All You Wanted to Know About Choral Speaking

But Wasn’t Sure Who to Ask Part 2

A few hours ago ….

What are four important questions you have to answer before you start training students?

1. What was the poet’s intention?

Silly or serious?

2. Are there any shifts in mood?

Words to indicate a shift ….

But Suddenly All of a sudden

3. Which lines carry on in meaning?

Make students aware of lines that carry on with …

4. What EXACTLY happens at the beginning and at the end?

The beginning is generally a narrative voice.

The ending generally slows right down to a stop.

Also, a few hours ago …..

What three elements can (and must) be varied?

Pitch

Pace

Volume

PITCH

Back rows high

Front rows low

from anyone lived in a pretty how townby E. E. Cummings

Children guessed (but only a few

And down they forgot as up they grew

Autumn winter spring summer)

That no one loved him more by more.

PITCH con’t

Certain words should be brought up in pitch.

from A Case of Murder

A dog would have been a different thing

Plump as a cushion with tucked-in paws

Better have left him with a fair-sized rat!

So he took Daddy’s stick and hit the cat.

PITCH con’t

Then quick as a sudden crack in glass

Shot for the door that wasn’t quite shut

His eyes squeezed beads of salty prayer

PACE

In some places students can gallop ahead.

from A Case of Murder

Then quick as a sudden crack in glass

It hissed, black flash, to a hiding place

In the dust and dark beneath the couch,

And he followed that grin on his new-made face,

FAST!FAST!FAST!

SLOW THIS ONE DOWN A NOTCH

PACE

In some cases, students should pause for a touch of suspense.

PACE con’t

… and though it died

It’s grown in that cupboard and its hot low purr

Grows slowly louder year by year:

VOLUME

Sometimes saying words quietly has a deep impact.

VOLUME con’t

The black fur squealed and he felt his skin

Prickle with sparks of dry delight.

Look at The Bookshop.

IN THE FIRST STANZA, where could you …

increase the pitch? pause? decrease the volume?

//V

Look at The Bookshop

IN THE SECOND STANZA, where could you …

add a sound?

WHAT sound?

Look at The Bookshop.

IN THE LAST STANZA, where can students:

increase the pitch? pause? increase the volume?

GROUPING

1 2 3 4

front

back

TEACHER

RIGHT LEFT

from anyone lived in a pretty how townby E. E. Cummings

Children guessed (but only a few

And down they forgot as up they grew

Autumn winter spring summer)

That no one loved him more by more.1 2 3 4E

(sniffling)

And NOW FOR THE REALLY BIG SHOW ….

When does the performance begin?

… when the students start walking up to the stage!

Robotic movements are a no-no!

The movement should start just BEFORE the students begin speaking, and should end AFTER the students have spoken.

Students should slowly bring their bodies back to the original position.

Moving Forward

Look at The Slithery Slitch.

The slithery Slitch, the slimy Slitch,

the richest of the monster rich

lives within a silver ditch

in fancy Monstertown.

Where could students

move forward?

from The Bookshop

We’ve big ones, small ones, funny, sadTales to make you cry …

but

DON’T TOUCH THE BOOKS!

We’ve poems, stories, sagasTo make you catch your breath …

Where could students

move forward?DON’T TOUCH THE BOOKS!

Create the Atmosphere!

A PARTY

- Balloons (on sticks!)

- Ribbon round the shoulders

- Party hats

Costumes?

Black works!

Key characters would be in ‘regular’ clothes.

A boy in the old days could wear …

Shorts Suspenders White shirt with collar Long white socks

A boy today could wear …

A baseball cap A loose t-shirt Loose trousers

(backwards!)

A classroom of boys could wear …

Ties White shirts Black trousers

Witches and Cats!

A witch could wear …

A hat (that isn’t too tall) A cloak (graduation gown works) Horrid make-up

A cat costume could include ….

A leopard printed shirt Tight black trousers or tights Ears on a head band Simple make-up

A poem with a cat and a witch!

There Was an Old Woman

There was an old woman who rode on a broom,

With a high gee ho, gee humble;

And she took her old cat behind for a groom,

With a bimble, bamble, bumble.

CATWITCH

SPAGHETTI! SPAGHETTI!

A MOUSTACHE WORKS!

FIND A CODE.

E – everybody

1,2,3,4 - one of the four groups

- pitch increases

- pitch decreases

BOLD - increase volume

FIND A CODE. con’t

Look at Cleaning the Floors by David McNeal

A Bad Hair Day is OK!

Ask the students (they’ll know what goop to use!) to gel their hair for the performance.

Pay attention to alliteration.

If there is alliteration in the poem, students should emphasize the words ever so slightly, to show an awareness of alliteration.

from The Bookshop

Toys and television

Are both things of the past -

PAY ATTENTION TO THE TITLE.

The Awakening of the Bulldozers

Granny’s Rap

anyone lived in a pretty how town

The Song of the Jellicles

RHYTHM

Some poems have clear rhythm patterns.

Try not to be a ‘slave to the rhythm’.

RHYTHM con’t

From Tarentella by Hillaire Belloc

And the hip! hop! hap!Of the clapOf the hands to the swirl and the twirlOf the girl gone chancing,Glancing,DancingBacking and advancing, Snapping of the clapper to the spinOut and in --

RHYTHM con’t

from The Slithery Slitch

Inside his slimy limousine

That slips about the slimy scene

He guzzles a glass of gasoline

And licks his slimy lips.

WATCH THE ENDING ‘t’ CONSONANT.

Local Chinese students will tend to hang on to the final ‘t’ sounds.

from The Bookshop

Toys and television

are both things of the past –

reading is the thing today,

reading pleasures last …

LEAVE A TABLEAU AT THE END.

How?

Some students crouched low Some students left standing Some students seated Arms out to the left Arms out to the right Heads on tilt Students shrugging

NO MATTER WHAT, SUSTAIN THE ENDING!

It’s simple …..

1. When the last word is spoken, all students stop moving.

2. One student counts to 3 (in his/her head!).

3. The student then comes out and bows.4. The student leads the procession off the

stage.

ENDINGS OF THREE POEMS

from A Case of Murder

‘And the huge black cat pads out of it.’

From The Bookshop

‘DON’T TOUCH THE BOOKS!’

From We’re Having a Monster Party!

That there’s ever monster been!

Find your shining star!

Find the student who doesn’t mind the attention and put him/her …..

in the front row

in the middle

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS

Students ask, “Why do we have to do this?”

They learn to pronounce English words.

They learn about poetry.

They learn to work together as a group.

They’ll never forget the experience.

It’s FUN!!

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS

You’re the only one truly interested in your school!

POSSIBLE PROBLEM

You, as a teacher, have no experience doing this.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS

Students just don’t seem interested.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS

Students have never done this before, and so are terribly nervous on the day of the performance.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS

Just before the competition, the discipline teacher scolds your students mercilessly.

REMEMBER …….

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