The White Fox / During Reading / First Encounters /
‘No one’s going to shoot your fox, boy.’
Using readers theatre to support fluency and deepen understanding of character.
Lesson length: 1 session
Lesson from The White Fox series
Required reading: Pages 27-32
Text potential
- Inference opportunities: Character Inference
Strategies used
- Readers Theatre
Purpose
Readers Theatre is used to enable children to inhabit the characters. Voicing their words helps with identification, at the same time, aiding reading fluency. Using Readers Theatre at this point in the story is designed to deepen the pupils’ understanding of character and to develop empathy.
Preparation
- Download Readers Theatre script, one per child
Process
If Readers Theatre is new to the children, explain how it works.
The White Fox Readers Theatre script is conveniently arranged in 5 parts. You can allocate different parts to groups of differing levels of attainment. For example, the second docker’s dialogue is the shortest. In contrast, the role of Sol and the first docker should be allocated to a confident reader to maintain the rhythm and pacing of the story. If a group is working with adult support, then the adult could take on the role of the narrator.
Once the groups have had time to prepare their reading, invite them to perform in front of either another group or the whole class.
Final reflection
Ask:
- Did you enjoy listening to the Readers Theatre?
- Was there anything that you found hard?
- Did you think or feel anything new about the characters after reading their parts?
Key vocabulary
Readers Theatre
Resources
The White Fox Readers Theatre
Contributors
