Writing Commencement Speeches - Speech Writing Activity - Print and Digital

Make the end of the school year meaningful for your high school students by having them read, view, and write commencement (graduation) speeches. This lesson is part of my Inspired Writing series; students use mentor texts as models for their own writing. Updated version now has a link to a Google Slides Presentation.

In this lesson, students first watch videos and analyze several commencement speeches. After watching the speeches, they complete graphic organizers to synthesize common techniques and identify universal ideas in these speeches. Next, they use the writing process to brainstorm, draft, revise, edit, and write their own speeches. Finally, they present their speeches to their classmates or another audience. This resource provides an excellent way to incorporate media literacy into your instruction.

This 20-page resource (and 10 Google slides) includes the following:

-explicit lesson plan with identified Common Core ELA anchor standards

-speech analysis handouts

-synthesis handouts

-brainstorming graphic organizer

-planning graphic organizer

-peer review guide

-proofreading checklist

-sample key

-rubric

-links to online speeches

This activity can be used with a variety of online learning platforms including Google Classroom™, MS Teams™, Schoology™, and more!

Here are other end-of-the-year activities that may interest you:

End of Year Twitter Task Cards

End of the Year Sentence Review Game

Interested in other writing activities and lessons? You may want to consider:

Memoirs

I've Been to the Mountaintop by MLK, Jr.

Literary Analysis Essay Writing

Essay Writing with Exemplar Papers

Meaningful and Memorable English Language Arts by © OCBeachTeacher ™

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Group licenses available.

Not for public display.