Articulation & Diction

Lesson 2 - Articulation & Diction

STANDARD

Standard L1.T.P.5:

Use voice to communicate meaning through volume, pitch, tone, rate of speed, and vocal clarity.

OBJECTIVE

Students will demonstrate their ability to articulate clearly by competing in a tongue twister contest.

MATERIALS

REVISION - SKELETON

Do a simple exercise to help the students release tension in their bodies. Show them a skeleton cartoon. Use it to indicate where the bones are.
Invite the students to put their things down, stand up in a neutral position (i.e. no weight on one leg, hands down naturally, etc.), stay in their own circles, and keep quiet.
“Using your mind’s eye, scan your body from the bottom to the top.”
Name the major bones in the body and invite the students to see them with their mind’s eyes: balls on the feet, ankle, shinbone, thighbone, pelvis, sacrum, spine, shoulder blade, arm, forearms, fingers, neck, skull.
“Now that you have a full picture of your skeleton. Imagine that your skeleton is the only thing holding you up, not your muscle. Release the tension of your muscle. Rely on your bones only.”
“Try to expand your rib cage when you breathe.”
“Now, speak and pay attention to how your body feels”

WARM-UP - TOFFEE CANDIES

Review the articulators and their positions in the body. Explain the definition of articulation and diction. Emphasize that our focus is to enunciate, not speaking in an accent. Clarity, not characterization.
Explain that the following activity will warm up their articulators.
Pretend to give the students some toffee candies. Invite them to unwrap the candies and eat them.
“Explore what your mouth can do with the toffee candies. Move up and down, side to side, chin out/chin in, toffee stuck on your teeth. Make a heart shape with the candy. Now, try to make another shape.”

GROUP PRACTICE - THE CHAOS

Divide the class into groups of 4-5. Each group picks 2 persons to be the readers. The readers will take turns reading a section of The Chaos by G. Noist Trenite at the front of the classroom. The rest of the members of the group will stand at the back of the classroom, listen to the readers, and write down the words they hear. The goal is to accurately write down the poem.
A group of students who are sitting in between will create distractions. The readers can only read the poem 3 times. They can decide if they repeat after each word, or each sentence, of after reading the whole section.
After each group, count how many words the listeners got right.
After all the groups, see which group has the highest accuracy.
DISCUSSION - What words were hard to articulate? What words/syllables/sounds might need more clarity?

GUIDED PRACTICE - TONGUE TWISTER

“There will be several tongue twisters on the screen. I will show two each time. Choose one to work on each time” Pair up with a friend for each new set of tongue twisters.
With a partner, take turns being the conductor. The conductor will direct the variations of the other person in how they say the tongue twister:
- Pointing up = increase the pitch; pointing down = decrease the pitch
- Squeezing the fingers = lower the volume; expanding the fingers = increase the volume
- Running slowing with the fists = slow down the pace; running fast with the fists = speed up.

ASSESSMENT - TONGUE TWISTER CONTEST

“Everyone has to participate in the contest. Pick one tongue twister to compete.”
Go down the list of tongue twisters and the students who want to compete will come up.
All students will watch for the accuracy of the pronunciation. Have one to two students to time the contestants. Accuracy comes before time.