For example:
Do you enjoy doing your homework?
Yes, I love doing my homework.
Conduct an orchestra: Use your hands,
a pencil, or any long, thin object as a
baton to show intonation as if you were
conducting an orchestra. Move the baton up
when the intonation rises and down when it
falls. The teacher or a student can be the
conductor with other students following along
as they say sentences, or all the students can be
conductors together.
Human intonation model: Choose a sentence and have
several students stand in a row, with each person
representing one word or one syllable in the sentence. Let the
students discuss how the intonation should sound and then
have each person stand up tall or crouch down to represent
the pitch of his/her word. (This activity is better for children
than for adults.) Here’s a representation of the intonation of
“How are you today?” with one person representing each
syllable:How are you today?Use a kazoo: A kazoo is a simple musical instrument that is
played by putting the larger end in your mouth and humming
a melody. The kazoo makes the sound of your voice louder
and adds a buzzing quality to it. It’s di"erent from many
instruments because you hum into it; you don’t blow, as you
would with a recorder or $ute. Students can easily imitate
intonation patterns with a kazoo. The advantage of using a
kazoo (rather than repeating actual sentences with the
correct intonation) is that the
learner can concentrate only on
the melody of intonation without
having to think about individual
sounds, vocabulary, and other
details. If kazoos aren’t available,
students can simply hum.170Kazoos: Touch to listen.