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Examines staging options from simple lines to elevated platforms and theatrical effects, emphasizing an interpretive visualization of characters’ actions, attitudes, and 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Ratliff  \nThe traditional classroom role of oral interpretation of literature appears to view performance from rhetorical perspectives that reflect classical tenets of oral persuasion, public speaking and recitative reading. Although acknowledging the values of appreciation, recognition, and understanding a literary text's inherent \"dramatic\"qualities, there is less agreement on the classroom performance skills needed to give life and meaning to the feelings and thoughts of a literary character. For some, oral interpretation of literature in a classroom setting remains an informal act of vocal \"re-creation,\" the performer's voice merely a convenient instrument to read aloud the author's printed words to an audience of listeners. Others view oral interpretation of literature as a formal classroom \"performance\" that shares a decidedly theatrical impulse with conventional acting theories like role-playing or character-building, and that emphasizes physical as well as vocal techniques to give more dimension to the interpretation of a literary character.  \nToday, however, the basic principles of Reader's Theatre have begun to translate the classroom oral interpretation of literature from obscure words on a printed page into an exciting performance laboratory. Whether constructed on the solid foundation of more traditional theories or inspired by experimental discoveries, today's Reader's Theatre cultivates the most imaginative instructional techniques available for students to see, hear, and feel literature in classroom performance. Although there is no prescribed formula needed to give vocal and physical shape or substance to a literary text, the theatrical impulse in Reader's Theatre is interested in pursuing the artistic and dramatic visualization of the actions, attitudes and emotions of literary characters in classroom performance. The Reader's Theatre theatrical impulse is also the same one shared with current theatre practice in terms of an interpretative focus on a written text; attention given to imagery, pictorial composition and theme; vocal and physical attributes that capture a three-dimensional character portrait; and an accurate, informed audience response to text and performance.  \nThe primary pedagogical principle of Reader's Theatre is that it “dramatizes” literature to provide both a visual and an oral stimulus for students who may be unaccustomed to using their imagination to experience literary works like novels, poems, essays or short stories. Promoting a suggestive, “theatrical mind” approach to classroom performance of literature is an exciting discipline, relying as it does on the perspective that to “see”  \nliterature is as stimulating as to read literature aloud. In addition, basic Reader's Theatre conventions at play in classroom performance give unexpected life and meaning to an oral interpretation of the literary experience described by the author's words. Reader's Theatre also stimulates student listeners to actively participate in the aesthetic, emotional, and intellectual content of a literary text when it is dramatized in a classroom performance.  \nReader's Theatre Conventions  \nThere are a number of Reader's Theatre conventions that may emerge as subtle or frequently disguised clues and point the way to more theatrical classroom performances. For example, a single student may play a number of different roles in a text. Students may have individual lines of narration and dialogue, or they may share narration and dialogue with other performers. Sometimes the setting, mood or even other characters suggested in the text may be directed into the audience to promote listener identification; and at other times students may wear suggestive costumes or makeup to suggest a more physical presence for their literary character portraits.  \nScripts  \nStudents may either hold their scripts or ","cbCaiiXlLpRzJZ4S","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiXlLpRzJZ4S","pdf",30290,"English","# Reader's Theatre in the Literature Classroom\n## Reader's Theatre Conventions\n## Scripts\n## Staging","[{\"question\":\"How does Reader's Theatre change oral interpretation in a literature classroom?\",\"answer\":\"It reframes oral interpretation from informal vocal recitation into an exciting performance laboratory that dramatizes literature through both visual and oral stimuli.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the primary pedagogical principle behind Reader's Theatre?\",\"answer\":\"It dramatizes literature to provide students with a “theatrical mind” discipline—so they can experience and “see” literature as stimulating as reading it aloud.\"},{\"question\":\"Which conventions support Reader's Theatre performances?\",\"answer\":\"Conventions include multiple roles for one student, shared or individual lines of narration and dialogue, listener identification through suggested settings or characters, and the use of costumes or makeup for a physical presence.\"}]","The Performance Role of Reader's Theatre in a Literature Classroom | PDF",1792085695]