Vocal Viewpoints by Justine Banks
Objective:
The students will demonstrate their ability to apply the vocal viewpoints to portray character, emotion,
location, and story/plot by performing a reading of a children’s storybook.
Class Level:
Intermediate
Main Concepts:
vocal anatomy, breathing, articulation, dynamic, tempo, pitch, timbre, architecture
1994National Standards:
CONTENT STANDARD 2: Acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in
improvisations and informal or formal productions.
Description:
Students learn and practice several vocal concepts and use those skills to perform a children's story
book.
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Anatomy, Breathing, and Articulators
The students will gain an understanding of breath support and vocal anatomy by participating in
breathing exercises and completing an anatomy diagram worksheet. They will demonstrate their
knowledge of articulation and diction by writing and performing their own tongue twister.
Lesson 2: Dynamic, Tempo, and Pitch
Students will demonstrate their ability to alter their vocal dynamic, tempo, and pitch by participating in
an improv exercise.
Lesson 3: Gesture
The students will demonstrate their ability to use varying tone to express vocal gesture with their voice
by performing a short contentless scene.
Lesson 4: Timbre and Shape
Students will demonstrate their knowledge of vocal timbre and shape by passing off an impersonation of
someone else.
Lesson 5: Repetition and Kinesthetic Response
The students will demonstrate their understanding of repetition and kinesthetic response by participating
in a series of viewpoints activities.
Lesson 6: Architecture
The students will demonstrate their understanding of projection by utilizing the vocal viewpoint of
architecture to say a line from a book.
Lesson 7: Practice
The students will demonstrate their ability to utilize the nine vocal viewpoints into a performance by
practicing reading their story and applying each of them.
Lesson 8: Storytelling Performance
The students will demonstrate their ability to apply the vocal viewpoints to portray character, emotion,
location, and story/plot by performing a reading of a children’s storybook of their choice.
Lesson 1: Anatomy, Breathing, and Articulators
Objective
The students will gain an understanding of breath support and vocal anatomy by participating in
breathing exercises and completing an anatomy diagram worksheet. They will demonstrate their
knowledge of articulation and diction by writing and performing their own tongue twister.
Materials Needed
Copy of vocal anatomy diagram worksheet for each student,
Freeing the Natural Voice by Kristin Linklater pgs. 54-57)
Related Documents
 Vocal Anatomy worksheet
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Breathing exercise
Have the students spread out and find a place on the floor to lie down with their legs straight out and
hand on either side of their body with the palms facing up. Tell the students to close their eyes and take
deep relaxing breaths. Tell them to breath out silent sighs of relief to get rid of any and all tension they
are feeling.
Then read through “Step 7” in Linklater’s Freeing the Natural Voice to help get the students to
completely free themselves of tension and focus on their breathing.
Have the students place a hand on their stomach and breath in slowly on a 3-count and then out
completely on a 5-count. Encourage them to pay attention to which direction their hand is moving when
they take their breaths. Ask them to share which way their hand went.
Tell the students that inside their chest, their lungs are expanding when they breathe in and since the ribs
don’t expand as far out as the lungs could, the lungs push down on the diaphragm which pushes the
organs in your abdomen out of the way.
Instruction
Step 1: Rib expansion
Explain to the students that the source of our voice is our breath. In order to get sufficient breath we
need to work our muscles that help support our breath. The muscles in between the ribs are called
intercostals. These are the muscles we are going to start working with.
Have the students take in a deep breath on a 5-count and hold it. Then expanding the ribs out even
further, take in an even deeper breath without exhaling at all. Then let it out completely. Repeat this 3
times.
Step 2: Diaphragm
Ask the students who can explain what your diaphragm is to the class. (The thin sheet of muscles
attached at the base of the ribs and separating the lungs from the abdominal organs) Have the students
place their hands on their stomach and breath in for a 3-count and while breathing out say “huh-huhhuh-huh-huh” etc. until out of air. Tell them to try to notice the diaphragm pushing upwards on their
lungs with every huh to assist with pushing the air out. Explain that it is very important that they learn to
use their diaphragm while speaking so that their throat and vocal cords don’t get permanently damaged.
Transition:
Have the students slowly turn onto their bellies, get on all fours, then slowly start to sit up. Then when
they feel ready they can stand up all the way and go back to their seat.
Step 3: Vocal anatomy Worksheet
Pass out the vocal anatomy worksheet. Go over each of the body parts on the list and talk about their
function. (Teeth, lips, tongue, hard/soft palette are all articulators, the lungs are what supply the breath
needed for vocal production, the vocal cords are what vibrate as the air passes through in order to create
a certain sound with varying pitch, the larynx, nasal cavity, mouth cavity, chest as areas of resonance,
etc.)
Step 4: Articulators
Tell the students to repeat after you saying, “The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue. The tip of the
tongue, the teeth, the lips.” Articulation is one of the most important aspects of vocal production because
if it weren’t for articulators we would all just be making varying moaning noises and communication
would be extremely difficult.
Ask the students for an example of a letter that uses the teeth as an articulator.
What letters use the tongue as an articulator? (Go through examples with the class)
What letters use the lips as an articulator?
Ask the students for an example of a tongue twister that they can share with the class.
What is the purpose behind tongue twisters?
Why do them?
Tell a couple to the students and have them try saying them 3 times fast.
Sally sells seashells by the seashore.
Cinnamon synonym
Toy boat – toy boat – toy boat
Step 5: Tongue Twisters
Tell the students to find a partner and together come up with their own brand new tongue twister. Tell
them it must be at least five words long and can incorporate alliteration or assonance. Ask the students
to provide definitions for those from English class.
Assessment
When the students are all finished, have each pair get up in front of the class and read their tongue
twister to the class together. If easy enough to remember, have the whole class practice repeating it. The
students will then turn in their tongue twister on a piece of paper after they perform it.
Lesson 2: Dynamic, Tempo, and Pitch
Objective
Students will demonstrate their ability to alter their vocal dynamic, tempo, and pitch by participating in
an improv exercise.
Materials Needed
Bell
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
While the students are still chatting after the bell has rung, start speaking in a whisper. Be instructing
them to get in order from tallest to shortest. Keep repeating yourself until all the students have heard and
are following the instruction.
Instruction
Step 1: The Wave
Have the line then wrap around to form one big circle. Tell the students that you will give them a word
to say and they will be in charge of getting the word around the circle slowly increasing in volume. Say
just as the height slowly increases, the first word will start with the smallest person speaking very
quietly and grow to the tallest person speaking at the highest volume.
Words to use:
love
hello
absolutely
Step 2: Mid-word dynamic
Let the students sit down in the circle. Tell the students to repeat after you and say the last multi-syllable
word, “Absolutely.” Ask the students how many syllables are in the word. (4) Tell them that there are
countless ways that you can alter the dynamic when performing and it doesn’t always have to be saying
the whole monologue, or sentence, or even WORD with one volume. Tell them to repeat the dynamic
changes as you say them. Give each of the four syllables a different dynamic in a series of saying the
same word.
Then change it to be a phrase such as “I love you.” Do the same exercise.
Ask them if they have ever seen an example of the dynamic changing mid-sentence. Why might one
want to change the dynamic while speaking?
Why else is dynamic important in theatre? Think about the physical space that you are sometimes in
while performing.
Explain that it is imperative that you learn to project a little more than you would naturally because large
auditoriums and theatres often swallow your voice because there is so much space for it to travel. If the
audience cannot hear you then it becomes near impossible for them to get the whole story.
Transition:
Have the students stand back up and tell them to find a new spot in the circle to stand in.
Step 3: Tempo
Tell them that this time they will alter what you give them by tempo. Ask the students who they think in
the class talks the fastest. Let that person be the last person in the group. Give them a sentence to start
with such as, “Get ‘outta’ my face!” Tell them to start with extremely slow and progressively get to
extremely fast.
Let the students critique themselves on whether they think there were any gaps or discrepancies in their
progression from slowest to quickest.
Side Coaching: Make sure it doesn’t speed up too quickly in order to make it around the whole circle
before the whole sentence has disappeared into oblivion.
Step 4: Pitch
Ask the students: When you think of saying something slow, what pitch is usually associated with slow
speech? What about fast?
Siren Warm-up: Have the class do a little vocal warm-up to warm their voices up to do extreme pitch
ranges. Tell them to on an “Ooo” sound start with the lowest pitch that they can possibly do and then
drag it up the scale to the highest pitch and then gradually back down to the lowest. Encourage them to
do this all in one breath. Do it a few times.
Then have the students get in order from who they think can sing the highest and the lowest. Once in
order have them go through the circle a couple more times changing the pitch on an “Eee” sound.
Switch the order and have the highest note person start with the lowest pitch. Point out how it limits
their range because the high person can only speak so low and the low person can only get so high.
Questions:
Aside from singing, how can pitch be used in performance? (To mock someone, to go with your
emotion, comic effect, ex: man getting very high pitched because he is so upset about something or gets
kicked in the groin)
Step 5: Improv Bell Game
Ask for two or three volunteers to come up and do an improvised scene. When they are up there have
the class give you suggestions for their relationship and location. If needed, you can also give them a
purpose for being there. Explain to the class that you will have a bell and as they are going through the
scene you will randomly ring the bell and give a suggestion for how to alter a specific person’s voice.
They will then repeat the line that they just said with that suggestion and continue speaking that way
until further instructed to change. Their voices will be altered using the three viewpoints talked about
today; dynamic, tempo, and pitch.
Continue until every student has participated in an improvised scene. For variation you can give the bell
to another student to ring and change the voices. Encourage the students to look for how it changes
meaning within the scene to then talk about after the performance is over. When finished let students
discuss the changes they saw.
Assessment
Improv bell game
Lesson 3: Gesture
Objective
The students will demonstrate their ability to use varying tone to express vocal gesture with their voice
by performing a short contentless scene.
Materials Needed
Copies of the contentless scenes for each student.
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
How Many “A’s” in a single “A” (Agusto Boal’s Games for Actors and Non-Actors pg. 106)
The students will get in a circle. One actor goes into the middle and expresses a feeling, an emotion or
an idea, using only the sound of the letter ‘A’ in any of its possible inflections, plus a movement or
gesture that goes with it. All the actors in the circle repeat that sound and action three times. Then
another actor goes in and expresses a different idea, emotion, or feeling, and again the circle repeats it
three times. And so on. Repeat the same thing with ‘E’, ‘I’, ‘O’, and ‘U’, then with a single word,
finally with a sentence.
Instruction
Step 1: Discussion
Have the students sit down. Write the word “gesture” on the board. Ask the students to review the
definition of gesture according to the physical viewpoints. Gesture for the voice is to put a certain
emotion or feeling or idea behind the sound you are making, whether it is an actual word, a sentence, or
just noise. This is most commonly known as your tone when speaking. Tell the students that tone
communicates so much more clearly the message and feelings that we are trying to convey. The three
things that help us communicate are:
1.
2.
3.
The words we say
Our body language
Tone of voice
Ask the students which order they would place them based on which they think communicates the most
and the least about what we are actually saying/feeling.
Tell them that it goes in the opposite order as it is listed above.
Talk about examples of how you can usually understand what is going on in a movie that is in a different
language if you focus on their body and the tone they use to say it.
What are some different types of tones or vocal gestures? (Maybe refer them back to the exercise at the
beginning)
How do we portray tone in technology? (Writing things in all caps or putting “emoticons” at the end of a
text message)
Step 2: Exercise – ‘I love you’ and ‘I’m sorry’
Tell the students to find a partner to sit across from somewhere in the room. Tell them that they are
going to have a conversation with each other but the only things that they are allowed to say are the
phrases, “I love you” and “I’m sorry.”
Side Coaching: How does the gesture of their voice make you react? How can you show that in your
voice? Now take that same inflection and say the words to it.
After a few minutes of walking around and observing them, have them stop. Change the words to
something they say a lot such as ,”Wow” and “Seriously.” Continue with the observing and sidecoaching.
Transition: Discussion
Have them stop again and if possible tell of some examples of good vocal gesture that you heard. Ask
the students to share one of the emotions they heard from their partner when saying one of the words.
How did they say it to portray that emotion?
Step 3: Contentless scenes
Pass out a copy of the two contentless scenes to the students. Once they have it, explain how a
contentless scene works. Read through one of the scripts. Ask the students what happens in the scene.
(The character sees something and doesn’t know if they want to do anything about it.) Tell the students
that in a contentless scene the script doesn’t tell you exactly the content of what is really going on. You
get to make it up. So in this scene for example, you need to decide what it actually really is that you saw
and express your reaction to it with your voice. Is it a scary monster? How would you react? Is it a cute
puppy? How would your voice show that?
Tell the students that they have 15 minutes to come up with a relationship, location, and decide the
specifics of the script. They will be performing them for the class and the class should be able to tell
what those three things were.
Step 4: Performance
Bring the students back and have each partnership perform.
Throughout the performance, pick out good examples or unique examples of gesture as used to portray
meaning with the words. Especially point out the vocal gesture examples that aren’t necessarily words
but rather noises to portray an idea or emotion.
Closure: Discussion
Point out the fact that every group had the exact same words and we were able to get over 30 different
situations out of it because the vocal gesture was altered. Encourage them to go home and listen to
someone at home speak and see if you can tell how that person is feeling based on their vocal gestures.
Remember that they don’t have to be full words.
Assessment
Contentless scene performances
Contentless Scene Examples
1. Excuse me
2. Yes?
1. Did you see that?
2. I saw something.
1. Are you going to do something about it?
2. Maybe
1. Hey
2. Hey
1. What are you doing here?
2. I could ask you the same thing
1. I wanted to give you something
2. What?
1. This
Lesson 4: Timbre and Shape
Objective
Students will demonstrate their knowledge of vocal timbre and shape by passing off an impersonation of
someone else.
Materials Needed
Guitar or any other musical instrument
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Impersonations
As the students are coming in ask around if any of the students can do an impersonation of someone
famous or at least someone that everyone in the class might know. When everyone is there and the bell
has rung, invite each student who volunteered to go up and perform their impersonation. Ask the class if
they can identify who they are impersonating. It would also be nice for the teacher to have one prepared
to perform for a class.
Instruction
Transition: Tell the students that everyone has a distinct voice and sound. The reason for that is because
everyone is built differently. Their mouths are shaped differently, the place where their voice resonates
is different, and all sorts of other factors. Today we will be discussing two vocal viewpoints that
contribute to creating distinct voices.
Step 1: Physical review/Demonstration
Ask the students to pull out their voice body diagram worksheets from a few days earlier. Ask the
students where the empty cavities are within the body. Where are the places in the diagram that have
space for air? These are places of resonance. Some of those places are the chest, the neck, the mouth
(can be different parts of the mouth) and also the nose. These are the physical parts of resonance.
Bring out your guitar and play them a little song. Ask the students what the physical resonator is on the
guitar. Tell them that instruments are just like our voices in that each instrument has different resonators
or places where the sound is bouncing around in and through and therefore makes a unique sound.
Sound travels in waves and the waves move through the air in that way and through mediums other than
air through vibrations. Show them how the string is vibrating when you pluck it. Your vocal chords do
the same thing when you speak. They vibrate as air passes through them. Then the resonators in your
body are just like the body of the guitar. It is the space or area where the sound waves bounce around in.
You can direct your voice to resonate in different areas of your body.
Step 2: Practice
Have the students practice using their different vocal resonators saying the word, “hello.”
Try making your predominant resonator your chest or abdomen.
Then instruct the students to try saying the same word with their throat being the main place of
resonance. Try the back of the mouth or the front of the mouth. (You can even mention dialects that
predominantly use the front or back of the mouth.)
Move it to their mouth.
Last try it in their noses.
Tie it back to opening exercise of the impersonations and ask the students where they think some of
those people portrayed place their voices. (Ex: Rebecca Black – very nasal). To learn how to do an
impersonation you need to find where that person’s voice resonate predominantly as well as match pitch,
inflection, and even the shape.
Step 3: Shape practice
Have the students stand up with a good posture and write a three syllable gibberish word on the board
such as, “ka-bing-zong.” Have them practice saying it how they would regularly say it. (Anne
Bogart’s The Viewpoints Book page 107 – Shape exercise)
Ask the students to take their word and adjust the vowels and consonants as necessary to produce
a word which is made of round shapes. What sounds feel round? Why? Which are clearly not? Now
change the syllables into a gibberish word which is linear or jagged in its component shapes.
Mix and match as above
Think of and say aloud to yourself recognizable words from the English language (or any other
language) which are specifically round, soft or fluid in shape, or specifically sharp, spiky, or percussive.
Step 4: Impersonations
Tell the students that they need to pick someone that they would like to impersonate. They should pick
someone with a different place of resonance or who has a specific dialect. They can pick someone that
they know from school as long as it is not offensive. They will have to take out a piece of paper and
write the name of the person they are impersonating, describe the timbre of their voice or where it
resonates, and how they have to change the shape of their mouth, jaw, tongue, etc. to make the sound
like that person. After they have identified those things, they will have to say something as that person to
the teacher to pass it off.
After they have passed it off, collect their papers to grade on completion.
At the end, if there are more students that want to perform their impersonations for the class may do so.
Assessment
Impersonations and written paper.
Lesson 5: Repetition and Kinesthetic Response
Objective
The students will demonstrate their understanding of repetition and kinesthetic response by participating
in a series of viewpoints activities.
Materials Needed
The following food items: spicy pepper such as serrano or jalapeño, goat cheese, lemon juice, a few ice
cubes, something sweet like chocolate kisses, fresh garlic, and salt
a blindfold
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Have the food set out on a table in the middle of the room but not revealed to the students yet. Ask for a
volunteer to come up and be blindfolded. Ask them if they have any food allergies then tell them that
you are going to give them a taste of a very common food. Tell them to stick their tongue out. Drop a
few drops of lemon onto their tongue and let them respond for several seconds. Remove the blindfold.
Invite a student to come up and do a mini-scene and tell the lemon juice student to react exactly the
same way they did to the lemon to whatever the other student says to them.
Keep repeating the same exercise with all of the other foods. If they don’t really respond much to
something such as the chocolate, ask them to vocalize their feelings about that type of food.
Instruction
Step 1: Kinesthetic Response
Tell the students that what they have been doing is called kinesthetic response and it is the same
principle as in the physical viewpoints just applied to the voice.
One of the most important parts of Kinesthetic Response is the timing.
It is not about what you say in response but when.
Have the students sit in a circle with their chairs. This game is a focus game and REQUIRES silence
from the students when you are not speaking.
(Anne Bogart’s The Viewpoints Book pg. 110 Exercise 9)
Four students will come into the middle of the circle and sit with their eyes closed. Each chooses a word,
either gibberish or not, as per the leader’s discretion. The leader also may give one word or phrase with
which the whole group works. By excluding the option of variety in words, and by wholly focusing on
the stimuli provided by others, each individual concentrates not on what sound s/he produces but
on when. The timing is determined by responding kinesthetically to the sounds of others.
The participants might need to be reminded to include and trust the silences in a proactive, creative
fashion rather than a passive one. Silence becomes less an inactive period of waiting than an Expressive
field of sound all its own.
Switch new students in until all have had a chance to participate.
Step 2: Repetition
Have the students find a partner. Have them assign who is partner A and partner B. Partner A will start
by saying “A-B-C” altering the pitch of each letter as they may. Partner B will then repeat exactly the
pitch that Partner A does. This will continue a few times. Then switch roles.
The next time they switch partners A will do the same thing but add in the elements of speed/tempo and
dynamic. When Partner B repeats it, they will match two of the letters exactly but change one of the
viewpoints of one letter. For example, if A’s word is “X-Y-Z” and s/he says it : X (high and quiet), Y
(high and quiet), Z (low and loud); B might repeat the pitch but change the dynamic by uttering: X (high
and loud), Y (high and loud), Z (low and quiet).
Have them continue with this until the person following is able to respond spontaneously and playfully.
Closure: Discussion
Take the things we did today and think for a minute about how they relate to their physical viewpoint
counterparts.
When do you think it might be better to use a vocal kinesthetic response vs. a physical one?
Is one more powerful than another?
Can you do a vocal response without doing a physical?
How can the vocal viewpoint of repetition play out in a scene? When might one choose to utilize vocal
repetition?
Explain to the students that they all work together and sometimes it happens simultaneously and
sometimes a single viewpoint works on its own. Instruct them that we will continue next time with
incorporating all of these into architecture.
Assessment
Assess participation in viewpoint activities.
Lesson 6: Architecture
Objective
The students will demonstrate their understanding of projection by utilizing the vocal viewpoint of
architecture to say a line from a book.
Materials Needed
Access to school library
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
The students will meet in the classroom and then be instructed to leave their backpacks under their
chairs and follow you to the library. Once in the library, instruct the students that they have 25 minutes
to pick out a children’s picture book (with words) of their choosing that is no longer than 15 pages.
Explain that they will be using this book for their final project in this unit and so be sure to pick a book
that they enjoy. Dr. Seuss books would be great for this project. Once they have found a book, they must
sit down and read through it to be sure they know the story.
Have them check out their books and follow you back to the classroom.
Instruction
Step 1:
Ask the students: Why do venues do sound checks before a performance? (To make sure that the sound
fills the space.)
Explain that in theatre we must do the same kind of checking of the space with our voices whether or not
we are using technology to enhance the volume. If the audience cannot hear you, all of the voice work
you do such as pitch, gesture, and kinesthetic response are all pointless. Not only do you need to be
aware of the actual location that you are performing in but also the location within your scene (if
applicable).
Step 2: Actual venue or location exercise
Have the students pick a line or a sentence from their book. If they weren’t able to select a book, have
them choose one from a neighbor’s book. Starting from one end of the room, have each student stand up
in front of the class and say their line in order to fill the space. If you want, you can even let the students
spread out throughout the room entering the corners and crevices of the space and turn around from the
student speaking. The student may not sit down until they are heard clearly by every student.
After this, take the students out into the hall.
Have the students spread out a smaller distance than the room. Have every student say their line one by
one quickly in order to get a feel of how they fill the space.
Is there an echo?
What volume do you probably need to speak with in this location?
Take the students outside.
Ask the students what details do they need to be aware of with this location?
Tell them to practice saying their sentence out here.
Bring the students to the large theatre or auditorium.
Have the class sit in the front row of the audience. Ask for a volunteer to go up on the stage and say their
line. Then have the student turn around and say their line again with the same volume. Ask the students
if they could hear them. If no, have them repeat it again until it is clearly understood.
Pick a new volunteer. While they are getting up onto the stage have the class pick any seat in the whole
house. Have them say their line straight out to the audience. Have the students share if they could all
hear them. If not, the student must alter their dynamic in such way that every single student can hear
them.
Step 3: Location in scene
Ask for two more students to come up and do an improv scene. Tell the students that they are in a loud
dance club. Encourage them to be conscious of filling the actual space as well as portraying how they
would need to fill the space in a dance club. Repeat this with a new group of students and say that they
are in a library. How do you fill the space of the theatre while trying to not fill the space of the library?
Tell them that this is called a stage whisper. Your voice is still a loud dynamic but the place of
resonance is in their throat and very breathy.
Ask the students for other scene locations that may require special attention to dynamic.
Step 4: Putting both together for their vocal performance
Have the students think about their line. Who is saying it? Where are they? How might you need to alter
your voice in order to portray the location?
If their story does not specify a location, choose one. Tell the students to decide those things and then let
them practice for a couple minutes. Then have each student take a turn getting up onto the stage to
perform their line. The rest of the class will be spread out within the theatre and they will determine
whether the student must repeat their line or not.
Homework: Once all of the students have performed, instruct the students that they have Homework.
They must all have a children’s book to read by next class period or they will be forced to use one of my
choice. Review the requirements of the book with them before they leave.
Assessment
Assess projection in activities.
Lesson 7: Practice
Objective
The students will demonstrate their ability to utilize the nine vocal viewpoints into a performance by
practicing reading their story and applying each of them.
Materials Needed
Each student must have their own book, also plan on bringing 4-10 children’s books such as Dr. Seuss
or other,
copy of the quiz for each student
performance rubric for each student
Related Documents
 Vocal Viewpoints quiz
 Final performance rubric
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Pop Quiz
Have the students take out a pen or pencil and put everything else away.
Tell them that they have 20 minutes to complete the quiz and they cannot talk or use any notes. Pass out
quizzes.
Instruction
Step 1: Grade and review
Have the students find a partner to switch papers with and then grade the papers together as a class. Ask
the class for the answer to each question and then have them give an example of it.
Step 2: Project assignment
Pass out the rubric for the student’s final performance. Go through each point with them and give
examples of what you are expecting where needed. Ask the students for questions regarding the
assignment. Instruct the students to pull out their books and get working making sure that they
incorporate at least one aspect of every viewpoint. Tell the students that they are to keep this rubric for
today’s practice time to refer back to and make sure they are incorporating all that they need to. Tell
them that for homework, they are to grade themselves on their reading after today’s work and turn it in
to me at the final performance time.
Step 3: Practice
Let the students work on their readings for about 45 minutes. When the time is up have them come back
together. Then instruct them to each get a partner. They will then read their book to their partner and get
critiqued by them. Then they will trade roles and the other student will read theirs and then receive
feedback.
Closure:
Inform the students that next class period they will be performing their stories for a final grade. Tell
them to practice at home to younger siblings if they have any or to a parent or even just in a
mirror. Encourage them to incorporate the feedback they received today if it will improve their overall
performance. Remind them of their homework assignment of filling out the rubric on their own
performance to hand in at the final performance next class period.
Assessment
Self-graded rubric and quiz
Lesson 8: Storytelling Performance
Objective
The students will demonstrate their ability to apply the vocal viewpoints to portray character, emotion,
location, and story/plot by performing a reading of a children’s storybook of their choice.
Materials Needed
grading rubric - see lesson 7 supplements
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Pass back the students graded tests from last class and ask them if they have any questions about
incorporating the viewpoints before they begin. Give them 5 minutes to practice reading through their
stories once.
Instruction
Step 1: Warm-up
Gather the students together and have them do a vocal warm-up such as:
Billy Button bought a bunch of beautiful bananas.
A bunch of beautiful bananas Billy Button bought.
If Billy Button bought a bunch of beautiful bananas,
Where’s the bunch of beautiful bananas Billy Button bought?
The sixth sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.
You can also do the siren warm-up for pitch.
Step 2: When finished with those, have the students all sit down in the first two rows of the auditorium
and begin the performances.
After each performance, ask the class to give a few comments on where they noticed some of the
viewpoints specifically and how it enhanced the performance.
Continue until all students have performed.
Closure:
This is the end of the vocal unit on viewpoints. These are essential tools you will continue to incorporate
for the rest of your life whether you are conscious of it or not. Voices are such a large part of our lives
and therefore a large part of theatre because that what theatre is all about- portraying life. Encourage the
students to think about the viewpoints and the tools they give them in their every day lives whether in
class, while watching TV or listening to the radio. These things are all around them. The better they pay
attention to the many different ways other’s use their voice the better they will understand their own
voice as a unique tool for communication.
Assessment
Grading rubric for performances