Readers' Theater: A Teaching Strategy for Health Educators

1. Readers' Theater:  A Teaching Strategy for Health Educators Kathleen M. Lux, PhD, RN, BC, CHES Jane B. Hutcheson, MS, RN Capital University Department of Nursing Columbus, OH

2. Objectives • Identify 3 components of readers’ theater • State 2 outcomes of readers’ theater • Discuss a readers’ theater presentation • Identify an assessment strategy

3. History • Began in the late 1940’s as an option to live theater which would be more accessible to people. • In the 1960’s, RT became popular in college theater departments where it spread to secondary English education. • These graduates brought RT scripts into high school English classes. • From there, RT has recently been used to assess student literacy and has moved into elementary and middle schools.

4. Uses and Outcomes • RT a low cost teaching strategy • Is effective in several different academic disciplines to improve language arts. • It has been used in English, Social Studies, Medical and Nursing Schools. • Can be used to educate about different cultures. • Fosters a love of reading and provides a fun way to teach facts, history, social issues, ethics and/or health.

5. Readers’ Theatre • A scripted, formalized story-telling experience. • Involves the oral presentation of text by two or more readers. • Provides the opportunity to look into and thoughtfully contemplate a story as viewers from the outside • The goal is to stimulate thinking about the stories so cast and audience can engage in meaningful discussion. (Savitt, 2002)

6. Readers’ Theater • Does not involve the use of scenery, props or costumes • Relies on vocal ability of the readers to paint a picture of the characters • Readers sit or stand for emphasis, otherwise no body movements, gestures or eye contact

7. Readers’ Theater • Read from a script • Oral dramatization weaves and connects the voices creating an affective learning environment. (Pardue, 2004) • “Like radio drama, audience members imagine the scenes taking place before them.” (Savitt, 2002, pg xv.)

8. Preparation • Can be done in advance • Can be done in class • Each reader has own script • Is helpful to highlight individual lines • Readings vary from a few minutes to 30 minutes

9. Health educator poses questions to generate student thinking about issues and messages imbedded in the play Questions can be found with script (Savitt, 2002) or composed by cast or educator Discussion of Script

10. Outcomes of Readers’ Theater • Helps participants and audience understand feelings and emotions of the characters • Provides opportunity for reflection and group discussion • Heightened connection of learners to the situations • Engaging teaching strategy

11. Reader’s Theater in the Class Room • Use of readers’ theater with students in a health education class. • Death by Chocolate • Does anyone want to volunteer?

12. Lights! Cameras! Action!

13. Questions • Discussion Questions • What are Jim’s unhealthy lifestyle behaviors? What are Jim’s healthy lifestyle choices? • What do you think of Jim’s behavior after his health risk assessment? If you had been Jim, what would you have done?

14. Questions continued • What role does the dream play in Jim’s health behaviors? • How do individuals make their lifestyle choices? How do you change lifestyle behaviors? • What decision do you think Jim will make and why?

15. Assessment Strategies • For process evaluation, the teacher notes how many students participate in the group discussion. • Death by Chocolate can be used to stimulate discussion of the students’ lifestyles. • To engage students in their own learning, they can write a short script about a health behavior change they want to make.

16. Assessment Strategies • Another way to incorporate RT into learning is to have students journal on their health behavior change process. • Journal assignments could include directed questions related to RT content. • Or, a short evaluation form may be used to check for changes in students’ attitudes or knowledge.

17. Objectives • Identify 3 components of readers’ theater • State 2 outcomes of readers’ theater • Discuss a readers’ theater presentation • Identify an assessment strategy

18. References • Hutcheson, J. (2010) Death by Chocolate, Non published Readers’ Theater script. • Pardue, K. (2004). Introducing readers’ theatre! A strategy to foster aesthetic knowing in nursing. Nurse Educator, 29 (2), 58 -62. • Savitt, T. (Ed.). (2002). Medical readers’ theater, a guide and scripts. Iowa City, University of Iowa Press.