Multi-grade readers theatre : stories about short story and book authors

Unlike most readers theatre titles, the 36 scripts in this book introduce young readers to classic authors like Louisa May Alcott and Mark Twain while they have fun and improve their reading fluency.

The use of readers theatre as a classroom tool develops fluency while students are engaged in learning new content and actively participating in their learning. Background information and discussion questions round out the readers theatre experience, providing young readers with an opportunity to increase their reading fluency while inspiring them to read the works of well-known authors.

Each of these 36 readers theatre scripts--one for each week of the school year--provides teachers and librarians with an introduction to authors of short stories, chapter books, and poetry. The subject matter includes acclaimed writers such as Charles Dickens and Laura Ingalls Wilder, as well as more contemporary authors like Paula Danzinger and Roald Dahl. Each script is designed to be introduced, read, and discussed in a 30-minute period, and encompasses characters with lines written at grade levels 2, 3, and 4 to accommodate different reading levels (grade levels are indicated on the teacher's page only).

Louisa May Alcott, 1832-1888: A visit from Miss Alcott -- Lloyd Alexander, 1924-2007: Pursuing a dream -- James Matthew Barrie, 1860-1937: Pirate tales -- L. Frank Baum, 1856-1919: Chickens and oz -- John Bellairs, 1938-1991: Who finishes the books? -- Mildred Writ Benson, 1905-2002: Who is Carolyn Keene? -- Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1849-1924: Everyone's secret garden -- Eleanor Cameron, 1912-1996: A child's dream becomes a book -- Lewis Carroll, 1832-1898: Alice, a childhood friend -- Carlo Collodi, 1826-1890: More than a block of wood -- Stephen Crane, 1871-1900: Fright night at the museum -- Roald Dahl, 1916-1990: A mischievous boy -- Paula Danziger, 1944-2004: Learning to survive --Charles Dickens, 1812-1870: A Christmas tradition -- Walter Farley, 1915-1986: A love horses -- Louise Fitzhugh, 1928-1974: Spying to find the truth -- Virginia Esther Hamilton, 1934-2002: Stories of the past -- Karla Kuskin, 1932-2009: Rhyme time -- Madeleine L'Engle, 1918-2007: In the library -- Clive Staples Lewis, 1898-1963: A tour of C. S. Lewis's life -- Astrid Lindgren, 1907-2002: Astrid Lindgren's world -- Hugh John Lofting, 1886-1947: Why Dolittle? -- Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1874-1942: A reason to write -- Scott O'Dell, 1898-1989: Lost on an island -- Anne Parrish, 1888-1957: An artist and a writer -- William Sydney Porter, 1862-1910: Oh, Henry! -- Ellen Raskin, 1928-1984: Problems and puzzles -- Woodrow Wilson Rawls, 1913-1984: The story behind the story -- Elizabeth George Speare, 1908-1994: Making the past come alive -- Mary Stolz, 1920-2006: Read, read, read! -- Edward Stratemeyer, 1862-1930: It's all about ghosts -- P. L. Travers, 1899-1996: The banker's daughter -- Mark Twain, 1835-1910: The man who loved the Mississippi River -- H. G. Wells, 1866-1946: A lucky break -- E. B. White, 1899-1985: Mice, pigs, and spiders -- Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957: A pioneering writer -- Index of authors and illustrators.