Becoming a Poised and Polished A+ Speaker Nancy Randolph Morton ISD District UIL Coordinator June 2015
Housekeeping Items Please get a ticket and sign in for a door prize(s). Take a few pieces of candy for now or later. Silence cell phones Please add comments and or ask questions. THIS SESSION DEPENDS ON YOUR PARTICIPATION. I believe the best teachers are students working together.
A Little about Nancy Randolph Will begin 32nd year of teaching in 2015-16 Compete in UIL since 2nd grade, competed at state in Number Sense and Team Debate Have coached all A+ events and high school events and most junior high events Married to Jimmy Randolph-Athletic Director/Head Football Coach Morton HS Two daughters Tracey Randolph(Blake as of July 11) at Levelland ISD Shelby'Speech'Teacher/Speech'and' Debate'Coach'at'Snyder'ISD'' ' Awarded the UIL Sponsor Excellence Award in 2013-14
Where do you start with Why Storytelling? Storytelling? Educators have long known that the arts can contribute to student academic success and emotional well being. The ancient art of storytelling is especially well-suited for student exploration. As a folk art, storytelling is accessible to all ages and abilities. No special equipment beyond the imagination and the power of listening and speaking is needed to create artistic images. As a learning tool, storytelling can encourage students to explore their unique expressiveness and can heighten a student's ability to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate, lucid manner. These benefits transcend the art experience to support daily life skills. In our fastpaced, media-driven world, storytelling can be a nurturing way to remind children that their spoken words are powerful, that listening is important, and that clear communication between people is an art.
Coaching Beginner Storytellers Always begin comments with a compliment: What did the storyteller do well? Remember: Enthusiastic, respectful listeners help storytellers improve! Basic Criteria: In order to evaluate the oral skills of the teller one must be able to hear the teller. Did the teller speak loudly enough? Did the teller seem to want to really tell the listeners the story? Did the body language of the teller distract from or help the storytelling? Did the teller tell the whole story? Listening Partner Feedback: Only the listener can answer these questions. Storyteller Can Ask Listener: Did the story keep your attention? Could you picture what I said? Did the characters seem real? Only the teller can answer these questions. Storyteller Can Ask Themselves: Did I picture the story as I was telling it, without letting my mind wander? Did I picture the characters in my imagination and pretend to "be" all of them? Did my words flow easily or was it difficult to find the words to express my thoughts? Important Rehearsal Tip: Have students practice telling the story to one person at a time. Keep changing partners. as confidence builds have them tell to small groups. When well-rehearsed, students can tell to the class.
Oral Reading Students in grades 4, 5, and 6 read a selection of poetry. Each selection may be one poem, a cutting of a poem, or a combination of poems. The same selection may be read in all rounds, but different selections are permissible. Selections must be published although the poet may be unknown or anonymous. Students in grades 7, 8, and 9 read selections of prose or poetry according to the following schedule: 2015-2016 - poetry Each may be a single reading, a cutting from a longer selection, or a combination of several selections. The same selection may be read in all rounds, but different selections are permissible. Selections must be published although the author may be unknown or anonymous. Prose readings may include sketches, fables, tales, science fiction, fantasy, mysteries and the like. The maximum time for each presentation is six minutes. The selection may be a cutting from a short story or novel of may be nonfiction.
Impromptu Speaking) Contestants will draw three topics and have three minutes to prepare a speech, which must be presented without any notes. The contest gives participants experience in thinking, organizing, formulating clear thoughts, and effectively delivering those thoughts to an audience. Contestants may not use costumes or props in the contest.
Sample topics A law should be made that... Courage is... Freedom is like the ocean because... If I could only accomplish one thing in my life, I would like to... If I wanted to impress someone, I'd tell them about my... If I'd known my parents when they were teenagers... Little Red Riding Hood should have... Loyalty should be given to... Teenagers would be better off... The one world event I remember most about this year is... If I could be president for a day, I'd... Of the five senses, my favorite is... If I played a role in a TV show, I'd play... If I taught junior high school, I'd... If I were an author, I would write about... If I were the leader of a new settlement on the frontier, I'd... If I were the opposite sex, I'd... The strength of America lies in... To me, success in life means... Teenagers smoke because...
Modern Oratory Sixth, seventh and eighth grade contestants will select one of the topics, determine the critical issues in the topic, and acknowledge both pro and con points citing support discovered in their research. Students will choose a side they will defend and support that side with additional evidence. Along with the skills of analysis, research, note-taking, documentation, evaluation and decisionmaking come those of delivery and the skill of memorization.
Sites for Poems If it is poetry you are looking for, try www.poetryoutloud.org. On the right, they have a "poems" section. These poems are specially chosen for a national recitation contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Another great place is Poetry 180. This is Billy Collins' site, sponsored by the Library of Congress. The poems are all contemporary pieces. Additionally, I really enjoy Ted Kooser's site called American Life in Poetry. Finally, www.poets.org is very easy to work with, especially if you're looking for poems from the canon or those organized according to theme.
Here are a few helpful tips on performing your selection. There are several things to consider when performing your selection. Bare Essentials When performing there are a few basic rules that you must follow. To begin with, stance and poise are everything. When you are performing, stand up straight, have your feet slightly apart (at a comfortable angle), and hold your binder at a readable level (midway between stomach and chest). Remember, if you appear confident you'll look like a winner, and looking like a winner is the first step to being one. Binders Your binder should be a small, black, hard-backed folder. You can purchase these at stationary stores. It is best to get the binders with the satin finish instead of the glossy ones. Do not write your name on your binder or draw pictures on it. If you wish to write your name on it to avoid confusion, do it in an inconspicuous place inside the binder. The pages inside your binder should not be on loose leaf paper. Use black sheet protec-tors. These will protect your selections and improve the aesthetics of your binder. Do not use colored note-cards, unless they are in slicks and all the same color. If your pages are too flimsy add a white note-card for thickness. Vocal Warm-Ups Vocal warm-ups can really help get your vocal chords going, especially right before a tournament. Try getting to the tournament early and finding an empty room to do these with your team.
Voice Control In oral interpretation your voice is your most powerful tool. Use it to develop the mood and to differentiate characters. Here's How. Dialect: Accents and dialects are fun to do and can really enhance the performance. Stay away from accents you can't do. Make sure the accent you're doing is appropriate to your selection (a Mexican accent won't fit a Jewish piece). Don't overdo it! There is noth-ing worse than an overdone accent. Try to make the accent as believable as possible. Realism works, cartoon-like characters do not. There are times when overdoing an accent might be appropriate, but these times are rare. To research an accent, talk to people who speak with the particular accent or rent lots of movies and pick one to base your accent on. Dialogue: Give different characters in your selections different voices. This will help the audience differentiate the characters Rate, Pitch, and Volume: The best way to keep your audience's attention is by adding vocal variety. This means you change the speed, volume, and pitch of your voice to reflect changes in the literature
Physical Control Just as important as your voice is your body. Your body says things before you even talk. The way you stand, hold your binder, move your hands, and shape your face reflect on your performance. Use your body to enhance the performance. Here's how. Characters: You can develop characters with your body as well as with your voice. What you strive for is a whole body characterization. An old man does not stand there same way as a young one. When performing a selection with an old character, stand as that character would. Developing a whole body characterization can really enhance your performance and help differentiate between characters. Tension and relaxation: By tensing up your muscles and releasing them you can further enhance a mood or help establish one. Practice tensing up your muscles and relaxing them and then try using this in your perfor-mance. Gestures: For the longest time hand gestures of any kind were considered taboo among judges. Fortunately times have changed. Gestures today are considered a necessity. Not all gestures are appropriate. Some individuals exaggerate hand gestures when performing. This is not necessary. With a small audience the need for exaggerated gestures becomes almost obsolete. This might even be considered acting. The im-portant thing is to make the gestures natural and believable. A gesture must be motivated. Think to yourself, what would the character do now, or, what would he do after saying this? Eye contact: Eye contact is extremely important to establish audience rapport. Look at your audience directly during narrating scenes and direct dialogue (first person selec-tions). When you look at your audience in the eye it elicits an immediate re-sponse. This response is the bait you need to reel your judge in.
Vocal Warm-Ups Vocal warm-ups can really help get your vocal chords going, especially right before a tournament. Try getting to the tournament early and finding an empty room to do these with your team. Loosening Up Tournaments can really tense you up. It's important to let loose of the pressure you feel, and your inhibitions. Loosening up will also help those of you who aren't necessarily morning people, wake up. To loosen up you can simply jump up and down, shake your body, or sing the speech version of "The Hokey Pokey" - You stick your poetry in, you stick your poetry out, and you shake it all about. Dia tonics Diatonics are a vocal exercise in which the successive repetition of hard consonant sounds is made. One would repeat a certain rhythm with a hard consonant sound. For ex-ample: Bah, Bah, Bah, Bah, Bah, Bah. Then you would try the C sound. Use the following letters only: B, C, D, F, G, H, J, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, V, W, Y, Z. Songs There is nothing like a song to help loosen up your vocal chords. Favorites include "Do, a Deer", "I just ran over my late dog rover", and "Red Rose Red". Look for songs that are simple, and provide a good range in pitch. Enunciate each sound clearly and try getting faster each time you sing it.
Thank you for coming!!! If you need help or have questions please contact me School email nancy.randolph@mortonisd.net Personal email nrandolph62@yahoo.com