Penguin Young Leaders

All Penguin Readers Plays have:

	an accompanying audio cassette
	an introduction to the story and character list
	comprehension questions and project work activities in the book
	an accompanying Factsheet with further activities and background information

Penguin Readers Plays are very versatile. They can be performed in class, at a special event or the end of term.

What the experts say:

"Plays bring English to life! A play will provide lots of practice and repetition in a natural and motivating context. They help learners practice language and develop confidence. Students can re-create scenes from a book, either by using actual lines or by using their own words. Acting a character’s role often gives shy learners more confidence as they are speaking another person’s words and opinions, rather than their own."

Nick Dawson, ELT Teacher Trainer/ Academic Consultant

How do I use Penguin Readers Plays with my students?

Make the most of Penguin Readers Plays with this 10-step plan:

Choose a play that matches the level of your students.
Start by playing a scene of the play from the cassette without looking at the books (this will allow students to get a general idea of what is going on whilst the stress and intonation patterns make a first impression on them).
Now let learners open their books and read while the cassette is played again.
Then ask learners to read aloud – only correct pronunciation when absolutely necessary.
Ask students to learn a role as homework.
Next lesson, ask for volunteers (do not force!) to act out the scene in front of the class.
If there isn’t much room available, students can broadcast the play like radio presenters. Shy learners will find this easier as they can read the play from their books rather than having to remember lines.
You may even be able to record these scenes on your cassette recorder.
Many ordinary stories or scenes from stories can also be made into plays. Choose a scene with lots of dialogue and get students to ignore the narrative parts such as “he says” and “she asked”.
For guidance in developing role-plays from stories, see the notes on page 21 of the Penguin Readers Teacher’s Guide to Using Graded Readers. There are pre-prepared role-play cards too – to help students prepare their own role-plays.