Students will consider the natural voice for their generation and where it resonates. This lesson seeks to have my students explore how smartphones may have impacted the way they use their voices. The purpose is for my students to consider if it is easier for them to improvise and communicate through texting rather than in person. The lesson concludes in a discussion on communication and the voice. It should take one 90-minute class period.
Essential Questions:
- What is the ideal for the natural voice? Is it instinctual? Mediated through technology?
- Is a mediated voice a chance for fuller expression?
- Can texting be a natural voice?
- How did you feel improvising a scene through text versus face-to-face?
Activity 1: Students will present improvised scenes in two ways: through text message and face-to-face. Using an educational discussion tool such as Backchannel Chat, create a virtual classroom for your students. This app allows teachers to see each message before it is posted. This gives the teacher the opportunity to determine if messages are appropriate for posting or not. Given that this lesson is asking students to improvise a scene, it is valuable to have this option. Teachers and students should also discuss guidelines for these scenes and create a contract that everyone agrees to follow.
Students will pair up and improvise two scenes together; once online, once face-to-face. After each pair presents, the class will engage in a critique and discussion of the work in order to unpack the differences between the two scenes and the pros and cons of performing in each way.
Activity 2-Adding to the Riverstory (Dialogue): Consider significant conversations you have had in your life. Where did these conversations occur? Through text messaging, a phone conversation, face-to-face? Retell this significant conversation in 6 lines of dialogue. For the performance of the Riverstory, the student will perform both parts of the conversation.
