Blog

Julia Romanelli, M206 Assistant Teacher at 45th Street

Aaron School middle school students are taking the novel off the page and into the theater! Ms. Romanelli and her small ELA (English Language Arts) group are currently reading the book Fantastic Mr. Fox by renowned children’s author Roald Dahl. In this short but cleverly entertaining story, Mr. Fox and a motley crew of woodland creatures bravely battle to outwit three mean farmers. Students explore the text by analyzing various literary elements such as characterization, settings, and conflict. They also engage with vocabulary words by using dictionaries while examining context clues to gain a deeper understanding of the new terminology.

With a book as exciting and whimsical as this one, students were certainly eager to bring the complex characters to life. This brings us to Reader’s Theater, a learning strategy that involves a dramatic presentation of a written work in script form. The focus of Reader’s Theater is to help students read with expression, fluency and confidence. The activity also builds teamwork and collaboration between peers. Students are encouraged to move freely around the room, use props, and even change their voices to portray the different characters.

Each week, after reading a few chapters, the students have the opportunity to perform what they have read in the form of Reader’s Theater by choosing their own parts to act out. They are encouraged to step outside of their comfort zone and portray the characters in their own unique style. Students have been demonstrating their vivid imaginations and understanding of nuance to bring the characters to life: for example, the student who plays Farmer Bunce chose to crouch low to the ground to show the character’s short stature, while the student who plays Mr. Fox coyly creeps around the room to represent the character’s smooth demeanor. Students truly enjoy showing their creativity and dynamic personalities, and look forward to performing their parts every week!