Objective:   The students will explore Jaques' "Seven Ages of Man" speech by creating word plays. The goal is to get the students to think about the sounds and shapes of individual words in a monologue and to put actions with those words. It is also an introduction to the monologue that each student will memorize for a choral performance at the end of the unit.

Materials:  II.vii.138-165, individual words in order

Activities:

Before class, make a photocopy of the attached sheet, and cut out each word (be sure to keep them in order).

Day 1

1. Push aside all desks and chairs, and have the students form a circle.  Let the students know that they will have to form the exact same circle the next day.

2. Run them through a physical and vocal warm-up. You may also want to ask a student or two to lead the warm-up for you.

3. After the warm-up, begin handing out the individual words (in order!).

4. Give each student one word, and ask them to whisper the word. Encourage them to let the sound of the word take over. How does the sound of the word make you feel? Where does that word sit when you whisper it? On sound, say the word. What action fits that word? Allow your body to move and create that action. Beginning with the first person, have each student say the word and perform the action. The rest of the class will echo the word and action. Continue this sequence until all of the words are gone.

5. When the students have all of their words (7 or 8), give them the remainder of the class period (if any) to place the words in any order they choose. Encourage them to ignore the word numbering for now.

6. When they have an order they like, allow them to once again put action with the various words.

7. After they have practiced this several times, ask them to paperclip their words together, write their names on the back of one of the words, and turn them in to you.

Day 2

1. Hand back the words, and ask the students to get back into the circle in the same order as yesterday.

2. Lead them through a vocal and physical warm-up.

3. Give them a few minutes to rehearse their word plays.

4. Each student will perform his or her word play, which will then be echoed by the rest of the class.

5. After the word plays, ask the students to place their individual words back in numerical order.

6. Starting with number 1, have the students read the words in order. After the first time through, ask them to do it again, but this time don't pause between words. Try to read it as one voice. Continue this until the students begin noticing that the words fit together. Ask them to figure out where one sentence ends and the next begins. Once they have a fairly good sense of what the monologue is saying, give them a copy of the speech.

7. Use the remainder of the class period to discuss the monologue and to assign it for memorization.

Were the students able to vocalize their words, and make some sort of physical connection to the words? Did they recognize that the individual words formed a longer speech? Did they pick up on the rhythm of the words as they formed sentences? Did they begin to memorize the speech without thinking about it?

This is an activity that will pay off in the long run. As students begin to memorize this speech, they will remember the individual words and the movements that went with those words.

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