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Voice & Body Onstage

Fourth graders learn the two main tools every actor uses — their voice (projection, tone, pace) and their body (expression, posture, gestures, movement) — and how to use each to reach the audience.

Grade 4Acting45 minutes1 class periodArtistic ProcessExplicit teaching4 StandardsNCAS
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Use your voice onstage.
  • ✓Use your body onstage.
  • ✓Tell voice tools from body tools.
  • ✓Reach the audience.
Essential Question

Actors have two amazing tools they carry everywhere: their voice and their body. How do actors use each one to tell a story so the whole audience can see and hear it?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Sort It · Interactive

Voice Tool or Body Tool?

Project this and sort each acting tool by whether it uses your VOICE or your BODY.

🎭 Sort each — voice tool or body tool?Try it
🗣️ Using Your VOICE
🕺 Using Your BODY
Tap a tool, then tap a bucket.
The Lesson · Artistic Process (Warm-Up · Explore · Rehearse · Perform · Reflect)

45 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — Two Tools

5 min

Actors carry two tools everywhere — voice and body. How do they use each?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Say a line flat, then big.
  • Ask what changed.
  • Warm up voices & bodies.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Listen.
  • Notice.
  • Warm up.
2

Explore — Explore the Tools

10 min

Students explore.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Voice Tool or Body Tool?
  • Sort each one.
  • Try them out.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort them.
  • Try them.
  • Explain.
3

Rehearse — Rehearse

14 min

Students rehearse.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Practice projection.
  • Practice gestures and posture.
  • Combine voice and body.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Project.
  • Gesture.
  • Combine.
4

Perform — Perform

11 min

Students perform.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Perform a line with big voice and body.
  • Reach the back row.
  • Give kind feedback.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Perform it.
  • Reach them.
  • Be kind.
5

Reflect — Reflect

5 min

Students respond.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a voice tool.
  • Name a body tool.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Name one.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the National Core Arts Standards (Theatre).

NCAS
TH:Pr5.1.4

Use voice and body techniques in performance.

NCAS
TH:Pr6.1.4

Share a drama with an audience.

NCAS
TH:Cr1.1.4

Develop expressive choices.

NCAS
TH:Pr4.1.4

Make choices to convey a story.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Tool picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “This uses my ___.”
  • Demonstrate each tool.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with voice vs. body.
  • Sort one at a time.
  • Try one tool.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Combine three tools in a line.
  • Adjust for a big space.
  • Direct a partner’s choices.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🎭A pretend stage
  • 💻Voice Tool or Body Tool?
  • 🪞Mirrors
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

projectionspeaking loudly and clearlytonethe sound and feeling of your voicepacehow fast or slow you speakexpressionhow your face shows feelingposturehow you hold your bodygesturea movement with your handsmovementmoving around the stageaudiencethe people watching
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name one way an actor uses their VOICE.
Projection, tone, speaking slowly and clearly, or an accent.
QUESTION 2
Name one way an actor uses their BODY.
Facial expression, posture, gestures, or movement.
QUESTION 3
What is projection?
Speaking loudly and clearly so the whole audience can hear.

Reflect: use your tools.

Have students say the same line two ways — flat, then with expressive voice and body — and notice the difference. A printable voice-and-body sheet is in the Arts library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Voice & Body OnstageFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Voice & Body OnstageQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Voice & Body OnstagePrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: audience, expression, gesture, movement, pace, posture, projection, tone
  1. how fast or slow you speak
  2. the sound and feeling of your voice
  3. how your face shows feeling
  4. the people watching
  5. a movement with your hands
  6. how you hold your body
  7. moving around the stage
  8. speaking loudly and clearly

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name one way an actor uses their VOICE.
  2. Name one way an actor uses their BODY.
  3. What is projection?
Answer key — Part A: 1) pace · 2) tone · 3) expression · 4) audience · 5) gesture · 6) posture · 7) movement · 8) projection
Part B: 1) Projection, tone, speaking slowly and clearly, or an accent. 2) Facial expression, posture, gestures, or movement. 3) Speaking loudly and clearly so the whole audience can hear.