LESSON ONE: Reader’s Theater, Get Ready

                             

LESSON DESCRIPTION

Students read the play Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria told by Aaron Shepard (play) to learn author’s purpose and text features of plays.

 

GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS

R2A        Recognize text features of fiction, poetry, and drama

R2C         Identify author’s purpose

LS1         Listen for specific information

 

LESSON MATERIALS

§         Sources of literature

o           Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria retold by Aaron Shepard (play)

http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE27.html

 

§         Supplies 

o        Chart paper

 

§         Handouts provided

o        Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria

 

§         Words to know

o        author’s purpose

o        fiction

o        text features

 

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 

Observation of listening skills.

 

Idea

 

Create a checklist or scoring guide to assess each child’s listening skills.

 

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

 

  1. Read Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria by Aaron Shepard and discuss author’s purpose and introduce the class to plays. Focus the discussion on text features of a play: first page has a brief background of story, list of characters. Handout copy of readers theatre script to students

 

Questions

for

Students

 

Where do we see plays?

Has anyone ever been in a play?

Has anyone ever seen a play?

How are plays set up?

What are the differences between the text features of a book and the features of a play?

Is the same story being told in the book as in the play?

How do you think the author felt when he was writing this play?

What feelings do you get when you listen to the play?

How do the characters set the mood and tone of the play?

 

  1. Continue discussion to promote discovery of text elements of a play. Then read and show the picture book version. Record responses on chart paper.
  1. Whole class discusses format of the play (i.e., characters name on the left in capital letters with their speech right after their name, the brief background and list of characters on the first page, and brief description of the character’s feelings. Lead discussion about the author’s purpose and explore how the author writes to convey a mood. Discuss how the author shows the character’s feelings. Students listen to a section of the play to identify the mood, and character’s feelings.
  2. Optional: Select Response items # one, two, and three.