No, I am not making a typical observation of our very chatty, ever-talkative class, but I am hoping to impress upon the students of Room 503 the importance of vocal articulation, help them hone their memorization skills while - all the while - introducing them to, probably, the most famous nonsense poem in the English language: Jabberwocky.
Tonight, one of the students' homework assignment is to memorize the third stanza of the poem:
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
During our vocal warm ups I encourage (actually, I DEMAND) them to work extremely hard to get their mouths fully around the vowels and to hard-hit the consonants that each word so deliciously offers. I encourage (well, DEMAND) them to over-exaggerate each sound in order to really work their mouth muscles.
I think some of the students really hate me between 8:30 and 8:40 A.M., but if this helps them, ultimately, to speak clearly, I'm okay with that.
Appreciation to Lewis Carroll for his help in composing vocal warm-up exercises.
Cheers,
Ms. Pitman
