The theory curriculum in the speech arts program directly reflects and supports practical speech studies. Concepts such as posture, breathing, rate, and pause are elemental, and interpreting literature, analyzing poetry, and structuring speeches are fundamental elements of lessons. Although starting the theory program at Level 7 takes theory studies to a new plane, tools for success can be established at the earliest levels through intentional use of vocabulary and reflection on process.
Working with text is at the core of speech and drama training, both theoretical and practical. Students are accustomed to taking their repertoire through stages of understanding, by investigating literal meaning, as well as considering layers of meaning, sound effect, figurative language, structure, and theme. The rehearsal stage expands students’ understanding of text as they activate language, rhythm, and sound through vocal expression and tone colour, and with techniques such as pause, rate, and emphasis. Most of this happens organically, through discussion and ongoing discoveries during rehearsal. Students may see learning and rehearsal as simple preparation, but they are actually multi-dimensional processes that touch on many aspects of interpretation, analysis, and performance, all of which are required elements of the theory curriculum.
Consider introducing a student to the Level 4 poem “My Toboggan and I Carve Winter.” The student’s first response will likely be based on personal experience, but subsequent readings can draw attention to details of language and story that provide opportunities to identify and discuss elements of Technical Theory—Levels 1 and 2, such as:
Poetic devicesA detailed look at the shape of the poem provides the opportunity to discuss rhythmic elements of free verse and how poets control the pace and drive of the story through line length and space on the page.
Level 1 students can learn valuable lessons about rhythm and rhyme from Dennis Lee’s “The Swing.” Mary O’Neill’s “What Is Black” can pave the way for Level 3 students to understand run-on lines and metaphor. An in-depth discussion of scansion and poetic devices may not be valuable for students at this age. But explaining that the language, sound patterns, and rhythms that animate their performance were chosen purposefully by the poet and are, in the big picture, elements of the craft of writing (and important to its study and performance) is a meaningful step in integrating theory into practical work. You can formalize the learning by dedicating a page in your student’s notebook to poetry terms, keeping it descriptive with examples and illustrations based on your student’s repertoire.
Students who are accustomed to taking note of verse elements, such as form, line length, and rhyme, will easily see larger patterns of style and form when they enter the history and literature curriculum and study the development and history of poetry.
Achieving clear, natural articulation is an essential element of speech and drama training. Students, particularly at early levels, work to achieve accuracy in sound production and to achieve crisp, intelligible speech. Ear training is accompanied by physical work and practice, a combination of dedicated exercises, and careful application to repertoire and performance.
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and the study of speech sounds can be included with great success from very early levels. Young students focusing on pronunciation and formation of particular sounds enjoy learning that there are different kinds of speech sounds: vowels both wide open and narrow (round or squeak); consonants that buzz, hiss, pop, and sing. Taking the study of sounds deeper is easily accomplished by providing students with charts listing consonants and vowels. While they may not learn the sounds in detail, they will be immersed in vocabulary and basic principles that will serve them well when they move into dedicated theory studies. Students at higher levels love demonstrations of words written in IPA, thriving on the discovery of a set of odd-looking symbols that comprise a “secret code.” Once again, including technical elements of speech work can be achieved easily by parcelling it out in small portions, and introducing it as a point of interest and practical application rather than a set of symbols to learn, study, and memorize.
Physical elements of speech and drama training provide abundant links to theory studies. Students learning standing position, or working through simple relaxation exercises, are covering essential portions of the curriculum for Technical Theory—Level 1. Encouraging students to label a stick figure with elements of effective stance (feet: shoulder-width apart; arms: loose beside the body), as they experiment with standing position and find the most beneficial position, is an invaluable, early step in learning both the theory and physical feeling of good posture.
Similarly, accompanying voice-development exercises with description and accurate vocabulary gives students practical understanding of breathing, placing the voice, and resonance, all of which are easily applied when they reach Technical Theory—Level 2.
Integrating theory into practical lessons has many benefits. Students gain a deeper understanding of their practical work as well as the tools and vocabulary to express their progress and success. Their learning takes on a fuller dimension that enriches their performances and attitude to their training. Speech arts and drama training can’t be separated from technical studies, but students who are accustomed to articulating and reflecting on the technical aspects of their work will have an edge when they begin theory studies.
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