@The Arts Unit Creative Classes
Voice and accents – part 2
Speak up! Voice and accent class for secondary students
Student drama resource developed by The Arts Unit
Years 7 to 10 drama
What will I learn?
You will:
activate your breath and voice as an instrument for performance
listen to some examples of a standard American accent
perform a monologue speaking with a standard American accent
review and reflect on your performance.
Welcome to the class
Duration: 00:24Before you begin
You will need:
a clear space to move around safely
a pen and paper or your log book
a screen to view the video clips
Optional: a phone or device to film yourself breathing, speaking and performing.
- Activate
Join in the following 3 short videos which continue on from the breath exercises from Voices and accents – part 1.
Now try these breath exercises on your own.
Relax and take 10 deep breaths either lying on the floor or standing up. Imagine you are breathing down to your feet.
Fruit picking: reach up and breathe down. Add sound.
Barge pulling: reach across and breathe down, grab a rope, release. Add sound.
Golfing: Breathe in. Breathe out. Follow the golf ball with sound.
When you add sound, connect it to where the breath comes from: 'aahhhh' or 'oooooh'.
Answer the following 3 questions in your logbook:
What is the difference in your breath before and after completing these exercises? What feels different in your body?
Why do actors start with breathing exercises before they warm up their voice?
How can the fruit picking, barge pulling and golfing exercises help to prepare you for speaking in front of an audience?
2. Listen
Watch and listen to the standard American accent in the following 3 video clips, paying particular attention to the vowel sounds.
Join in the activities with the students in the workshop in videos 2 and 3.
The Lion King – Morning lesson with Mufasa
3. Perform
Choose 1 of the following options to perform
Choose a short scene from your favourite American play, movie, TV show or book.
Write your own 1-minute monologue for a character who speaks with a standard American accent.
Choose a monologue from the Voice and accents monologue scripts PDF.
Voice and accents monologue scripts (PDF 449KB)
Voice and Accents Part 2 SCRIPTS .pdf
Record your performance as a video.
Start by saying your name, who the character is and which work your character is from.
Dress up! How would their hair look? What would your character wear? Have fun with costume and make-up.
Answer the following 3 questions in your logbook:
What script did you choose and how did you present it to camera?
Why are some vowels harder than consonants? What words in the script are harder to say in the standard American accent?
How challenging was it to perform your script? What did you enjoy about performing your script?
4. Review
Write a short review of your performance
Comment on each of the following aspects of the performance:
breath control
vocal quality
vowel sounds
consonants
accent.
How many stars out of 10 would you give yourself?
Answer the following 3 questions in your logbook:
What tongue position do you use for each vowel sound? Look in a mirror and repeat each vowel to find out.
Which vocal warm-ups are useful for speaking in a standard American accent? Why are these useful?
How can speaking in a standard American accent be of benefit to your audience for American plays, books, films and TV shows?
Congratulations! You have completed
@The Arts Unit Creative Class – Voice and accents – part 2.
Have you completed @The Arts Unit Creative Class – Voice and accents – part 1?
