Hello Everyone,
Read Across America Week is finally here! This week is most likely my favorite week of all in elementary school!
Since each day has a dress-up theme, which I suggested to our ELA committee, I knew students in grades 3-5 would need something super interesting to match their excitement at the week’s festivities.
Enter, a bit of drama in the form of Dr. Seuss Reader’s Theatre!
To get students thinking about the importance of scripts to theater, I made a “Girl Meets World” mash-up, which I call “Girl Meets Swapped Parts.” Check it out on ViewPure here!
Covers from Goodreads.com
Using free scripts I found on various blogs and websites, I made excerpt scripts for Mr. Brown Can Moo, Green Eggs & Ham, Daisy-Head Mayzie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Yertle the Turtle, The Lorax, and The Sneetches with different numbers of student performers. Green Eggs & Ham only needs two students, while The Sneetches has enough parts for several students. I purposefully chose some of Dr. Seuss’ lesser-known books, as well as some beloved titles to adapt into readers’ theatre scripts.
I let students choose their own groups, knowing only the number they need. I have final approval of groups, and then give students their Seuss story title and request they get scripts and highlighters. After highlighting and practicing a few times (hopefully), with me stepping in as “artistic director” to handle squabbles, the groups perform.
I think my favorite part of this activity was seeing the comedic flair of some of my quiet, shy kids and the confidence in some of my students who receive special education services. Everyone got the opportunity to speak, if only announcing the group order as “assistant director.”