CONTACT: Dianna Cleveland
111 Corporate Drive, Ste 240
Ladera Ranch, CA 92694
(800) 375-2926 Ext. 701
Email:dcleveland@playbooks.com

 

Playbooks Reader’s Theater has been recommended for the California After School Resource Center’s
(CASRC) Collection of Reviewed Resources for After School.

Ladera Ranch, CA - November 17, 2008 – Playbooks, Inc. announces that it has been recommended for the CASRC Collection. The California After School Resource Center (CASRC) (www.californiaafterschool.org) is administered for the California Department of Education and provides access to a comprehensive set of reviewed materials, resources, tools, and supportive services for After School programs.  The CASRC Material Review Board (MRB), which is made up of After School staff, educators, and university faculty in California, conducts a research-based review and materials evaluated as high quality are promoted on the CASRC Web site and print catalog, and are made available for statewide free loan.

While many types of After School programs provide important access, extension and support to children’s learning and social development, those that include the arts add a special dimension. Arts learning experiences can alter the attitudes of young people toward themselves and each other. For example, students involved in sustained theater arts (scene study, acting techniques, dramatic or musical theater productions) often show gains not only in reading proficiency, but also in self-control and motivation and in empathy and tolerance for others.

Playbooks® Reader's Theater is an effective and easy way to incorporate the arts into After School programs and engage students in reading. While putting on a single theatrical play in a student environment can require a great deal of planning, preparation, and practice, it typically only provides a spotlight for a handful of students. Reader’s Theater, on the other hand, is easy to implement on a daily or weekly basis and provides a balanced platform for all students to shine without memorization, props or a stage.

Playbooks® Reader’s Theater books are unique with easier and harder roles within the same script and text appearing in different colors. Multi-leveled roles allow students of different ages and abilities to read and perform the same story together in small non-threatening groups of six students. Lower level readers have the benefit of listening to higher level readers and so they grow in reading fluency and comprehension. The more advanced readers gain, too, and improve their expressive speaking skills by listening to the not-so-advanced readers who often seem to have a creative aptitude for portraying emotion and meaning.

Color-coded text means each reader’s lines appear in a different color making it easier for  students to follow their character roles, assess how much they will read, and be prepared for their next turn to speak. This helps to create a sense of ownership and security in their role which leads to increased reading confidence.
Playbooks® Reader’s Theater “After School Kits” are affordable and can be shared amongst After School sites. The kits each include six copies for six readers of multiple stories and are designated for Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and 9-12. All kits include a Teacher’s Guide, Implementation DVD, Reading Assignment Guide, Performance Award Certificates, and a cross-curricular Supplemental Activity Packet.

Also available is a practical “Budget Kit” for Grades K-5 which contains Playbook® favorites for a wider variety of ages and reading levels for one low price. This is a great option for educational programs across the country facing limited funding but still looking for the benefits of a Reader’s Theater program. To view the After School Kits available, visit http://www.playbooks.com/afterschool.shtml

For more information on Reader’s Theater and the research supporting its use for building students’ reading fluency, go to www.playbooks.com/readerstheaterresearch.shtml.

Playbooks, Inc. is headquartered in Ladera Ranch, CA and is the leading provider of multi-leveled, color-coded dialogue Reader’s Theater books for schools and other reading support programs. It owns the patent for story character dialogue printed in multiple colors and written at multiple reading levels. Information about Playbooks, Inc. and Reader’s Theater titles can be found at www.playbooks.com or by calling 1-800-375-2926.