A presentation of textual material is provided in a "role-play" reading format which has text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters in order to facilitate reading aloud in a group. The text for the dialogue of a plurality of characters is presented in a different indicia throughout substantially all the presentation. Preferably the indicia is color so the dialogue for each character is in a different color. The text for each character is also selected and presented at a level corresponding to the reading level of the reader selecting or assigned to read each character. The text is preferably selected from among a plurality of texts pre-written at substantially different reading levels. The reading material can be presented on paper, or on media suitable for display on an electronic screen. The text for each character is in a size and font suitable for the reading level of the reader selecting or assigned to read the dialogue for the character. A legend on each page of the reading material correlates the identity of each reader with the character or characters selected or assigned to be read by each reader, and with the indicia applied to the dialogue for each character.