Reader's Theater a Great
Enrichment Activity to Celebrate International Literacy Day

September 8, 2008 is International Literacy Day, dedicated to raising awareness for literacy improvements needed around the world. The day is also a time to celebrate the fact that there are now close to four billion literate people in the world! Nationally and locally, schools can do their part to improve literacy here at home!

Reader's Theater is a great enrichment activity for improving reading fluency and having fun with International Literacy Day. Playbooks, Inc. offers a variety of tales from around the world in our unique Reader's Theater format, so students can have fun acting, practicing reading, and learning about international culture all at the same time!

Our feature story of the month, The Gifts of Wali Dad, is a folk tale from India that promotes generosity and counters materialism. Wali Dad lives simply and gives his riches away time after time. Three other Playbooks® are also examples of folk tales that teach lessons. Master Man is an African folk tale that warns of the dangers of boastfulness and excessive pride. When a strong man ignores his wife's wise advice and meets an even stronger man, he has more trouble than he expected. The Hidden One is a Native American tale that shows the value of inner beauty and kindness. A young girl mistreated by her beautiful but cruel older sister gets a chance to earn the honor she deserves among her people. Finally, Master Maid  is a tale from Norway that teaches the necessity of realizing your limits and knowing when it is best to trust the advice of someone wiser.

This newsletter offers a free worksheet to accompany a folk tale lesson plan or Reader's Theater story. The activity sheet instructs students to use the Internet to research folk tales from around the world, and then asks them to summarize the plot, meaning, and value of a folk tale of their choice. Click here to download the worksheet for classroom use.

Why do we have folktales? It seems that all cultures have folktales which have been passed down through many generations. Are these tales simply interesting little stories that have no real bearing on everyday life, or could they have a purpose? As it turns out, one of the principal elements that all folktales share is the fact that they teach values. Children often learn vicariously, so engaging them in stories is a great way for them to pick up valuable life lessons.

Folktales make an excellent tool for teaching values and principles to children without resorting to scolding or nagging! In fact, children learn almost effortlessly through stories. More importantly, the values they learn stick with them and are further cemented through repetition of the stories. Children love to hear their favorite tales over and over, and sometimes they even have them memorized. Parents may become tired of reading the same worn-out books, but children never tire of asking for them.

Playbooks, Inc. offers several folktales from different cultures for children to enjoy, but all Playbook® stories contain character development attributes. The list of character education traits found in our stories can be viewed here. Children love to read Playbook® stories again and again, which not only builds reading fluency, but simultaneously strengthens their value systems.

In this illustration from The Gifts of Wali Dad, Wali Dad prepares to send away his riches as a gift.