Readers Theater is the reason I lost nap time. If your question is why does Taiwanese elementary schools have nap time, the answer is the teachers want to sleep. Every day for an hour after lunch the students and teachers will turn out the lights and take a nap. Some of the classrooms have pillows and blankets where as teachers in the teacher’s office use their coats as make shift pillows and it is absolutely silent during that time. Before Readers Theater started I used to feel bad even typing because of the sound. But alas, for the past month that hasn’t been an issue because instead of getting the option to sleep, my LET and I have been practicing Readers Theater.
崁頂國小 presented to the rest of the students during Tuesday Flag Raising which has since also become another English lesson.
Readers Theater is a competition that judges students’ pronunciation, intonation, ability to portray a character, and the difficulty of the story presented all in English. Seeing as the rulebook was written in Chinese I only have a summary of the expectations and requirements. The story is to be any story that is written or adapted by the teachers or students that can be read between 3 to 5 minutes. Teams can either be made up of one grade level class or students taken from the whole school in theory to make a “super team” of English speakers. Props are allowed as well as simple costumes that do not detract from the performance. Song and Dance are not necessary and seemed almost frowned upon in the rules.
It was both Irene, my LETs, and my first time participating in Readers Theater let alone coaching a team. I spent the first few months drafting different stories into scripts altering the level based on which ever class we were able to utilize for Readers Theater. At 崁頂國小we were given the chance to choose a grade level. Last year, the now fourth graders competed, but seeing as I am competitive already I was really pushing for the sixth graders. There are a couple very strong English speakers in my sixth grade class. Even before the sixth grade teacher said we could work with her students I developed the best script for them, “The Lorax.” My favorite all time book, dating back to literally the reason why I am an Environmental Studies and Communication major. Thank god the sixth grade camping trip didn’t overlap with Readers Theater and we were given the chance to perform the script I worked pretty hard on adapting from a story on Truffula trees to a story of palm trees, basket businesses, and Formosan black bears.
電光國小wasn’t as lucky as 崁頂國小. As a result of the small amount of students at 電光國小, we have to include every student taking English class (sixth grade through third) in Readers Theater. Most schools that compete don’t usually have third graders on their team if they compete in the whole school category like 電光國小, putting us at a disadvantage right in the beginning. I wrote many different stories for this school because I had such a hard time identifying what was at their level to perform. One day in class I would be blown away by the speaking and the next they wouldn’t want to speak at all, and they would forget simple words like he and she. I ended up writing a version of the Three Little pigs, the Tortoise and the Hare, Goldilocks and the three Bears, and a script that was a little harder that was an adaption of a Phineas and Ferb episode. I was really glad I wasn’t the person making the final decision as to which story to use. The pressure was a lot to try and put the students in the best conditions for competing and that all came down to the story. We ended up going with an adaption of Goldilocks in which the Bears were home when she came across the cabin and were helpful in offering Goldilocks food and a bed to sleep in.
After the story was chosen we spent every nap time helping the kids learn their lines. The students would write Bopomofo, the way Taiwanese students learn Chinese phonics, under all the words to help their pronunciation of the English words. 崁頂國小’ s students were easy to motivate. I believe their homeroom teacher ever promised a snack of some sort during class if they performed well, so whenever the students could practice they did. We got sent videos from the teacher of the students reciting their lines on the way to their camping trip and during free time where they typically would go out at play basketball instead. It was fun to see the kids get excited over English. One student dedicated himself to playing the Lorax, adopting a deep voice and new accent that he attributed to the little orange elf.
崁頂國小 students on the left and 電光國小 students on the right getting ready to perform
The students at my other school, 電光國小, did not have the same reaction to Readers Theater. It was a competition they dreaded every year because they knew they always had to participate. The main character, a fifth grader, kept getting sick and missing our nap time practices so going on only a week before the performance she still couldn’t pronounce her lines. We were convincing one of the narrators, a fifth grade boy, to practice his lines by promising arm wrestle matches and thumb wrestling each time we got through the script with no mess ups. Irene and I were so nervous about this group. The week of the competition, our director asked us to present it to the other students (i.e. 4 students that weren’t included- the first and second graders) and the other teachers. During practice they would always shout their lines and we would have to ask them to be quieter because it was nap time and other teachers were sleeping. During the reading however, you could hear no one, but the boy playing Papa Bear. Irene and I were told we were too soft on them and needed to be meaner in working with them to make sure they were louder and listened.
The day finally came. We were at 電光國小 the day of the competition and two teachers drove their cars to the school it was held. Irene and I just looked at each other when we saw the other teams. There were kids with their face painted, headbands of animals, and in some cases full on costumes. We were completely out of our depth. Regardless my students did well. 崁頂國小 was the second school to perform and there was only one mistake. One of the narrator’s didn’t finish her full line and instead nudged the Lorax to begin his line early. I was so proud of one of the students who has a harder time in English class than the rest of the class because she not only got through her lines without a large pause, but she also was able to say the word accident which was very difficult for her during practice (if I had known she would definitely get that part I would’ve taken that word out entirely). 電光國小’s performance was the best we could hope for. Do I wish they could’ve done it like they do when they were yelling across the room to Irene and me during practice, yes, but speaking in front of an audience is hard. Speaking in front of an audience speaking a different language is even harder.
崁頂國小 presenting at their best!
電光國小 performers- unlike the other schools at the competition we couldn't ask the students to wear a specific outfit as a result of socio-economic constraints.
I am so proud of my students and so happy to be able to work with them. It made me remember how much fun I had as a kid competition in Destination Imagination, an acting competition including set building, storyline, and improv. The only thing I wish I could’ve got to do was stay longer and watch other schools perform. I was only able to hear one other performance which was the one before 電光國小 and they sang a part of the Lion King song at the beginning and the end. I also wish I could’ve gotten to talk or at least take a picture with the other 關山ETAs because it was the first time seeing each other in our “teacher roles.”
At the end of the day…. Bravo
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