Information of Choral Speaking

Collected by: Colin Wong

Choice of poem

The teacher will be the best person to choose the poem as he will know his
group
best.

Avoid poems in the first person singular - they are not intended for group
work.
Occasionally, it is possible to change the "I's to "we's, (with apologies to the
poet!)
Avoid monotonous choruses; they precipitate boredom and disinterest

The younger the children, the more actions would be required to sustain the
interest.

Both older and younger children would enjoy the opportunities for sound
effects.

Ballads and cautionary tales involve some acting

Older pupils prefer group movement and concentration on more subtle word
and
tone colour. Experiment with musical backing.

Where to start (Teacher's preparation)

Decide exactly how you want the children to say the poem.

Make sure you have the pronunciation of all the words - don't rely on
guesswork.
If you are not too sure, try to get a native speaker to tape a reading of the
poem.
You could play this tape to the children several times so they get to know the
'feel'
of the poem, including the stress, rhythm, intonation, pronunciation.

Orchestrate the poem (this will be demonstrated when using the poems in
the
workshop)

How to achieve emphasis

Aim for variety of volume, pitch, pauses, pace, tone colour, gesture.

Grouping of the voices/participants is important. If you have an all-girl group,

then try to divide them into "light" and "dark" voice groups; so too, with an allboy group.

If you have both boys and girls, then experiment with the groupings - either
having
boys in one cluster and girls in another, or mixing them up.

It is not always necessary to line them up on a choir stand, as if you were

singing an
oratorio. Aim for variety and effect. Be creative. Make ample use of the space
you have got. Don't be confined only to the stage, if necessary. In fact, many
choral performances can be quite as effective if you brought the performance
down
on to the auditorium among the audience. There are poems where you could
invite
the audience to participate.

Don't overact. Look at what the poem needs and act accordingly. Also, suit
the
action to the age of the participants. A group of 15-year old children, folding
their hands and putting it on one side of their faces, while simulating sleep,
would
look very ludricous, unless it was supposed to satirize something. On the
other
hand, the same action from a group of very small children would be most
appealing
and effective!

Points to remember when introducing a poem to the class

For very young pupils, don't let them see the written poem until they have
heard it
many times and are completely familiar with the intonation, stress and
inflected
patterns required.

Do not teach verse by verse - it causes lack of continuity and feeling for the
poem
as a whole.

Do not divide the class into groups and give each group a part of the poem to
learn.
It is ESSENTIAL that every speaker knows the whole poem.

Having mastered the words, what next?

Think of other measures that would make the performance more interesting, lively,
effective or entertaining:
Shaping

Shapes relating to the topic, e.g. group the choir to look like a mountain, train,
etc.,
when reciting a poem about these topics.

Ensure that groups speaking together, stand together.

Do not be afraid to change the grouping during the poem to fit the changes of
mood,
action, etc

In some circumstances, it is not necessary to group at all (refer to the poem

"The
Song of the Popcorn")

It is not necessary to have all speakers facing the audience all the time. It is
sometimes effective if voices are strong enough to have some backs to the
audience.

Gesture

Don't use gesture for gesture's sake. There can be simultaneous gestures for
an
overall group effect, or individual gestures by individual participants
depending
on the effect to be created.

Sound effects

Percussion

Vocal effects

Use of music

Costumes/props

Depends on the effect you wish to create

Simplicity should be the order of the day, the occasional hand prop or hats
could be
used quite effectively (refer to the poem "Mushrooms")

An Instructional Approach

Pre-select and display several short poems. (Some poems that work well are
from authors Dennis Lee, Loris Lesynski, John Mole and Shel Silverstein.)

Through a selection process (i.e. stars, vote) have the class select a poem.

Students will need to have access to copies of the poem selected.

Read through the poem with students, (focusing on interpretation), so that all
students understand the meaning of the poem.

Next, recite the poem with the students (everyone speaking at the same
time).

Following the first recitation, encourage the students to make the poem more
exciting by emphasizing vocal elements in their reading.

Repeat the choral reading of the poem several times, introducing and
experimenting with different elements, deciding as a class how each element
works best for the performance of this poem:

Dynamics: Volume

Pitch: the highness, or lowness of sound

Tempo: speed

Tone: light, medium or heavy sounds

For more advanced lessons, develop the use of voice production

stages: Respiration, Phonation, Resonation, Articulation.

Once you have decided on how the poem will be vocally performed, ask the
students what movements would make the meaning of the poem come to life.
They could use gestures, large actions or even choreograph some movement
phrases.

Variations for Different Levels of Readiness

The text forms used may vary from writing in role texts created by students, to
newspaper articles, stories, non-fiction material. statistical data, play scripts,
or any other text.

Students may experiment with canon, rounds, pair, small group or solo
sections within a choral reading involving the whole group. One half of the
class might read one section and the rest of the class can read another.

Other Vocal Techniques: echoing words and phrases, alternating lines,

chants, overlapping lines, repeating lines or words, whispering lines or words,
changing tones in mid line, singing, creating sound effects, crying, whistling,
clapping or other body percussion, and altering the tempo and rhythm or
inserting pauses.

Extensions

Design the choral speaking for a specific audience, and present to that
audience.

Plan a presentation on a particular theme using various texts based on that

theme.

Students write a piece to be presented through choral speaking.

Use choral speaking when presenting dramatic literature involving a chorus

(ie: Greek Theatre)

Apply choral speaking when using Reader's Theatre

Cross Curricular Uses

Language, Oral Communication
A focus on the use of voice to orally communicate to a specific audience for a specific
purpose through choral speaking.
Language, Reading
Use of choral speaking to demonstrate the interpretation of a given text.
Social Studies
Use a text that has historical or cultural significance, and communicate the given
meaning of the text.

Some tips:
1) Get every child to recite one line. You can then divide their voices into light (sweet
& airy), medium or dark (strong & authoritative). Then get the lights to stand in front,
medium in the middle, and dark at the back (on elevated platforms)
2) You can then use the different voices to express different emotions in the poem.
Lights for "romantic sighs", Dark for "Charge of the Light Brigade" - you get the
picture :-)
3) Focus on pronunciation, expression (facial) and volume (loud/soft) to bring out the
aesthetics of the poem
4) Last but not least, HAVE FUN!

" Choral Speaking is reciting poetry composed by the students or adapted from the
work of a poet. It enables the students to learn to read and interpret poems. It gives
them an opportunity for creative imagination. It creates a love for poetry.
On the whole, it helps improve their English, especially the oral part. And for students
of English Literature, it helps them in the poetry section. Choral speaking is a good
introduction to English literature.
If the poem is composed by the students, the whole class will pitch in to suggest titles
and polish up the lines. It takes at least three weeks for them to produce the final
copy which has to be approved by their teacher. When it is all over, the girls will be
ready for the competition held at the end of the first school term.
The contest is divided into the junior section (Forms One and Two), intermediate
(Forms Three and Four) and senior (Forms Five and Six). Only one class from each
Form will take part in the finals. There will be three external judges who will give
marks for timing, special effects, pose and demeanour, and pronunciation."