Gives instructions for creating a shadow puppet theater in the classroom. Suggests this as a useful technique for motivating oral communication, particularly with shy children. (SJL)

Outlines common abuses that occur when students first use dramatic analysis in oral interpretation. Offers guidelines to help make students' efforts more productive; uses William Carlos Williams's poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" as an example. (PD)

Outlines an exercise that gets students to experience the oral composition of poetry. Describes methods for implementing the exercise; discusses results and advantages. (PD)

Shows how teachers can begin with the sound of a poem in performance as a springboard to a critical understanding of the writer's art. Provides suggestions helpful in staging performances. (GT)

Describes an exercise that introduces students to the unique characteristics of the third-person narrator and also improves skills in observation, story telling, and analysis. (PD)

Presents the script of a Readers Theater production to complement a previous article on Bertholt Brecht in theory and practice (EJ 225 131). (JMF)

Physical aspects of listening skills are described, including speech rate, syllable tone, word-word separation vs. joining, listening for "focus," word clues per message, and intonation. (LB)

Describes a program of oral interpretation of poetry for children as a springboard into the language arts program. Describes the poetic nature of children, acknowledges rhythm as an important component of spoken language and poetry, and suggests possibilities for bringing children and poetry together through rhythmical experiences. (JMF)

Presents a rhetorical perspective for examining Shakespearean dramatic texts and an instructional framework for translating that perspective into the teaching of solo performance of Shakespearean dramatic literature. Describes techniques for implementing classroom performance that will develop and demonstrate student understanding of the text.…

The materials in this paper were drawn from an action caucus called to seek common criteria for the presentation and judging of oral interpretation and forensic tournaments. The first section of the paper consists of presentations made by participants. Topics covered in these presentations are (1) consistency in judging, (2) the role of oral…

Examines and suggests improvements in the broadcasting speech event (radio newscast reading) in forensic competition. (PD)

Reports the following concerns of beginning oral interpretation students: (1) dealing with stage fright; (2) finding suitable material; (3) analyzing the literature; and (4) using voice and body for performance. Proposes choral reading as an effective means to deal with these concerns, since the emphasis is on group rather than solo performance.…

In this lesson, grade 6-8 students analyze a variety of poets and their poetry by reading and listening to their work. Students then use information gathered from Internet resources to select a favorite poet and perform one of their poems for the class. During the four 30-minute and five 20-minute sessions, students will: analyze a variety of…

This teaching guide packet is designed to accompany a 3-part television series, "Poetry Heaven," which captures many of the brightest and most memorable moments of the 1996 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. The series presented in the packet features 18 poets whose personalities, voices, and points of view reflect the power and…

Looks at the performance of children's literature by college students with respect to the value of reading to young children, selecting and performing the literature, purposes of a unit or course in the oral interpretation of this genre of literature, and some practical performance considerations. (PD)