Choral Speech Lesson Plan

by Adele Lowen
Choral speech is a group of students reciting a poem. Choral speech has been
explained to me as being performed in 2 styles:
- traditional - using only voice, standing still
- modern - using voice, a few props, and a bit of movement
Whenever I have a group of students performing choral speech, I try to have them
perform 1 poem in the traditional style and 1 poem in the modern style.
Try to incorporate a variety of effects into a choral speech performance :
- DYNAMICS - loud, quiet, moderate, whisper, shout
- PITCH - low, middle, high
- TEMPO - slow, moderate, fast
- EMOTION - happy, sad, angry, tired, etc.
- VOICE - speaking with a rhythm like a skip or gallop, echo, baby talk, old person
talk, with an accent, nasal
- GROUPINGS - whole group, half the group, small group, individual, boys/girls,
front row/back row, alternating, etc.
As you are working with your students, think about which effect you would like to
add to a word, a phrase, a line, or throughout the whole poem.
When I work with students on a choral speech piece, I usually:
- read the poem to students multiple times over several days and discuss what the
poem is about and the meaning of any vocabulary words
- write the poem out on large chart paper so the students can easily read it from
anywhere in the room, then over several days,
- echo 1 phrase or line at a time (I say a line and students repeat it) until the
students can easily repeat the words
- echo 2 phrases or lines at a time
- echo groups of phrases or lines
- discuss the form of the poem eg. ABA, ABCA, ABACA
- echo the entire poem
- discuss with the students and decide together what effects to use
- practice, practice, practice
- perform

Sound Scape:
When working with the modern style of choral speech, a sound scape can be used
to set the tone of the poem before if begins and/or after it ends. For example, if
the poem is about the ocean, students use their voices and body movements to
create the sound of waves and a seagull cry. If the poem is about eating
spaghetti, a sound scape would be students picking up a piece of spaghetti and
slurping it into their mouth.
*click on links below to see student performances

Curricular Concepts:
Form: 5
Expression: 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 16, 17
Creating: 1

Poetry Book Suggestions:

- Shel Silverstein's A Light In The Attic, Where The Sidewalk Ends, Runny Babbit
- Dennis Lee's Alligator Pie
- The New Wind Has Wings - Poems from Canada by Mary Alice Downie and
Barbara Robertson
- Eenie Meenie Manitoba - Poems from Coast To Coast by Robert Heidbreder
- Random House Book Of Poetry For Children
- Random House Anthology
- Read-Aloud Rhymes For The Very Young