Overview

When the project was brought up to Mrs. Arivett, she had asked us to help her 4th graders become more accountable and to get motivated to read their mandatory chapter books. Our project was to incorporate the books her class were already reading and create plays that each group in the class would take an active role in putting together and act out in front of their classmates based on the books they were already reading for her class. Our group members also engaged with the students and guided their processes of planning their chapter plays.

Goals

Motivate students to read and keep track of the important elements in the story they are reading. (theme, point of view, character feelings/traits)
Actively engage the students to participate and become better acquainted with working as a team.
Have the project be successful enough that the school would want to repeat it for the next school year.

Specifications

Mrs. Arivett wanted us to work with the reading groups that were already assigned to one another. There were 5 groups and each of were in accordance to those students’ reading level. Each group had their own chapter books that became their focus for their theatrical representation. Group 5 was the highest level, reading The Time Bike by Jane Langton, and Group 1 was the lowest, reading Amelia Bedelia’s Masterpiece by Herman Parish.

MILESTONES:

10/6
We met with Mrs. Arivett during her planning period to propose ideas on how the project was going to work out. We discussed the most appropriate time and dates to meet with her and her class just so we wouldn’t burden her class schedule in any way.

10/12
We went to Dover to meet the students and to introduce the project to them. They all got super excited about it and couldn’t wait to get started.
10/22
Today we began working with each group and discussed with them what chapter in the book that they might want to act out for their class. Then, we began working on filling out the graphic organizers that we made with a storyboard and a list of important events in the chapter.

10/27
On this visit we began working on the scripts with the students and asked about what props they might need to be able to act out their scenes.
11/10
Presented in class. All skits were successful and the children and teacher enjoyed watching them. We were given positive feedback on our project and the class were very much excited to recycle the idea around for the next reading books.

Student Example of Planning

Photos

The presentations took place on November 10 and we received positive feedback from Mrs. Arivett and her students. The biggest enthusiasts were the students, and even some members in the chapter groups that were reluctant to cooperate were eager to participate in the skits.

Service Project Reflection From The Host Teacher

“To whom it may concern,

The group of ladies that came into my classroom to help us with Literacy did a fantastic job! They came in and worked with my different reading groups to pick and write scripts of chapters from their books. They then helped the students to put on a short play from the book. The students were so engaged and excited to work on this project. This is something that I will definitely be using to further understanding in the future. This also showcased the books to other groups. I now have several students who want to read a book that they saw acted out as their own individual AR reading book. These three ladies were very professional and passionate about these students. Thank you for allowing them to do this project. Some of my reluctant readers are now more excited about reading group time! Thanks again”

Debbie Arivett

Service Learning Blog

Monday, November 30, 2015