For a long time fluency, the ability to read smoothly, accurately and with expression, was a neglected component of a balanced literacy program. Now it has taken center stage because of its strong link to reading comprehension. One of the ways to build fluency is through Readers Theater. Jo Worthy
defines Readers Theater as "an instructional approach in which students read a book (or hear a book read aloud) and then perform a play (the book written in script form) by reading the script aloud to an audience" (Worthy, Jo. Readers Theater for Building Fluency. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2005, p. 12). Readers Theater provides both a purpose for reading (presenting a literature piece to an audience) and an opportunity for students to engage in the beneficial practice of repeated readings (Worthy, Jo. Readers Theater for Building Fluency, p. 12). It is great fun and a highly motivating form of reading. The script can be written to accommodate varying levels of reading ability and in that sense allows teachers to provide differentiated instruction to their students.
For this unit I plan to use the tale of Sundiata: The Lion King of Mali, who is credited with founding the Mali empire. Teachers will find a detailed account of this epic story, as told by the Mande people, in Conrad's book (Conrad. David C. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay, pp. 34-35). I have written a Readers Theatre play (See Appendix B) adapted from David Wisniewski's book entitled Sundiata--King of Mali, which I plan to have my students perform to a larger audience of students and which will serve as a culminating activity. Alison Black and Anna M. Stave offer many valuable tips on moving from practice to performance of a play in their book A Comprehensive Guide to Readers Theatre. A step-by-step description of preparing to present this play is outlined in Lesson Plan III.
