It's a New Year, Charlie Brown Reader's Theatre Script -Rubric & Questions

Linus

Who are you mailing a letter to, Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown

I have written an invitation to Heather, the little red-haired girl. I was afraid to call her. It’s too late to mail it, so I thought I would take it to her house, but I’m worried.

Linus

Why? All you have to do is slip the letter into the mail slot in the front door of her house.

Charlie Brown

But what if my hand gets caught in the mail slot and someone opens the door?

Linus

That’s ridiculous, Charlie Brown. You worry about the most impossible things.

Included in the It's a New Year, Charlie Brown! Reader's Theatre Unit:

14 page script

3 major characters + the narrator

5 supporting characters

24 metacognitive questions

Student Reader's Theatre Evaluations based on 4 levels and 5 criteria.

Student Success Criteria

Student Friendly Goals

Reader's Theatre Checklist

It's a New Year, Charlie Brown synopsis:

Charlie Brown is happy to begin his Christmas holiday break, until his teacher springs a sudden assignment on the class: a book report on Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace that is due when the students return. The assignment depresses Charlie Brown and he does his best to work on it while all of his friends plan a New Year's Eve party. Charlie Brown also wants to ask Heather to the New Year's Eve party, but he is not sure if she will go out with him.

Will Charlie Brown have a date for New Year's Eve and will he be able to finish his book report? Find out in It's a New Year, Charlie Brown!

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.

When can one make time for a reader's theatre story in class?

When I am not reading a reader's theatre unit with my class, I usually reserve Friday's for the reading of a one-off story. It is an event that the class looks forward to, since they do not know which story I will choose. Great for Librarians. I project the stories on the screen and assign characters in class. Some characters only have 1 line. A character like that is perfect for a reluctant reader.

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.

I hope you, and your students have a fun time reading It's a New Year, Charlie Brown.

Happy New Year to you, your family and your students.

Excelsior!

Mr. Marvel: The King of Reader's Theatre