This paper aims to develop active learning style reading lessons for Japanese junior high school students and investigate their educational effects. Eighty-nine eighth graders (aged 13-14) were divided into small groups, and each made a video drama of a short story. After completing the video drama and watching each other’s, they were given a free-answer questionnaire, and their answers were analyzed with the text mining technique. They were also given a paper test that measured the effect of “video drama-making,” along with two tests on other texts that were taught differently. The scores of the three tests were analyzed with ANOVA. The result of text mining shows that the students felt they had improved their phonological ability in English through video drama-making. They also felt they had acquired ICT skills, improved their thinking ability, and learned how to cooperate with others. The result of ANOVA shows that there was no significant difference detected between “video drama-making” and “teacher-centered instruction.” Thus, it is implied that video drama-making can help students acquire generic skills such as logical thinking or clear explanation. It is also implied that video drama-making has as good learning effects as teacher-centered instruction.