Reading Plays Aloud in Class

"Confusion of goals and perfection of means seems, in my opinion, to characterize our age." Albert Einstein

Why Read Plays (& other texts) Aloud in Class?

Reading plays (and other texts) aloud in class - by the students - is fundamental to the text-centered, student-centered classroom. While the teacher or an audio recording (with professional actors/readers) may sound an awful lot better - there are a number of reasons you want to stick with student readers - as opposed to the singular reasons that the teacher or audio recording will sound better.

The first reason is that by reading aloud, students are practicing some basic language art skills. 1) Reading 2) Oral reading and public speaking. To me, that in itself is more than enough reason - though you could argue that listening skills are important too (with the teacher or audio book), but they will have to practice their listening skills even more when the person reading is not a professional!

The next reason is purely strategical. Reading aloud in the classroom keeps students on their toes. They are waiting for their turn - and they - in turn - listen even more closely. They pay attention - they don't want to be caught off guard and not be ready.

Finally - and this may be the most important reason: Reading Aloud is an active endeavor - opposed to purely listening - which is a passive endeavor. How do I read this line? What are the characters doing? How did that student in front of me do it?

HOW to read plays aloud in class...

I stole this method from Michael Tolaydo at the Folger Shakespeare Library - and for almost 30 years - I found that it worked like a charm:

To summarize - every student will read. I start at the first student in the class - the first row - and that student will read for the first character in that scene - the next student will read for the next character and so on. The student "owns" that character for an entire page - reading until the next page. If a line continues over to the next page - the student finishes those lines before the next student picks up that character. The next student in the row reads the next character - and like the preceding student, they too keep that character for the page (unless a particular speech runs on - and then they finish it on the next page before stopping).

When you get to the end of the row, you then go either to the student next to the last speaking student (in the last seat in the next row) or you start again at the front of the next row. See the two figures to the left. I have done it both ways - but have usually done it the latter (front to back always). I will give two examples below showing exactly what I mean and how it works - using real life examples from Macbeth.

An Example using Macbeth ( Folger Script)

To the left is the copy of Macbeth that the students will be using. The first page is marked page 21, the second page 23. It skips a page because The Folger Editions put footnotes on the lefthand side of the book - and the actual play on the right. These are two contiguous pages of play. See the diagram above (to the left) for the classroom arrangement (student A, B, C, etc.). What follows is how the lines would be read in the class if this is where we started that day.

STUDENT A: reads Macbeth line 91
STUDENT B: reads Banquo line 92
STUDENT C: reads Ross lines 93-104 (don't worry if students sometimes get big readings - it all evens out)
STUDENT D: reads Angus lines 105-108
STUDENT C: reads Ross lines 109-112
STUDENT B: reads Banquo line 113
STUDENT A: reads Macbeth lines 114-115
STUDENT D: reads Angus lines 116-119 AND 120-124 (the lines continue on the next page)

STUDENT E: reads Macbeth lines 125-131 (new page - new readers!)
STUDENT F or J (depending if you are snaking or starting at the top of each row) reads Banquo 132-139
STUDENT E: reads Macbeth lines 140-155

And so on....

Enjambed Lines
Enjambed lines - or single lines of iambic pentameter that switch from one character to another (one part of the line of iambic pentameter is with the first character - the second part of the line is with the second character. In the script to the left - there are seven examples of enjambed lines (104-105, 108-109,112-113,115-116,124-125,131-132,139-140. Enjambed lines usually have a purpose - and that purpose is usually to denote excitement. That there are so many in this scene makes sense - Macbeth and Banquo are literally hearing the witches predictions come true.
In the read-aloud classroom, enjambed lines are a gift. Students will learn (like they did in are "throwing lines" activity to say them without pause. This requires the student readers to really be on their toes! Look at line 112-113. Ross tells Macbeth that he is the Thane of Cawdor - and he has to nearly step on those lines with "What, can the devil speak true?"
Students wait for and get excited by these enjambed lines - they want the chance to show that they understand - they get the urgency - the get the "stepped on lines" - we still do that today, after all. And excitement breeds excitement. They create the "high interest" as of course do the authors with their incredible, universal, and timeless words.

Reading Plays Remotely in class...

Yes! The year and a half that my classes were remote - we were able to read plays aloud - with the students reading - nearly as effectively as in person. And though it seems strange to say it - in some ways it was - if not quite as effective - much more appreciated. Being able to do something as coming together to read a play aloud - while otherwise in isolation, was a true gift.

Remotely things work just as with in person reading aloud EXCEPT

1) You need to make a diagram, like the one to the left (the students faces and names have been circled out for privacy but should be shown in yours) - showing students EXACTLY how the flow will go. Have them print it out at home - and have a copy read (or open if they have 2 monitors) so they know who is next.

2) All students should be MUTED except for those currently reading AND - the next student who is going to be reading. This little change was suggested by a student and made all the difference in the world, and got rid of 90% of the lag experienced in Online Reading Aloud. It was genius!

Two final points on Reading Aloud in Class

What students remember

A teacher in a English Language Arts forum posted about her students being disinterested during class read alouds. The teacher was doing all of the reading aloud, so I suggested letting the students do the reading instead. I was immediately and viciously attacked by other teachers in the forum. I "didn't know what I was talking about." I "showed incredible naivete". The students "would never stand for it (or listen to it).

I was so sad (really) that I deleted the comment. Being bummed - I posted about it on facebook - and a torrent of past students commented on what it meant to be able to read in class - and how it left an impression on them - though some admitted it was hard at first - all of them agreed it was worth it. My sadness melted away.

Here in Arcadia

At the end of the year, my British Literature students read Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. One year we were running behind, in one period, and I decided to, for one day only, play a professional theater (LA Theater Works) recording of the scene we were doing that day - rather than have the students do the reading. For the other class period - we read aloud as usual.

Anyhow, the class that listened to LA Theater Works loved it! They begged me to do the rest of the play that way - and I considered it - no doubt, it is a lot easier (for teacher and student) that way. But first I gave them a content quiz on what we had just listened to. They bombed it. The classes that read it aloud did well (the usual 90-94 percent average). Not only that, the class that listened to the audio rather than read - was completely lost the next day - and couldn't remember what was going on.

I learned an incredible lesson that day.

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