Pinocchio – Small Group Reader’s Theater

This Reader's Theater is for 4 - 5 students. It is a simplified version of Pinocchio. In the script, Geppetto is a kind toymaker who wishes he had a son. A fairy hears him and makes his puppet come alive. Geppetto names it Pinocchio. The puppet is lazy and doesn’t tell the truth. Geppetto does his best to teach him and sends him to school to help. But Pinocchio keeps wandering off and bad things happen to him. Finally, he disappears for many days and Geppetto goes to look for him. When they find each other they come home. Geppetto is ill and Pinocchio takes care of him. One day the fairy appears and tells Pinocchio that he has proved himself to be a good person with a kind heart so she changes him into a real boy. They live happily ever after. There is a short writing assignment afterwards for students to respond to.

I use reader's theaters to encourage my students to practice fluency. It is a fun way to do something that they need. My scripts are in black and white with only the occasional color picture on front so they photo copy easily. The problem with many other reader's theaters is that students spend a lot of time waiting for their part. When you have a small group they get more practice in and less off task behaviors take place. Reader's Theater is a great way to help students with fluency!

My name is Melanie Whitesides but my store name is Wonbyone and, if your students enjoy this script, look for more fairy tales and twisted tales at my site. I hope that your students enjoy this script as much as mine did. Let me know how things go!

Pinocchio - Small Group Reader's Theater by Melanie Whitesides is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.