Teaching artist Sherry Norfolk demonstrates how to use different vocal pitches and emotions to bring characters to life, and how to use sound effects to make the telling of a story more interesting. 

Vocabulary You Will Learn:

• Pitch - The degree of highness or lowness of a tone.

Materials You Will Need:

• Nothing, just yourself! 

How to Use Vocal Tools to Tell an Interesting Story

1. First, we’re going to experiment with creating different vocal pitches. Try making your voice as deep as you possibly can and then say the line, “Who’s been eating my porridge?” Then try repeating the same line in a tiny, high voice. Finally, try the line again in a medium, soft voice.
2. Next, we’re going to try using our voices to show emotion. Practice saying the line, “Who’s been eating my porridge?” in sad, excited, and grumpy voices. 

3. When making an animal sound, it can be helpful to make the sound the animal makes and then continue talking in that same voice. So for a cat, make a meowing sound and then continue talking using the same vocal pitch you used to meow. If you’re playing an animal who doesn’t make a sound, think about their other characteristics to create their voice. 
4. Finally, we’re going to try to create other kinds of sounds that are used in a story. Scroll to around 6:45 in the video. As Sherry tells the story, practice making sound effects to go along with it.

In this video, Sherry demonstrates how to use different vocal pitches and emotions to bring characters to life, and how to use sound effects to make the telling of a story more interesting. If you want to go even further, think about these questions: 

• Try telling the story of what happened during your day to your family, incorporating character voices and sound effects. Can you do the voice of your teacher or your friends? Can you add the sounds of cars honking, doors opening, and whatever else you heard throughout your day?
• Can you tell one of your favorite stories from a fairy tale,  comic book, or  TV show using what you learned in this lesson? Can you imitate the voices of the characters and add sound effects to bring the story to life?
• What objects can you use to create sound effects while telling a story? Can you drum on a table to create footsteps or rustle the pages of a book to create the sound of the wind? 
• Try reading a story aloud using the same voice for each character and the narration. Then read it again using a unique voice for each character and incorporating sound effects. How does using different voices and sounds help to bring the story to life?

Accessibility

Don't forget that you can turn on "Closed Captioning" to view the YouTube video with English captions.

More about the Teaching Artist

Based out of St. Louis, Missouri, Sherry Norfolk is an award-winning storyteller, author, and teaching artist. Sherry’s storytelling style is distinctly her own—full of rhythm, motion, multiple voices, and opportunities for interactive participation that breathe life into her rich repertoire of folktales from around the world. As a teaching artist, it is her mission to evoke curiosity and wonder which, in turn, provoke learning.

Kennedy Center Education provides resources and experiences that inspire, excite, and empower students and young artists, plus the tools and connections to help educators incorporate the arts into classrooms and learning spaces of all types.

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Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Genesis Inspiration Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.