Tone of Voice Teacher Resources

Discuss the meaning of the phrase tone of voice with the class. They respond to a variety of scenarios where a particular tone would be prevalent. They then read "Mother to Son" without knowing the title and answer some questions about...

How are mood and tone similar? Different? Help your readers understand the difference between the two with this helpful guide. On the first page, they read the definition for both tone and mood and identify words that are describe each....

What level of voice is most appropriate for the classroom? Develop volume control in your learners with ASD with an activity that lets them know when they are using appropriate and inappropriate voice level.

It's all well and good when you're asked to identify a speaker's tone using his or her body language, facial expression, and pitch and emphasis. Identifying the tone of a written passage is another challenge entirely. Check out an...

Tone and mood are easy to use interchangeably—and yet they are very different elements of literature. Help middle schoolers discern between the way a speaker feels about his or her subject and the way the audience is meant to feel with a...

"Yo, what's up?" "Nuttin!" While such a dialogue might be appropriate between friends, it would be ill-advised in more formal situations. A mini-lesson asks young writers to consider how to adjust the voice they use to bring their...

No color, no images, no sound. Just words on paper. How then, do writers convey the tone of a piece? By carefully selecting the words they use to create an impression in the minds of readers. After all, "Don't come back, Jack" expresses...

Two babies, two fathers, two experiences, two worlds. Partners craft two-voice poems to capture the points of view of two men with very different lives who have just become fathers.

Develop the writing skills of your high school class. Writers consider their personal style and voice, read selections by other authors, and then write pieces that challenge them to experiment with their own style.

Incorporate technological fluency with a search for examples of active and passive voice in online resources. Discuss how use of active or passive voice influences mood or tone and contributes to author's purpose. List of...

Whether it's dark, delightful, or somber, set the mood with William Golding's Lord of the Flies. High-schoolers practice descriptive writing by creating the appropriate mood for an original scene, starring one of the book's main characters.

Poems are meant to be heard. Hearing a poem being read enriches one’s understanding of the tone and mood of the piece. Introduce your class to the sounds of poetry with a packet that not only details how to use poetry recordings in the...

Students listen carefully to a portion of the Poetry Out Loud CD. They focus on the tones the poet uses in his recitation of a poem. Then they map a poem of their own so that a classmate can read it using the tonal qualities intended...

What skills do storytellers employ to bring to life the characters and events in their tales? After listening to a recording of a Haitian folk tale, class members consider how tone of voice, pace, and gestures can be used to enliven a...

Students answer a question in the same tone of voice that you ask it in. In this tone lesson plan, students respond to the volume and expression of the teacher's voice.

The AP Literature and Composition exam is all about close reading. Test takers are presented with a passage and asked to analyze how an author uses literary devices to create a desired effect. Prepare your students for the exam with a...

Young scholars read to their peers from selected texts. As one person reads, the other person listens to his/her peer, noting tone and fluency. Afterward, they reflect on each other's reading. There is a guided reflection worksheet...

"Tone means attitude." Or so says this resource that uses Jordan Pruitt's "One Love" to model for songwriters how to develop an attitude in their lyrics. Class members engage in a number of exercises designed to give them direct and...

Use this poetry analysis worksheet to help your learners understand a poem of their or your choosing. This resource asks class members to summarize the poem and analyze it by looking at voice, word choice, imagery, and theme. The...

Can your pupils change the world? Explore this question with Ben Harper's song "With My Own Two Hands" and John Mayer's "Waiting for the World to Change." After listening to the songs, they discuss the tools at their disposal for...

A short video demonstrates the importance of non-verbal communication in the forming of first impressions. Viewers observe the facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, and appearance of job seekers in an interview, then discuss...

It's not just what you say but how you say it! That's the take-away from a lesson about verbal and non-verbal communication. An engaging activity has middle schoolers demonstrating how tone of voice and body language can totally change...

After reading and evaluating examples of prose nonfiction by Zora Neale Hurston and other authors, high schoolers write a personal reflective essay rich in figurative language. By incorporating this strategy, they utilize voice within...

Pupils are often confused by the literary terms tone and voice. Focus on tone by analyzing the poems suggested here, which are all from Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art. While reading through each poem,...