For teachers
The course is built so that a student can do it alone. With you, it works better. Here is how to run it in ten minutes a lesson.
The weekly plan
| Week | Students do at home | You do in class |
|---|---|---|
| One | Choose a story, write five beats, record once | Hear each student say why they chose their story, in one sentence. Send back anyone who cannot. |
| Two | Learn it in four parts, without the page | Pairs tell each other one part a day. You walk and listen for endings of words. |
| Three | Voice, eyes, hands | One student a day tells the whole story to the class. The class says one thing they liked. |
| Four | Timing, polish, real audiences | A full run in the real room if you can, with the real time limit and a bell. |
What to listen for, in this order
- Can you hear the ends of the words? Fix this first. The sounds page has drills.
- Is it too fast? It nearly always is.
- Do they know it, or are they reading it from inside their head? If their eyes go up and left, they are reading.
- Only then gesture and expression.
Three things that help most
- Let them choose. A child tells a story they like better than a story you like.
- One correction at a time. A student given five notes fixes none of them.
- Record, do not describe. Thirty seconds of their own voice teaches more than five minutes of your advice.
What this course does not do
It does not know your competition’s rules, time limit, theme or score sheet. Those come from the organizers, and they come first. Where this course and your rules disagree, follow your rules.
You may print any page of this site and copy it for your students.