Partner Plays in Kindergarten

Use partner plays in kindergarten to build fluency and confidence all while having fun! Keep reading for teaching ideas and activities for partner plays or readers’ theater. Students will love putting on their own plays with this low-prep and engaging resource. Check it out below!

Partner plays or readers theater are a fun and engaging way to build fluency in early elementary grades! Get teaching ideas below!

Check out these other related articles:

• Building Fluency in Kindergarten
• Fun ways to teach decoding
• Word Mapping Activities for Kindergarten
• Decoding Sight Words

This activity goes well with these Simply Kinder resources:

Partner Plays in Kindergarten

Looking for an activity to do in your classroom that:

• Builds fluency
• Increases confidence
• Practices decoding
• Encourages teamwork
• Includes fine motor skills
• and MUCH more?

Then partner plays are exactly what you need! This comprehensive bundle includes everything you need to work on a HUGE variety of important kindergarten skills.

The best part! Students won’t even realize they are learning because they will be so engaged creating and putting on a play!

Check out the video of CVC partner play below:

Partner Plays Teaching Tips:

Partner plays require teamwork and cooperative learning. Start a lesson by reviewing what it means to be a team player. You can brainstorm ideas and create a looks like/sound-like chart as shown below. This provides concrete examples for students of what it means to work together! Encourage students to practice with a partner and add their own ideas.

Looking for a fun and easy way to partner students up? Check out the Partner Up System here!

Next, explain the materials included and how students can use them to put on their partner play.

Included in the bundle:

• Differentiated scripts with and without highlighted lines
• Setting images, characters, practice words
• Comprehension questions with writing and drawing
• Play accessories such as:
  • Headbands
  • Character cards
  • Story mats & pieces
• Printables such as:
  • Vocabulary words
  • Decodable practice words
  • Tap-color-write
  • Cut & glue pictures
  • Partner games
  • Differentiated multiple choice and writing questions

Literally, everything you need for partner plays, decoding, and fluency practice!

Prepare and Practice

Pair up students and start preparing and practicing!

Teacher tip: Practice, practice, practice! Plan a time for partners to practice and build confidence with their scripts!

Suggestions:

• Pre-teach words to students that might need extra support decoding in small groups
• Anticipate several days for each partner play including:
  • Overview
  • Material prep
  • Practice days
  • Dress rehearsal
  • Performances
  • Supporting comprehension activities
  • AND many more ideas!

Review the parts of a story, teamwork, fine motor, listening/speaking skills, plus literacy with this complete bundle of activities!

Readers Theater to build fluency

Reading aloud is a recommended activity to build fluency in kindergarten! After students have the foundations of decoding, building fluency is the next step. Read more about building fluency in kindergarten here.

Use partner plays to build student confidence and fluency skills! Differentiated learning by explicitly teaching decoding to students that need it before reading independently with the variety of printables and activities included. The goal is not for students to memorize their scripts but practice them enough to be comfortable reading them with expression and automaticity. Perfect for the range of learners in your class!

Use partner plays in your classroom

Grab the NEW bundle of partner play activities here including CVC and CVCe words and activities. This endless comprehensive bundle is perfect for year-long learning to build confidence, decoding, and fluency skills! Shop here!

Share how you’re using partner plays or reader’s theater in your classroom inside the Simply Kinder teachers Facebook group here!