Taking the LEAP: Marrying Literacy Enhancement, Artistry and Performance

Taking the LEAP: Marrying Literacy Enhancement, Artistry and Performance

L.E.A.P.: Literacy Enhancement, Artistry, and Performance is a Community Service Initiative that promotes storytelling through theater to improve literacy rates in low-income schools. The program utilizes the Reader's Theater technique, which involves students reading aloud scripts from books at their grade level. The program integrates the performing arts into literacy curriculums to provide hands-on learning experiences that can lead to exploratory learning. This paper examines the importance of literacy and the role of theater in supporting the cognitive development of struggling readers. It also explores how Reader's Theater can be implemented in the classroom to improve reading fluency and attitude towards reading. This paper concludes that literacy is crucial for personal, social, and economic benefits and that theater is a powerful tool for promoting literacy and improving the well-being of children.

Mozitis, Victoria

Rider University

Hurwitz, Nathan

Baccalaureate Honors Program

Adobe Acrobat PDF

English

Capstone