The Effect of the Reader’s Theatre on Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension Skills of 4th Grade Primary School Students

Abstract

In this study, reader’s theater’s effect on reading comprehension and fluency skills was examined. In research, quasi-experimental design was used. The research was applied in a public school in Mamak/Ankara for 14 weeks in the 2019-2020 Academic Year. 29 students took part in the research. In the experimental group reader’s theater activities were carried out by the researcher and no application was done with the control group. To find out the reading comprehension levels of the students, reading comprehension test was used. In addition, the word recognition percentage, reading speed and Reading Prosody Rubric was utilized to determine the participants’ reading fluency levels. As a result of the analysis, the reader’s theater method was efficient in the increase in reading prosody and reading fluency skills, and the decrease in the number of misspelled words. Although no significant effect of the reader’s theater method on the participants’ reading speed was observed, it was concluded that the reader’s theater method increased the participants’ reading comprehension skills.