Reader’s Theatre would be a great activity to do with students when reading a novel. During reader’s theatre, students read the dialogue out of the book and allows students to feel like the story is coming to life. The main focus of reader’s theatre is to allow students to perform the reading “with fluency, appropriate prosody (phrasing and expression), and a complete and thorough understanding of the text.” I feel like all of these things are important for students to have a concept of when reading a book. It is very important for the students to understand what it is that they are reading.
Sketch to Stretch would also be a great activity to use when reading particular scenes out of a book. The purpose of sketch to stretch is to encourage the students to give a non-verbal response to what they are reading. Students don’t sketch a picture of a character or what is happening in the story, but instead students will sketch something that symbolizes or represents the “feeling, emotion, or meaning related to a scene.” Sketch to Stretch gives the students a chance to be creative and interpret their own meaning that they are gaining from reading the text.
I would use both of these activities in my classroom. I think you could use these activities for any grade and for any book.
