Re: Using drama as a "bate" - did we mean 'bait'? !

Margaret Tourond-Townson

Posted on 1/05/10

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Hi Sara I certainly know that Readers' Theatre is a dedicated term
however as a teacher I have learned that to use a play that was not
written expressly for Readers' Theatre really works. Now what should
we say.... only use RT scripts or try out other plays as well for the
class to have exposure to more drama and to actually learn
more...especially the active children.

I'm thoroughly amused at the "bait" turning into "bate"! Confession
time, I've been writing without my glasses on. AND I am also writing a
lot in French these days and trying to learn Spanish as well. I think
the impact on my spelling is somewhat deBATEable! Sorry! Cheers and
best wishes for 2010! Margaret

On 1/05/10, sara wrote:
> We also call 'research papers' research papers when they're not
> that at all. That drives me crazy but what drives me even more
> crazy is when no one understands that our 'research papers' aren't
> that.
> Margaret was pleasantly quick to acknowledge the difference but I
> confess my ignorance - what is Readers Theatre really? And what
> is "bate"?
>
>
>
>
>> Hi Mae I can fully understand your frustration about calling
>> plays "Readers' Theatre". I agree they are not. However teachers
>> can use the strategy of Readers' Theatre with a variety of plays
>> to 1. test the waters and see the kids' reactions to the play
>> 2. edit the play with the students -personalize if you will
>> 3. teach ideas,information and empathy in a play by a
> couple of
>> "read throughs" which might be the better term. That is a
>> valuable stragegy for teachers I assure you. I have done it many
>> times with excellent results! Cheers and thanks for writing.
>> Margaret
>>
>> On 12/29/09, Mae in Texas wrote:
>>> Reader's theatre is a genre different from plays. It has its
>>> own specific attributes. The script looks different and the
>>> performance is done differently. A play is a play is a play.
>>> A play is not reader's theatre. Reader's theatre is not a
>>> play. Somewhere, somehow, someone in education started
>>> calling plays "reader's theatre", and it caught on like
>>> wildfire, except that reader's theatre is its own genre. I've
>>> been in two reader's theatre troupes and I've taken college
>>> courses specifically on reader's theatre. It's a crazy battle
>>> to fight, but I can't help myself. My district calls our unit
>>> on plays "reader's theatre", and it drives me absolutely
>>> nuts. So sorry to hijack...Mae

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