| Musical theater, like reading is way to tell or understand a story through a complex task. Musical theater accommodates diverse learners by incorporating a multidisciplinary approach, which can help achieve a deeper understanding of the story. The purpose of this study was to examine if introducing musical theater to special education students enhances literacy, specifically regarding, reading comprehension, reading fluency, and student engagement. During the procedure two days per week the researcher provided reading instruction through musical theater to all of the students. There were five types of data collected in this study; Pre and Post treatment Reading A-Z Running Record assessments, Pre and Post Teacher's College Independent Reading Assessment (TCRA), post treatment student survey, post treatment teacher interviews, and reflection journal of the researcher. The results of this study show that using musical theater to support reading instruction increases student motivation and engagement. Reading fluency and comprehension showed a slight increase in each area. More research is required on this topic to determine the value and worth of these claims. |
