional Read ing As so ci a tion/Na tional Coun cil ofTeachers of Eng lish, 1996.

When reviewing these standards, it should be come ev ident that many can be pro moted throughthe reg u lar and sys tem atic in tro duc tion of read ers thea tre into the el e men tary lan guage arts cur ric u -lum. Equally important, those standards as sist teachers and li brarians in val idating the impact andsignificance of read ers thea tre as a viable and valuable instructional toolin lan guage arts andthroughout the entire elementary curriculum.

xii Introduction

PART I

READERS THEATREIN THE

CLASSROOM ANDLIBRARY

CHAPTER 1

Getting Started withRead ers Thea tre

INTRODUCING READERS THEATRE TOSTUDENTS

Ever since I wrote my first book of readers theatre scriptsFrantic Frogs and Other FranklyFractured Folk tales for Readers Thea tre (1993)I have been amazed by and de lighted with the in -credible re sponse read ers thea tre has generated among educators across the country. Teach ers in ur-ban, suburban, and ru ral schools have all told me of the in credible power of readers theatre as aregular feature of their lan guage arts or reading cur ricula. In more than one dozen subsequent bookson readers thea tre (please see More Teacher Re sources by Anthony D. Fredericks in the back ofthis book), I have shared (and seen) the passion and ex citement that is so much a part of a cur riculuminfused with readers thea tre.

In the teacher in-service pro grams I conduct and con ference work shops I lead on readers thea-tre, I continue to re ceive rave re views of read ers thea tre as a way of helping stu dents take an ac tiverole in the reading pro cess. Many teachers have commented on the im proved levels of mo tivationand heightened participation in all aspects of the reading cur riculum when readers theatre has beenadded to stu dents daily lit er acy ac tiv i ties.

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However, readers theatre is not something that you just drop into the cur riculum one day andexpect stu dents to en thusiastically embrace it. It must be in troduced to stu dents on a gradual basisover the course of sev eral days or several weeksto achieve maximum im pact. Of course, no twoteachers will introduce readers thea tre in ex actly the same way. What follows is an instructional planof action that al lows for a great deal of latitude and vari ation de pending on how your reading or lan-guage arts program is or ganized as well as the spe cific time con straints of your classroom schedule.Feel free to make any nec essary ad justments or modifications in the schedule to suit your personalphilosophy or the specific in structional needs of your students.

My ex perience, as well as that of many teachers, is that students need to tran sition through fourstages in or der for readers theatre to be come a vi able component of your over all literacy program.These four stages fol low:

1. In tro duc tion. This is the stage at which stu dents are first in troduced to readers theatre. Incases where most of the students in your class have been us ing readers theatre in pre viousgrades, this stage can be eliminated.

2. Fa mil iar iza tion. In this stage students be come com fortable with the con cept of readers thea-tre. They begin to un derstand its value as an instructional tool as well as its worth in helpingthem become ac complished and fluent readers.

3. Prac tice. Here stu dents are of fered a variety of ways in which to practice readers thea tre in au -thentic situations. Stu dents be gin to see pos itive growth and de velopment in both reading flu -ency and comprehension.

4. In te gra tion. This stage pro vides stu dents with regular and sys tematic op portunities to usereaders thea tre as a significant el ement in other as pects of the reading program (e.g., guidedreading, lit erature circles) as well as other subject ar eas (e.g., science, social studies).

What follows are some sug gested in structional ac tivities and presentations to share with yourstudents. These sug gestions are general in na ture and can be easily in corporated into one or more les-son plans. Again, de pending on the dy namics of your overall classroom reading pro gram or li braryprogram, the lessons may last for as little as 10 minutes or as much as one hour.

1. In tro duc tion (sug gested du ration: 13 days)A. Select a prepared readers theatre script. Choose one of the scripts from this book or

from any other readers theatre collection of scripts. Du plicate sufficient cop ies of thescript for every mem ber of the class.

B. Distribute the scripts to stu dents. Tell stu dents that a read ers thea tre script is ex actlylike a script used by ac tors and ac tors in television, the mov ies, or plays. The only dif -ference is that in readers thea tre the lines dont have to be mem orized. Nev ertheless,they still have to be read with the same level of en thusiasm and emotion that pro fes-sional actors use.

C. Identify and dis cuss the various printed elements of the script. Identify the nar rator, thestaging in structions, how the var ious actor parts are designated, any emotional sug ges-tions noted for spe cific characters, and other features.

D. Invite students to si lently read through the script on their own. You may wish to use the script as part of a guided reading lesson. Afterward, ask stu dents to share what theynoted in the script (e.g., a narrator, a dif ferent style of writing, short parts and longparts). Record students ob servations on the chalkboard and plan time to discuss them.

E. Use the script as a read-aloud for your students. Tell stu dents that you are go ing tomodel how a readers theatre script should be read. In form them that you will also be

4 Part I: Read ers Thea tre in the Class room and Li brary

modeling flu ent and ex pressive reading. You will add emo tion to certain parts and willmaintain a con sistent rate through out the reading, as well. In vite students to listen care-fully to this initial reading.

F. After reading through the script, in vite students to dis cuss what they heard. How didyour reading dif fer from other read-alouds in the classroom? How was it similar? Whatdid they enjoy about your reading? How might they have presented the script? Recordtheir ob servations on the chalkboard.

G. As appropriate, show students an other prepared readers theatre script. In vite them toiden tify se lected el e ments of the script (nar ra tor, spe cific char ac ters, stag ing di rec -tions, etc.). Make sure students un derstand that most readers theatre scripts fol low afairly standard format.

2. Fa mil iar iza tion (sug gested du ration: 1 week)Before engaging stu dents in this stage, you may wish to select 5 to 10 lines or passages

from a forthcoming script. It is suggested that these lines or passages come from the begin-ning of the script and that they be representative of most (if not all) of the characters (in -cluding any narrator(s)). Record these passages on cardboard sentence strips (using blockprinting or a word pro cessing pro gram).

Here are some sam ple sentence strips from be ginning of the readers thea tre scriptThe Gingerbread Man) :

NARRATOR 1 Once upon a time there was a Lit tle Old Woman . . . .

LITTLE OLD WOMAN Thats me!

NARRATOR 2 . . . and a Lit tle Old Man.

LITTLE OLD MAN Thats me!

NARRATOR 1 Well, they both lived alone in a lit tle old house in the middle ofthe little old woods. They were very lonely, so one day the Lit tleOld Woman de cided to make a Gingerbread Boy.

After creating the necessary sen tence strips engage students in the following sequenceof ac tiv i ties:

A. Select a prepared readers theatre script (one from this book, for example, or any othercollection of scripts). Record the script on au diotape (you may wish to al ter your voiceslightly for each of the char acters or en list the aid of some other teachers, or par ents, tohelp you record the script). Make sure this re cording of the script is flu ent and smooth(practice sev eral times if necessary).

B. Provide students with copies of the selected script. Point out, once more, how a readersthea tre script is or ga nized (e.g., nar ra tor, in di vid ual char ac ters, etc.). Tell stu dents thatthey will listen to a reading of the script on an audiotape.

Chapter 1: Get ting Started with Readers Theatre 5

C. Play the recording for students. In vite them to lis ten carefully for the smooth and flu entreading. En courage them, as appropriate, to fol low along by point ing to each word asthey hear it.

D. You may wish to re peat the sequence above, par ticularly if you are us ing this se quencewith a group of struggling readers who may need some additional re inforcement andas sis tance.

E. Provide an op portunity for students to dis cuss what they heard, the in tonation ex hib-ited by the readers, the smoothness of their de livery, or any other aspects of the re cord-ing. You may wish to record these ob servations on the chalkboard or a sheet ofnews print.

F. Invite the class (or group) to read through the en tire script cho rally. You should alsoparticipate in this cho ral reading so that stu dents have a pos itive model and an ap pro-priate sup port system for their oral reading. At this stage, it would be ap propriate toemphasize the emotions that se lected characters may bring to their parts (e.g., anger,dis gust, hap pi ness).

G. After the choral reading, randomly distribute the sen tence strips to se lected students.In form the students that they will now become the characters in the play. In vite the stu-dents to stand in a line. Point to each character (using the sequence in the script) and in -vite each stu dent to read his or her se lected passage.

H. Invite other students to listen and com ment (in a positive way) about the presentation ofthe first part of the script.

I. Distribute the sen tence strips to an other group of stu dents and in vite them to line up andrecite the passages as the previous group did. Again, it would be ap propriate to dis cussthe nature of the presentation in a sup portive atmosphere.

J. (optional) Play the recorded ver sion of the script again for the students. In vite them tomake any ad ditional com ments.

3. Prac tice (sug gested du ration: 12 weeks)A. Select, du plicate, and dis tribute a pre pared script to all the stu dents in your class. Note:

At this particular stage I have fre quently given students a selection of possible scriptsfrom which the entire class makes a single choice. This gives students a sense of own -ership over the script, which ul timately results in a heightened level of mo tivation.

B. Divide the class into pairs or triads of stu dents. In vite students to share the script intheir small groups. Stu dents may wish to read the script silently, af ter which they maydiscuss the story line, characters, plot, or other elements. Stu dents may also elect toread certain sections to each other, not only to practice flu ent reading, but also to get afeel for the story.

C. Assign roles. I like to assign one stu dent from each of the small groups to a character inthe script. (If there are, for ex ample, six characters, I make sure that stu dents are ini-tially di vided into six small groups.) Each character then practices his or her part withthe other members of his or her group (for example, the character reads only his or herown lines to group members, who assist with any dif ficult words or comment on thefluency of the reading).

D. When students have had suf ficient practice, ar range them ac cording to the staging di -rections for that script.

E. Invite the assigned stu dents to read through the script just as they practiced it. In viteothers stu dents to listen to the presentation. After the script is com pleted, dis cuss how it might be im proved the next time.


F. (optional) Reassign roles to dif ferent students in the class. Divide the class into smallgroups and re peat the sequence as described above.

4. In te gra tion (sug gested du ration: remainder of the school year or remainder of the unit)A. Se lect a prepared readers theatre script (one from this book or any other col lection of

scripts). As sign roles to se lected students and distribute copies of the scripts to thosestudents. You may wish to use two or three separate scriptseach one distributed to adifferent group of stu dents in the class.

B. Invite students to practice their as signed parts in prep aration for a pro duction later on.Students should be pro vided with practice time in class and should also be en couragedto practice their re spective parts at home.

C. Schedule a day and time when students will present their scripts to oth ers in the class.This initial pre sentation should be kept as an in-class pre sentation to allay any fears stu-dents may have about pre senting to an un familiar group of in dividuals. Ask students ifthey would like to in vite their parents to at tend this presentation.

D. Af ter pre senting the ini tial script, in vite stu dents to se lect other pre pared scripts for amore for mal pre sen ta tion.

E. Invite students to cre ate their own read ers thea tre scripts from self-se lected literature inthe classroom or school li brary. Make this process a normal part of your writing pro -gram or a ba sic el ement of a writers workshop. Af ter students have created their ownscripts, pro vide them with op por tu ni ties to pres ent them to ap pro pri ate au di ences, in-cluding classrooms at a grade level above or be low yours.

F. Con sider the im ple men ta tion of read ers thea tre as a fun da men tal el e ment in lit er a turecircles. After students have engaged in a discussion about a self-selected book, invitethem to de velop the book into a readers theatre script that can be come a permanent partof the classroom library.

G. Students may wish to use readers theatre as part of a thematic unit. Ac cording toMeinbach et al., a thematic ap proach to learn ing com bines struc tured, se quential, andwell-or ga nized strat e gies, ac tiv i ties, chil drens lit er a ture, and ma te ri als used to ex panda particular concept (2000, 10). Readers theatre has the ad vantage of of fering young -sters a creative and dy namic way to uti lize their reading abilities in a pro ductive and en -gaging manner. By in tegrating readers theatre into the matic units, you will helpstudents gain a deeper ap preciation of the role of reading (and reading flu ency) in theirover all lit er acy de vel op ment.

H. Use pre pared scripts or stu dent-created scripts as part of your content area in struction.Readers theatre has been shown to stimulate cu riosity (when used in ad vance of a con-tent area unit) and pro mote en thusiasm (when used as part of an instructional unit), par-ticularly when incorporated into a variety of subject ar eas (Fredericks 2007).

I. Readers thea tre can be ef fectively incorporated into guided reading ac tivities in anyclassroom. The three critical and in terrelated stages of guided reading (be fore reading,during reading, and after reading) of fer you and your stu dents unique op portunities toweave readers thea tre into the overall reading cur riculum. Imagine the thrill and ex cite-ment of stu dents us ing a self-designed script as the reading selection in a guided read-ing group! Readers theatre holds the prom ise of help ing stu dents in a guided readinggroup un derstand and ap preciate the richness of lan guage, the ways in which to in ter-pret that language, and how language can be a pow erful ve hicle for the com prehensionand ap pre ci a tion of var i ous forms of lit er a ture (Fredericks 2001).

Chapter 1: Get ting Started with Readers Theatre 7

CHAPTER 2

Per form ing Read ersTheatre for an Au dience

One of the features of readers theatre I en joy very much is the many ways in which it can be-come part of the classroom curriculum. Along with scores of other teachers, Ive dis covered thatreaders theatre can be a won derful op portunity for students to be come ac tive participants in the en-tire learning process as well as engaged ex plorers of every curricular area.

Ob vi ously read ers thea tre achieves its great est po tency when stu dents have mul ti ple op por tu ni -ties to share it with others. This chapter focuses on ways you can make that experience in crediblysuc cess ful.

SCRIPT PREPARATIONOne of the advantages of using readers theatre in the classroom or li brary is the lack of ex tra

work or preparation time necessary to get up and run ning. If you use the scripts in this book, yourprep a ra tion time will be min i mal. After a script has been se lected for presentation make sufficient copies. A copy of the script

should be pro vided for each ac tor. In addition, making two or three ex tra copies (one for youand replacement copies for scripts that are ac cidentally dam aged or lost) is also a goodidea. Cop ies for the au dience are un necessary and are not suggested.

9

Bind each script be tween two sheets of colored construction pa per or poster board. Boundscripts tend to for malize the pre sentation a lit tle and lend an air of pro fessionalism to the ac -tors.

Highlight each characters speaking parts with dif ferent color highlighter pens. This helpsyoungsters track their parts without be ing dis tracted by the di alogue of others.

STARTING OUTIntroducing the concept of readers theatre to stu dents for the first time may be as simple as shar-

ing a script with an en tire class and walking young sters through the design and de livery of thatscript.

Emphasize that a read ers thea tre performance does not re quire any mem orization of thescript. The in terpretation and performance are what count.

Read an en tire script aloud, tak ing on the various roles. Let stu dents know how easy andcom fort able this pro cess is.

Encourage se lected volunteers to read as signed parts of a sam ple script to the entire class.Readers should stand or sit in a circle so that other class mates can observe them.

Pro vide op por tu ni ties for ad di tional re-read ings us ing other vol un teers. Plan time to dis cussthe ease of pre sentation and the dif ferent in terpretations offered by various readers.

Allow readers an op portunity to practice their script be fore presenting it to an au dience.Take some time to dis cuss voice in tonation, facial gestures, body movements, and other fea-tures that could be used to enhance the presentation.

Give chil dren the op por tu nity to sug gest their own mod i fi ca tions, ad ap ta tions, or in ter pre ta-tions of the script. They will un doubtedly be in tune with the interests and perceptions oftheir peers and can of fer some distinctive and per sonal interpretations.

Encourage students to select nonstereotypical roles in any readers theatre script. For exam-ple, boys can take on female roles and girls can take on male roles, the smallest per son in theclass can take on the role of a gi ant fire-breathing dragon (for ex ample), or a shy stu dent cantake on the role of a boastful, bragging gi ant. Provide sufficient op portunities for students toexpand and extend their ap preciation of readers theatre through a variety of out ofcharacter roles.

STAGINGStaging in volves the physical lo cation of the readers as well as any necessary move ments. Un -

like in a more for mal play, the movements are of ten minimal. The emphasis is more on presentation;less on action.

For most pre sentations, readers will stand or sit on stools or chairs. The physical lo cation ofeach reader has been in dicated for each of the scripts in this book.

If there are many char acters in the presentation, it may be ad vantageous to have characters inthe rear (up stage) standing while those in the front (downstage) are placed on stools orchairs. This ensures that the audience will both see and hear every actor.


Usually all of the characters will be on stage throughout the du ration of the pre sentation. Formost presentations it is not necessary to have characters en ter and exit. If you place the char-acters on stools, they may face the au dience when they are in volved in a particular scene andthen turn around whenever they are not involved in a scene.

Make simple, hand-lettered signs with the name of each character. Loop a piece of string oryarn through each sign and hang it around the neck of each respective character. That way,the audience will know the iden tity of each character throughout the presentation.

Each reader will have her or his own copy of the script in a pa per cover (see above). If pos si-ble, use a music stand for each readers script (this al lows readers to use their hands for dra -matic in ter pre ta tions as nec es sary).

Several pre sentations have a narrator to set up the story. The narrator serves to establish theplace and time of the story for the au dience so that the char acters can jump into their partsfrom the beginning of the story. Typ ically, the nar rator is sep arated from the other actorsand can be identified by a simple sign.

PROPSTwo positive features of read ers thea tre are its ease of preparation and its ease of presentation.

Informality is a hall mark of any read ers thea tre script. Much of the setting for a story should take place in the au diences mind. Elaborate scenery is

not necessary; simple props are of ten the best. For example: A branch or pot ted plant may serve as a tree. A drawing on the chalkboard may il lustrate a building. A hand-lettered sign may des ignate one part of the staging area as a par ticular scene (e.g.,

swamp, cas tle, field, forest). Childrens toys may be used for uncomplicated props (e.g., a telephone, vehicles). A sheet of aluminum foil or a remnant of blue cloth may be used to simulate a lake or

pond. Costumes for the actors are un necessary. A few simple items may be sug gested by students.

For ex am ple: Hats, scarves, or aprons may be used by ma jor characters. A pa per cutout may serve as a tie, but ton, or badge. Old clothing (bor rowed from par ents) may be used as warranted.

Some teach ers and li brar i ans have dis cov ered that the ad di tion of ap pro pri ate back groundmusic or sound ef fects en hances a readers thea tre presentation.

Its im portant to re member that the emphasis in readers theatre is on the reading, not on anyac com pa ny ing fea tures. The best pre sen ta tions are of ten the simplest.

Chapter 2: Performing Readers Theatre for an Au dience 11

DELIVERYIve often found it useful to let stu dents know that the only dif ference be tween a readers theatre

presentation and a movie role is that they will have a script in their hands. This allows them to fo cusmore on pre senting a script rather than memorizing it.

When first introduced to readers theatre, stu dents of ten have a tendency to read into theirscripts. En courage students to look up from their scripts and in teract with other characters or the audience as appropriate.

Practicing the script be forehand can eliminate the prob lem of stu dents bury ing their heads in the pages. Chil dren un derstand the need to in volve the au dience as much as pos sible in thede vel op ment of the story.

Voice pro jec tion and de liv ery are im por tant in al low ing the au di ence to un der stand char ac -ter actions. The proper mood and in tent need to be es tablished, which is possible when chil-dren are fa miliar and com fortable with each characters style.

Again, the emphasis is on delivery, so be sure to suggest dif ferent types of voice (i.e., angry,irritated, calm, frus trated, ex cited, etc.) that chil dren may wish to use for their par ticularcharacter(s).

SCRIPT SELECTIONOne of the best presentation op tions is when sev eral groups of stu dents in your classroom come

together to present a se lection of readers theatre scripts for an au dience of en thusiastic students (fromthe same or a different grade) and some very appreciative parents. Here are some possibilities foryou to con sider: When possible, invite students to select a variety of scripts to be in cluded in the presenta-

tion. In form them that a com bination of short scripts and lon ger scripts adds va riety to theprogram. When students are in vited to be part of the se lection pro cess a sense of owner-ship de velops which con tributes to the ultimate success of the overall presentation(s).

Consider the age and grade of the audience. For youn ger students (grades K2) the to tal pro-gram should be no lon ger than 20 min utes (a mix of two to four scripts). For older students(grades 36) the to tal program should be no lon ger than 45 min utes (a mix of five to sevenscripts).

If feasible, include a section of the pro gram (parts of a script or an en tire pro duction) inwhich the audience takes an active role. This could in clude sing ing, clapping, repeating se-lected lines in a pro duction (pro vide cue cards), or some other phys ical con tribution. Thiswould be par tic u larly ap pro pri ate for youn ger au di ences, whose at ten tion span is typicallyshort and sporadic.

ITS SHOW TIME!After scripts have been prepared or selected by you and your stu dents, its time to con sider how,

when, and where you would like to present them. There are many op tions to con sider. The fol lowinglist, which is not all-inclusive, presents a va riety of presentation op tions for readers theatre. How you and your students present readers theatre will ul timately be de termined by the nature of your overall


language arts program, the time and facilities available, the comfort level of students, and the de -mands of your overall curriculum. You will dis cover that there is an al most in exhaustible array ofop tions avail able.

Sug gested Pre sen ta tion Op tions for Read ers Thea tre One group of stu dents presents a script to another group. One group of stu dents presents to the entire class. Several groups of students pres ent to the entire class (an in-class readers thea tre

fes ti val). One group of stu dents presents to an other class at the same grade level. Several groups of stu dents present to another class at the same grade level. One group of stu dents presents to a class at a higher or lower grade level. Several groups of stu dents present to a class at a higher or lower grade level. One group of stu dents presents to the entire school (at an all-school as sembly). Several groups of stu dents present to the en tire school (at an all-school as sembly). One group of stu dents in the class presents to an audience of par ents, school per sonnel,

the school prin ci pal, and other in ter ested in di vid u als. Several groups of stu dents in the class present to an au dience of par ents, school per -

son nel, the school prin ci pal, and other in ter ested in di vid u als. One group of stu dents pro duces a readers theatre script that is vid eotaped and distrib-

uted throughout the school and/or district. Several groups of stu dents pro duce a readers theatre script that is vid eotaped and dis-

tributed throughout the school and/or district. Students join with stu dents from an other class to co-present readers theatre scripts at a

grade level or an all-school literacy cel ebration.

Suffice it to say, there is an in finite variety of presentation modes you and your stu dents can se-lect. It is important to share some of these op tions with your students and in vite them to iden tifythose with which they would be most com fortable. My rule of thumb is to start small at firstforexample, have one or two groups of stu dents present to the class as part of a reg ularly scheduledreaders theatre presentation time (once a month, for example). As students gain confidence andself-assurance, they should be encouraged to take their pre sentations on the road, sharing themwith other classes and other grades.

Chapter 2: Performing Readers Theatre for an Au dience 13

INVITING AN AUDIENCEAn au dience gives read ers thea tre le gitimacyit is a sig nal to stu dents that all their hard work

and practice has a pur pose: to share the fruits of their la bors (and their con comitant improvements inread ing flu ency) with an ap pre cia tive group of in di vid u als. Con sider send ing an nounce ments or in vi ta tions to par ents and other in ter ested in di vid u als.

You may wish to de sign these yourself or, better yet, invite students to de sign, illustrate, andproduce the invitations.

In ad dition to parents, I have al ways found it appropriate (and exciting) to in vite other adultswith whom the stu dents are fa miliar, in cluding, for example, the school secretary, the custo-dian, a bus driver or two, cafeteria workers, and aides. Af ter the presentation the stu dents aresure to get a raft of pos itive comments and lots of appreciation from these in dividuals as theyencounter them throughout the school.

As appropriate, in vite community members to be part of the au dience. Residents of a lo calse nior cit i zen cen ter or re tire ment home are a most log i cal (and very en thu si as tic) au di ence.These folks are always appreciative of the work of children and are of ten ea ger to see what ishappening in the local schools.

POST-PRESENTATIONAs a wise au thor once said, The plays the thing. So it is with readers theatre. In other words,

the mere act of pre senting a read ers thea tre script is com plete in and of itself. It is not nec essary, oreven required, to do any type of for malized evaluation after readers theatre. Once again, the empha-sis is on in formality. Readers theatre can and should be a pleasurable and stimulating ex perience forchil dren.

Following are a few ideas you may want to share with students. In do ing so, you will be pro vid-ing young sters with important learning op portunities that extend and pro mote all aspects of yourreading and language arts program. After a pre sentation, discuss with students how the script en hanced or al tered the original

story.

Invite students to sug gest other characters who could be added to the script. In vite stu dents to sug gest al ter nate di a logue for var i ous char ac ters. Invite students to sug gest dif ferent setting(s) for the script. Invite students to talk about their reactions to var ious characters ex pressions, tone of voice,

pre sen ta tions, or dialogues. After a pre sentation, in vite young sters to suggest any mod ifications they think could be

made to the script.


PART II

FAIRY TALES

Beauty and the Beast

STAGING: The three ma jor char acters should all be placed in the front of the stag ingarea. They may be seated in front of mu sic stands or may each stand be hind a lec tern.The two nar rators should be in the back and to the sides of the stag ing area.

Nar rator 1 Nar rator 2 X X

Fa ther Beauty Beast X X X

NARRATOR 1: One upon a time there was a poor merchant who setoff for market one day. Before leaving he askedeach of his three daugh ters what she would like as apresent upon his return.

NARRATOR 2: The first daughter wanted a beautiful dress. Thesecond daughter desired a pearl necklace. But thethird and youn gest daughter, whose name wasBeauty, said:

BEAUTY: All I would like is a rose that you have pickedes pe cially for me.

17From Fairy Tales Read ers Theatre by An thony D. Fredericks. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. Copy right 2009.

NARRATOR 1: Soon af ter the merchant had completed his busi nessin the marketplace, he set off for home. Along theway a terrible storm blew up, with great thun der,howling winds, and driv ing rain.

NARRATOR 2: The merchant was get ting cold and wet and hopedthat he could find a place to stay for the night.Suddenly he no ticed a bright light in the dis tance,and as he drew nearer he saw a castle beside theriver.

FATHER: I hope that this will be a good place to get out of thestorm and take shel ter for the night.

NARRATOR 1: As he walked in the open door he saw that the castlewas empty. There was no body there to greet him.And on a ta ble in the main hall there was a splen diddinner, steaming hot, waiting for him.

NARRATOR 2: The merchant sat down and had him self a fine meal.Afterward he ventured up stairs and came upon aroom with a roaring fire and a very soft bed allmade up. He was very tired, so he lay down and fellfast asleep.

NARRATOR 1: The next morning when he awoke, he found a finebreakfast all laid out in an ad joining room. Uponfinishing the breakfast he went out into the gar den,where he had left his horse the night be fore.

NARRATOR 2: As he was walking through the gar den, a large rosebush caught his eye. Remembering his prom ise tohis daugh ter Beauty, he bent down to pick one ofthe roses.

NARRATOR 1: In an in stant there sprang up a hor rible beast,wearing very fine clothes. His two eyes werebloodshot, his voice was an gry, and his words wereloud.

BEAST: [angrily] You are an un grateful man. Last night Igave you a meal and a fine bed to sleep in. And,now, all the thanks I get is the theft of my favoriteflowers. I shall put you to death for your actions.

18

FATHER: Please for give me. Do not kill me. I shall dowhatever you ask. This rose was not for me, but formy daughter, Beauty. I had promised to bring herone at the end of my jour ney.

BEAST: I will spare your life, but only on one con dition.You must bring me your daugh ter.

FATHER: [trembling] It shall be as you wish.NARRATOR 2: The merchant hur ried home and told his three

daughters of his ter rible and dreadfulad ven turees pe cially his prom ise to the beast.

BEAUTY: Dear father, do not worry. I will do anything foryou. You will be able to keep your prom ise andkeep your life. Take me to the cas tle. I will staythere, as you did prom ise.

FATHER: Thank you, my pretty daugh ter. Thank you forsaving my life.

NARRATOR 1: And, so, the father took Beauty to the castle.NARRATOR 2: However, instead of a very menacing crea ture, the

Beast presented Beauty with a calm and politedisposition. He was very pleasant and very polite.

NARRATOR 1: In the beginning, Beauty was quite frightened of theBeast. How ever, in spite of the Beasts ugliness, herinitial hor ror of him gradually faded away.

NARRATOR 2: She was given one of the fin est rooms in the castleand would sit for hour upon hour embroidering infront of a roaring fire. Nearby sat the Beast, whosilently watched her. They had many gentleconversations and soon be came close friends. Thenone day, the Beast asked her:

BEAST: I would like you to be my wife.NARRATOR 1: Beauty was taken by sur prise and did not know how

to an swer. He was, after all, quite ugly, but she didnot want to hurt the feelings of this creature whohad been so kind to her. Besides, it was this Beastwho had spared her fathers life.

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BEAUTY: [nervously] I re ally dont know what to say. I somuch would like to, but . . . .

BEAST: I quite un derstand. I am not of fended by yourre fusal.

NARRATOR 2: Their re lationship went on as before, and noth ingfurther was said about the pro posal. One day theBeast presented Beauty with a glorious magicmirror.

NARRATOR 1: When Beauty looked into the magic mir ror, shecould see her family, far away. She would stare forhours into the mir ror, worrying about her family.

NARRATOR 2: One day the Beast came upon her and she wascry ing.

BEAST: Whats wrong, fair Beauty?BEAUTY: My father is very ill and very close to dy ing. I wish

that I could see him again before he passes away.BEAST: You are so sad, my Beauty. Go, go and see your

father. But you must swear that you will re turn herein seven days. If you dont, then I will come andvisit your father.

BEAUTY: You are so kind. You have made me very happy.NARRATOR 1: Beauty rushed homeinto the waiting arms of her

father. She stayed with him, cared for him, andnursed him back to health.

NARRATOR 2: She would of ten talk about how kind the Beast was,the gentle conversations they would have by theroaring fire, and the many quiet times they hadto gether.

NARRATOR 1: The days went by, and Beautys fa ther was fi nallynursed back to full health. Beauty was happy at last.But un fortunately she had failed to no tice that theseven days had gone by.

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NARRATOR 2: One night she awoke from a strange dreamactually a ter rible nightmare. She had dreamt thatthe Beast was dying and was calling for her. He wasin great ag ony and wanted her by his side.

NARRATOR 1: She knew she must leave at once. Grabbing herfavorite horse, she rode as fast as she could back tothe castle. When she ar rived, she rushed up thestairs, calling his name.

NARRATOR 2: She looked in ev ery room, but he was no where to befound. She rushed out into the garden and there,lying in the gar den as though dead, was the Beast.She threw herself on him and hugged him tightly.

BEAUTY: [pleading] Dont die! Please dont die! I will marryyou! Yes, I will marry you!

NARRATOR 1: At those words a miracle took place. The Beastsugliness turned into the features of a very handsomeprince.

BEAST: How I have waited for this mo ment! Many yearsago an evil witch cast a spell on me and turned meinto a monster. I was told that only the love of abeautiful maiden could break the spell. And at last,you have done it. My fair Beauty, I would be sohappy if youll now marry me.

NARRATOR 2: And so it was that their wedding took place in thegarden of the castle. And every day af ter that theyoung prince would give his Beauty a fresh newrose. And even unto this day, the castle is known asthe Castle of the Roses.

21

The Elves and theShoe maker

STAGING: There are no char acters in this script, just four nar rators. Each of the nar ra-tors should be seated on a tall stool or chair. Each nar rators script should be placed onan in di vid ual mu sic stand.

Nar ra tor 1 Nar ra tor 2 Nar ra tor 3 Nar ra tor 4 X X X X

NARRATOR 1: In a time long ago there lived a shoe maker. Ev eryday he worked very hard. And he was al ways hon estwith all his cus tomers.

NARRATOR 2: Making a living as a shoe maker was very dif ficult,and even though the shoe maker worked and worked,he al ways had less and less.

NARRATOR 3: Finally, one day he found that ev erything he hadwas gonesave for just enough leather to make asingle pair of shoes.

22 From Fairy Tales Read ers Theatre by An thony D. Fredericks. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. Copy right 2009.

NARRATOR 4: And so he cut the leather outmaking it ready forwork the next day. It was his intention to rise earlythe next morn ing and craft the fin est pair of shoes he could. And so that evening he went to bed and fellfast asleep.

NARRATOR 1: The next morning the shoemaker awoke with thesun in his eyes. He washed his face and preparedhimself a fine, though meager, breakfast. Then,when he went to his bench to be gin work on theleather, he discovered a great surprise.

NARRATOR 2: There stood the shoes, all ready made, on the table.The old shoe maker did not know what to say orwhat to think. This was truly an odd happening.

NARRATOR 3: The shoe maker looked carefully at the pair of shoeson the table. They were of fine work manshiptherewas not a bad stitch any where to be found. This wasa pair of shoes all neat and trim.

NARRATOR 4: That they were of ex cellent workmanship there wasno ques tion. They were, in all re spects, a fine, finemas ter piece.

NARRATOR 1: Later that morn ing a customer came into the shop.He im mediately saw the fine pair of shoes andoffered the shoemaker a fine price for thema pricethat was much higher than he would have nor mallycharged.

NARRATOR 2: The poor shoe maker was overjoyed. He promptlypurchased enough leather to make two pairs ofshoes.

NARRATOR 3: That evening he cut out all his work and laid theleather pieces on the workbench so that he couldbegin sewing the two pairs of shoes in the morning.

NARRATOR 4: It was with a happy heart that he went to bed early.When he awoke the next morning, he rushed into his workroom and there, on the ta ble, were two pairs ofthe fin est shoes all sewn and expertly pieced. Theshoemaker was overcome with joy.

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NARRATOR 1: Soon buy ers came into the storeeach of whompaid the shoe maker handsomely for the fine shoes.Again, much more than he would have pre viouslycharged.

NARRATOR 2: And so, once again flush with coins, the oldshoemaker pur chased enough leather for four pairsof shoes.

NARRATOR 3: As before, he cut out the strips, laid them carefullyon the workbench, and went gladly off to bed. Thefollowing morn ing, as be fore, there were fine shoesall neatly stitched wait ing on the ta ble. And, asbefore, they all commanded a fine price.

NARRATOR 4: Again and again the cycle re peated. More shoes,more leather, and more money came to the oldshoemaker. He was making a fine liv ing for him selfand his wife.

NARRATOR 1: One late win ters day, around Christmastime, theold shoe maker and his wife were sitting by thefireplace chatting about the weather and otherthings.

NARRATOR 2: The old shoe maker turned to his wife and said that hewould like to sit up that night just to see who it wasthat came and crafted such fines shoes ev ery eve ning.

NARRATOR 3: The shoe makers wife thought that was a fine ideaand readily agreed to it.

NARRATOR 4: The old shoe maker and his wife left a small lightburning and then hid themselves in a closet besidethe workroom. They waited and they watched.

NARRATOR 1: In the distance they heard the tolling of the churchbellmidnight had come. And, just like thatasquick as a winkin danced two tiny dwarfs.Neither of them had a stitch of cloth ing on.

NARRATOR 2: The two naked dwarfs sat themselves down at theworkbench. They gath ered up the tools and thestrips of leather and began to craft their shoes.

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NARRATOR 3: The old shoe maker and his wife could not believetheir eyes. The two dwarfs stitched and tapped andrapped with great care. They crafted fine, fine shoesindeed, the finest the shoemaker had ever seen.

NARRATOR 4: The two dwarfs worked all through the night. Justbefore daybreak they laid out all their prod ucts onthe table and, with a twinkle in their eyes, hur riedaway as quick as light ning.

NARRATOR 1: The next day the wife told the shoemaker that the twolittle dwarfs were re sponsible for their newfoundriches. They were, she said, the reason for their goodfortune. How ever, she felt sorry for the fact that theyhad no clothes on their backs and sug gested that theyboth work at making tiny shirts and coats andwaistcoats and pants. And, of course, tiny shoes.

NARRATOR 2: The thought pleased the old shoemaker very much,so he and his wife worked all day to craft the tinyclothes for their two mid night vis itors.

NARRATOR 3: That evening the old shoe maker and his wife,finished and sat isfied with their task, laid the tinyclothes on the table.

NARRATOR 4: As before, the shoemaker and his wife hid in anearby closet and waited pa tiently for their twomid night friends.

NARRATOR 1: About midnight, the two little dwarfs danced andskipped and hopped into the room.

NARRATOR 2: As they jumped up on the table, they saw the twotiny sets of clothes be fore them. Filled with mirthand laughter, they dressed themselves in thetwinkling of an eye.

NARRATOR 3: Once again, they danced and capered about the room. They were as merry as could be. Fi nally they dancedtheir way out the door and over the village green.

NARRATOR 4: The shoe maker and his wife never saw their two tinyfriends again. But their lives and their for tunes weregood, and they lived in pros perity for a very long time.

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The Em perors NewClothes

STAGING: The char acters should all be seated on tall stools or chairs. Place a mu sicstand in front of each char acter. You may wish to use a towel as a robe or re gal cape forthe em peror.

Nar rator XTailor 1 Tai lor 2 X X Em peror X Prime Min ister X Person 1 Person 2 X X Child X

NARRATOR: Once upon a time there lived a very selfish and vainruleran emperor whose only thought in life was to be dressed in the fin est clothes in the king dom. Hehad room upon room full of clothes, and he likednothing better than to change his clothes constantlyevery day and show them off to ev eryone he could.


Well, as is often the case in these old tales, therewere two dis honest men who had heard of therulers desire to have only the finest clothes and beseen in those clothes as of ten as pos sible. So, beingthe scoundrels they were, they de cided to hatch aplan to fool the king once and for all. Theyjourneyed to the gates of the palace and in troducedthemselves to the guards.

TAILOR 1: We are two fine tailorsindeed, we are the finest inall the land.

TAILOR 2: Yes. And after many years of hard work andresearch, we have in vented an extraordinary methodof weaving a cloth that is so fine and light that itlooks in vis i ble.

TAILOR 1: Yes, indeed. As a matter of fact, this fine cloth isinvisible to anyone who is too stu pid andin com pe tent to ap pre ci ate its quality.

NARRATOR: The guards immediately sum moned the primeminister. The prime min ister ran to the chambers ofthe emperor, who was changing his clothes, to tellhim the news.

PRIME MINISTER: Your Highness! Word has reached me that there aretwo tailors who wish to meet with you. They saythat they have a mag ical clotha fine cloththat isso light and so fine that it is in visible.

EMPEROR: Then send them to me. I wish to see this fine andin vis i ble cloth.

NARRATOR: The two scoundrels were sum moned and appearedbefore the em peror.

TAILOR 1: Your High ness, be sides be ing in vis i ble, this finecloth can be wo ven in colors and patterns createdespecially for only you.

TAILOR 2: Yes, Your Ex cellency. You shall be the only one inthe king dom to have such cloth as this. We shouldlike to be gin work ing on this immediately.

27

NARRATOR: The emperor gave the two men a large bag of goldcoins in exchange for their prom ise to beginworking on the fine fabric immediately. The twoscoundrels gathered to gether an old loom, somescraps of fab ric, pieces of silk, and some goldthread. They pre tended to work on the magic fabric.The emperor thought that he had got ten a fine dealin the bargain. Not only would he be get ting anextraordinary suit, he would be able to de terminewhich of the people in his king dom was ig norant orincompetent. So, af ter a few days the em peror calledhis prime minister.

EMPEROR: Go and see how the work on the magical fab ric isproceeding. I wish to know right away.

NARRATOR: The prime min ister went to the room where the twotailors were work ing . . . or pre tending to work.

PRIME MINISTER: How is your work pro ceeding, my friends?TAILOR 1: We are very close to be ing fin ished. We need some

more gold thread, but we shall soon be finished.TAILOR 2: Yes, come and feel the softness of this fabric. Come

and see its bright colors. As a wise and in telligentman, you will surely ap preciate this fine, fine fabric.

NARRATOR: The prime min ister moved close to the loom andtried to see the fabric that was not there. He wasvery nervous. He thought to himself that if hecouldnt see any thing, that would mean that he wasstupid or even in competent. He could never admit it,because that would mean an in stant dismissal fromhis of fice. So he thought quickly.

PRIME MINISTER: This is, in deed, a marvelous fab ric. It is the fin est Ihave ever seen! I must tell the em peror. He, too, willbe most im pressed.

28

NARRATOR: The two scoundrels were pleased. Their plan wasworking and would be ready to spring in a veryshort time.Two days later the two tai lors sent word that theywould like to see the emperor so that they could takethe necessary mea surements for the new suit. Thetwo tailors en tered the royal chamber, pre tending tobe hold ing a large roll of the magic fabric.

TAILOR 1: Here is the mag ical fabric, Your Highness. We haveworked long and hard and are hon ored to presentthis in credible fab ric to you at this time.

TAILOR 2: Look at the colors and feel how fine this is. This istruly the fin est fabric in all the land. Come, look!

NARRATOR: Of course the emperor could not feel the fabric, norcould he see any colors. He was in a state of panic.What should he do? What should he say? But thenhe realized that no body would know that he couldnot see the fab ric. Sud denly he felt a lit tle better,knowing that no body could dis cover that he wasincompetent or stupid. And of course the emperordidnt know that ev eryone else in the room wasthinking the same thing.This was just what the two tailors wanted to happen.After taking the emperors mea surements, the twoof them be gan to cut the air with scissors and beganto sew with in visible thread. Fi nally they announcedthat they had completed the emperors new suit.

TAILOR 1: Your Highness, you will have to take off yourclothes in or der to try on this new suit.

TAILOR 2: Yes, Your Ex cellency, we must see how this newsuit looks on you.

29

NARRATOR: The emperor removed all of his clothes. The twotailors pre tended to drape him with the new suit.After a few min utes they held up a mir ror so that the emperor could ad mire him self. No body saidanything for fear of being thought stu pid orincompetent.

EMPEROR: Yes, yes. This is a very fine suit. It looks ex cellent.You have done a very fine job with this suit.

PRIME MINISTER: Your Highness, there is a request for you. Thepeople of your kingdom have learned about this fine new suit of yours. They are eager to see you in yournew suit.

NARRATOR: The emperor was worried about ap pearing in frontof all those people naked. But then he thought tohimself that he really was nt na kedhe waswearing a fine and excellent new suit. A suit thatcould ob viously be seen my all, ex cept those whowere stu pid or incompetent.

EMPEROR: Very well. I will grant the peo ple the priv ilege ofseeing me in my new suit.

NARRATOR: And so a grand parade was formed. The emperor,very naked, but think ing that he was clothed in afine, new suit, led the pa rade down the mid dle of theroad. Peo ple from near and far crowded the pa raderoute to see the emperors new clothes. Ev eryonepushed closer to get a good look.Grand ap plause welcomed the pro cession. Ofcourse, everyone wanted to know how stu pid orincompetent his or her neighbor was. But as theemperor passed by, there was a strange murmurgoing through the crowd.

PERSON 1: What a fine set of clothes!PERSON 2: What a grand new suit!PERSON 1: Look at the emperors new clothes. They are

beau ti ful!

30

PERSON 2: They are the fin est in all the land!NARRATOR: All the peo ple pretended that they did, in deed, see a

beautiful new set of clothes on the emperor. Ofcourse, to do oth erwise would be to ad mit that onewas stu pid or in competent. And no body was willingto ad mit to his or her stupidity.As the pro cession moved down the road, it movedpast a young child who had not been told about theemperors new clothes.

CHILD: The emperor is naked! Look, the emperor is naked!PERSON 1: You dont know what youre talking about!

CHILD: Look for your self. The emperor doesnt have astitch of cloth ing on.

PERSON 2: Hes right. Look, the emperor is naked. Its trueheis not wearing a thing!

NARRATOR: Finally, the em peror re alized that he was nt wearinga fine new set of clothes, but that he was, in deed,naked. He also realized that the only stu pid andincompetent person in the kingdom was him self. Hehad been fooled . . . and fooled quite well!

31

Hansel and Gretel

STAGING: One nar rator may stand at a lectern or po dium on each side of the stagingarea. The fa ther, Han sel, and Gretel may walk across the stag ing area dur ing var iousparts of the per formance. Place a card board box in front of the witch to serve as a make -shift oven.

Step mother Fa ther X X Han sel Gretel X X Witch XNarrator I Nar rator II X X

NARRATOR I: Once upon a time there lived a poor wood cutter, histwo childrenHansel and Greteland his secondwife, a very mean stepmother.

NARRATOR II: The step mother was al ways nag ging the woodcutter.STEPMOTHER: There is never enough food in this house for all of

us. There are too many mouths to feed. You mustget rid of the two brats so that we may sur vive. Takethem away. Take them far, far away so that they willnever find their way back. You must get rid of them.


NARRATOR I: The wood cutter did nt know what to do. But hedidnt want to up set his new wife.

NARRATOR II: Han sel had over heard the con ver sa tion. Think ingquickly he went into the kitchen and took a smallloaf of bread and put it un der his coat.

STEPMOTHER: Get rid of them, I say. You must take them away,old man. We can not feed them, we can not feedthem. They are far too much bother.

WOODCUTTER: All right, wife. I will take them away. I will takethem far into the forest and leave them there tosurvive on their own.

NARRATOR I: At dawn the next day, the wood cutter led Hanseland Gretel into the forest. Clever Han sel, however,walked behind his father. Ev ery so of ten he woulddrop a small morsel of bread on the trail be hindthem.

HANSEL: Do not be afraid, my sis ter. We shall find our wayback to the cottage. All we have to do is fol low thetrail of breadcrumbs Ive left along the trail.

GRETEL: Are you sure this will work, dear brother?HANSEL: Trust me, it will work. We shall find our way home.

NARRATOR II: The wood cutter led his children deeper and deeperinto the woods. Finally, when the woods were verydark with large trees, he turned and spoke to hischil dren.

WOODCUTTER: I am sorry, my chil dren, but I must leave you here.There is not enough food at home to feed all of us.Be good and take care of each other.

GRETEL: Father, we are scared.WOODCUTTER: I know, my child. But you have your brother to care

for you.NARRATOR I: And with that the woodcutter turned around and

went back home.

33

HANSEL: Do not be afraid, dear sister. Re member, I have lefta trail of bread crumbs along the way. All we needdo is fol low the crumbs, and we shall be home in no time.

NARRATOR II: But the lit tle boy had for gotten about the hun grybirds that lived in the forest. When they saw himdropping the crumbs, they flew along be hind, and in no time at all had eaten all the crumbs. When thechildren tried to find their way back along the trail,they saw to their hor ror that all the crumbs hadgone.

GRETEL: Im scared, dear brother. Im cold and Im hun gry,and I want to go back home.

HANSEL: Dont be afraid. Ill look af ter you.NARRATOR I: The two children, scared and hun gry, hud dled

together under a large tree. They soon fell asleep,and when dawn broke the next morn ing, they startedto wander through the for est. They knew they werelost, but still they walked on. Sud denly they cameupon a small cottage in the middle of a smallmeadow.

GRETEL: Look, Hansel, this cottage is made of candy.HANSEL: Yes, the walls are made of chocolate. The roof is

icing. The fence posts are candy canes. The path ismade of lemon drops.

NARRATOR II: The chil dren, who were very hun gry, began to eatpieces of the house. They had never tasted anythingso de licious. Ev erything was goodgood andsweet.

NARRATOR I: Suddenly, they heard a voice.WITCH: [sounding evil] Well, well, what do we have here? I

see two lit tle chil dren who have fallen into my trap.They shall make a delicious din ner.

NARRATOR II: The witch took the two children into her cot tage and locked them both in a cage.

34

WITCH: You two are noth ing but skin and bones. I should liketo have you for din ner, but I must fatten you up a bit.

NARRATOR I: For days she fed the two children loaves of breadand fat chickens. Fi nally she could wait no longer.

WITCH: I think you both are ready for din nermy din ner. Ishall light the stove and pre pare my mealmy mealof two very plump children. Now, Ill take you outof your cages while I test the oven.

NARRATOR II: Hansel and Gretel stood be side the witch as shestuck her head in side the oven to see if it was hotenough. Gretel gave her a tremendous shove, andHansel slammed the oven door shut.

WITCH: Help, help! Let me out! Let me out!NARRATOR I: But the two children put a pad lock on the oven door.

In very short order the witch was burnt to a crisp.GRETEL: We must find our way home, dear brother.HANSEL: Yes, lets take this bas ket and fill it with food and

find a trail that will lead us home.NARRATOR II: But when the chil dren took the bas ket down from the

shelf, they saw that it was filled with gold coins. They were overcome with joy and glad ness. They quicklyset off through the woods in search of their home.

NARRATOR I: Luck was with them, for on the second day they sawtheir father coming to ward them.

WOODCUTTER: Children, chil dren. Your stepmother is dead. Comehome with me now. I have found you, and we shallbe to gether again.

GRETEL: Promise that you will never leave us alone again.WOODCUTTER: I prom ise.

HANSEL: Look, father. We are rich! We have a basket full ofgold coins. We shall never be

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