An Engaging Public Speaking Unit (Differentiated, Common Core Aligned)

An engaging way to encourage young thespians! This four-week unit begins as low-risk by including activities that give students total ownership of their topics. As students gain confidence in their public speaking abilities, lessons intensify to continue student growth.

This unit teaches students the elements of persuasive, informative, memorial, inaugural, sales pitch, and storytelling speeches (and includes a philippic speech for your advanced speakers) while still allowing creativity and a sense of humor. Students in the audience learn to recognize each distinct speech format, how to analyze speeches for strengths and weaknesses, and how to encourage one another by writing honest compliments regarding strengths and areas of growth.

My students went from fearing public speaking to loving this unit. Students actually told me that the activities and speech options were fun! (Learning? Fun? Clearly I am doing something wrong...) Even now, when we have extra time at the end of class, they request to fill that time with activities and games from this unit.

This 55 page product includes an annotated table of contents, a calendar overview, a script for each day of lessons, a variety of handouts and rubrics, and guidelines for assessment. It contains a number of different activities, from relaxed to formal speeches, and from creating an imaginary animal to practicing tongue twisters to collaborating with a small group on a final, storytelling speech. This unit can be used year after year, and it is flexible enough to mold around a hectic school schedule.

***Download preview for a partial annotated table of contents and learning plan samples***


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