The Enormous Turnip Readers' Theatre Script & Rubric

Included in The Enormous Turnip Readers’ Theatre Unit:
7 page script
4 narrators and 6 characters

The Enormous Turnip synopsis:
An elderly couple see an enormous turnip in their garden. They try to pull it out but they are not strong enough. The elderly couple enlist the help of their neighbours (both human and animals) to help them pull out the turnip so that they can make soup with it. Will the elderly couple and their new friends be able to pull out the turnip for their soup that evening? Find out in The ENORMOUS Turnip readers’ theatre unit!

I have read these stories remotely/online and in class/in-person.
I encourage teachers and instructors to allow students to practice their parts at home before they read in front of the class. They can try different voices and tones when they practice. It is also good for family bonding time. The student’s parent/guardian can play another role and they can read together.

Do not fear the reader’s theater format. Students love these adapted stories because they are listening to the story and they are a part of the story by playing a character within the story.

Reader’s theatre inspires reluctant readers to join in the fun. The strongest and most advanced readers in your class will encourage other students to raise their hand and participate in the story. I also use reader’s theatre to add to my drama marks.

If the reader’s theatre format did not work for my students and I, then I would have stopped creating and adapting them years ago.

Reluctant readers sometimes feel anxious looking at pages of text, whereas a reader’s theater script is broken up into narration and different characters speaking, thus making the story more accessible to those students who have not discovered the incredibly fun activity of reading for entertainment.

I use shorter stories with minimal characters in literature circles.

I hope you, and your students enjoy reading The ENORMOUS Turnip and continue to do so for many years.
Excelsior!
Mr. Marvel: The King of Reader’s Theatre