Timothy Harrington

Spring 2015
Lesson Plan
Viewpoints

Viewpoints (Vocal)
Essential Question: What ways can students create diversity in their
work and have a vocabulary to describe what they are watching and
doing.
Enduring understanding:
What tools do young adult actors need to create complex
believable characters?
Why is it important for our culture to continue to create live
theatre in the 21 century?
What do the different styles of theatre tell us about both
current and past societal values?
How may we use our body and mind as an instrument to
create theatre safely and constructively?
Why is it important to have public speaking skills and
listening skills both on and off the stage?
Hook/Warm Up
House, Person Tempest
o Students are asked to form groups and through physical
demonstration, the three categories are demonstrated
using volunteers.
o Students may choose to create a three-person category
that interests them. **
House: Three students create a house using their
arms as a roof over the third student.
Person: Two students are arms for the third
person.
Tempest: Two students surround the third person
and spin.
Body of Lesson
Activity 1- Three Main Vocal Viewpoints

PITCH
o Vocal pitch high or low using the word and discussing
the differences between the two.

o Students explore using their pitch to discover different

pitches and when certain pitches are appropriate in
their every day lives.
o Students write down phrases they say in their homes
that use different pitches **students may choose to
speak another language used in their home.

DYNAMIC
o Vocal quality used when speaking text
o Students begin to explore the different choices they can
make to add different vocal qualitys that may be
applied to spoken text to convey a message.
o Students may use the text written down in the previous
exercise to explore what different dynamics and vocal
choices add to their text.
o What characters arise from strong vocal dynamics?

TEMPO AND DURATION

o Tempo explores that speed and rhythm applied to the
spoken word.
o Duration explores the length in which something is
spoken.
o Students will explore both of these things together using
duration to speak slower and quicker. In partners
students can proactive the difference between a fast
conversation as well as a slow conversation.
o **Students who speak another language can explore the
difference in the languages they know in regards to
their tempo and duration.

Closure

Closing circle
o Students stand in a circle and are encouraged to say
one word they will take away from todays lesson.

They make also make physical gesture that

represents they way they feel about what they
learned in the lesson.
**Students are encouraged to apply the
viewpoints learned today to their word or
physical movement.

Homework
Find a piece of writing of your choice, it can be anything you
are drawn to, and bring it in. No more than one minute long in
length.
o These pieces of text will eventually be used to explore
more viewpoints. The assignment will grow to become a
monologue that the students will switch through three
different characters using strong vocal and physical
choices.