Students in Chuck Woolridge’s English 1 course performed readers’ theater scenes on March 26. The project required student groups to perform a skit that summarized the novel they were assigned. The class was divided into four groups, each reading a different novel: Of Mice and Men, Farewell to Manzanar, Lord of the Flies, or Fahrenheit 451.
Students wrote a script for the 6 to 8 minute performance. Script writing was one of the new skills introduced by this project. The students memorized lines, created costumes, and crafted props. The students can either buy or create their props and costumes.
“I think it is fun, because it brings in things you can only do in an elective, rather than in a class that is a necessity for graduating,” Grady Eglin said.
“It is another type of assessment for student reading comprehension, and understanding of literary concepts, like characterization, exposition, climax, resolution, and fundamentals of script writing,” Woolridge said.
For Englin, the most difficult part was memorizing the lines. “The hardest part for me and a lot of people is the memorization. Once you get past that, it is really fun,” he said.
This skit is similar to the Romeo and Juliet scene performances Woolridge’s classes did in December. However, “The Romeo and Juliet project did not ask the students to write a script. This is much more involved and students have to make choices on which content to include,” Woolridge said.
