Reader's Theater: Presenting Asian Folktales

Teaching Theme of the Week

from Education World®

Transform Asian folktales into Reader's Theater scripts. (Grades 2-12)

Subjects: Language Arts, Visual Arts, Social Studies

Grade Levels

• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8
• 9-12

Objectives
Students will:

• work cooperatively in groups,
• rewrite Asian folktales as Reader's Theater scripts, and
• perform the folktale scripts for their peers.

Keywords
script, Reader's Theater, Aaron Shepard, folktale, Asian-American, Asia

Materials Needed

• Internet access (to print out folktales, links provided)
• materials for building props, as needed

Procedure

Aaron Shepard, creator of the Reader's Theater concept and author of many books -- including Folktales on Stage -- presents many Asian folktales on his Web site. Each link below will take you to an Asian folktale that students can rewrite in Reader's Theater script form, and perform for their classmates. (If you work with younger students, you will need to do the scriptwriting.) Each tale link below also includes a list of characters and the appropriate grade levels.

Additional Activities

• Before students perform their folktale, have them show on a world map the country of the tale's origin.
• Have students introduce in advance of their performance any new or unusual vocabulary words that might be encountered.
• Folktales always seem to have a lesson at their heart. As each tale is performed, talk about the lessons learned from it.
• These tales by Aaron Shepard also can be used as read-aloud tales. See another lesson, Build Listening Skills With Asian Folktales; this lesson includes 10 listening comprehension questions for five different Asian folktales.

Kings for Breakfast: A Hindu Legend 
Grades K-8
Characters:

• narrator
• a gander
• King Vikram
• a goose
• King Karna
• a hermit

The Gifts of Wali Dad: A Tale of India and Pakistan 
Grades PreK-8
Characters:

• narrator
• Wali Dad
• a merchant
• the queen of Khaistan
• the king of Nekabad
• the king's prime minister/servant #2
• peri #1/servant #1 (a peri is a fairylike character)
• peri #2/servant #3

Too-too-moo and the Giant: A Tale of Indonesia 
Grades K-4
Characters:

• narrator
• a giant
• a little girl, Too-too-moo
• Mama

The Millionaire Miser: A Buddhist Legend 
Grades K-8
Characters:

• narrator
• Sushil, the miser
• Nirmala, Sushil's wife
• Sakka, the King of Heaven
• townspeople (at least two "actors" to speak in unison)
• Rajah

The Four Puppets: A Tale of Burma 
Grades 2-8
Characters:

• narrator
• puppet maker
• Aung, the puppet maker's son
• puppet #1, the king of the gods
• puppet #2, the ogre
• Mala, daughter of a caravan owner
• puppet #3, the mystic sorcerer
• puppet #4, the holy hermit
• father of Mala

Four More Asian Folktales for Acting Out

• The Boy Who Drew Cats: A Tale of Japan 
• The Crystal Heart: A Vietnamese Legend 
• The Adventures of Mouse Deer: Tales of Indonesia and Malaysia
• The Story Spirits: A Tale of Korea 

Assessment
You might use the following Reader's Theater rubrics as resources for composing a rubric of your own:

• Reader's Theater Presentation Rubric 
• Rubric for Reader's Theater 
• Reader's Theater Group/Self Evaluation (PDF, 39K)
• Reader's Theater Evaluation 
• Skits and Reader's Theater Rubric (PDF, 2K)

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