Students will have the opportunity to select repertoire to learn and perform in class. There are many sources for suitable repertoire. Of note is the Royal Conservatory's Speech Arts and Drama syllabusLinks to an external site.. The syllabus contains lists of graded works generally suitable for certain ages.
- RC Level 5 (11 years old or school grade 6) begins on p. 35
- RC Level 6 (12 years old or school grade 7) begins on p. 39
- RC Level 7 (131 years old or school grade 8) begins on p. 43
Each level has suggested poetry, prose, and scenes. Level 7 also includes Shakespeare scenes. In addition to the school library, Mrs. Berlin has copies of most of these sources. The complete works of William Shakespeare can be found online hereLinks to an external site..
Other material can be drawn from:
- Fiction (including short stories, novels, novellas, folk tales).
- Poetry (including haiku, limericks, narrative poems)
- Drama (including comedies, historical dramas, radio plays)
- Non-fiction (including autobiographies, biographies, essays, speeches, news articles, reference articles)
- Media (including TV shows, advertising, websites)
See American Rhetoric
Books you are reading in your English Language Arts class may also be good candidates for use. See also: Texas Library Association's Lone Star Reading ListLinks to an external site.
Material to be learned for class must be pre-approved by Mrs. Berlin.
Editing
Students may make slight revisions in prose selections to fit a prescribed time limit, to eliminate extra characters, or to dramatize a selection of prose. The editing should reflect sensitive and intelligent decisions regarding the author's intentions. Students MUST eliminate all profane references to a deity and obscene language, actions, or scenes. Marked replaced words with [brackets] and eliminated prose with ...ellipses.
Finally, please be extremely sensitive to recent events in the district when selecting repertoire to perform.