Speech for Second Quarter
by Rochelle Bloemendaal
In class today one of my students commented, "Mrs B., all we ever do in this class lately is fight about serious things..." He was disappointed with this fact, but I was happy to hear what he had to say because he's right. For the rest of the semester, we'll be doing exactly what he said--fighting about serious things or, to put it more eloquently, grappling with serious topics that have two opposing viewpoints.
If you're interested, here's what we're looking forward to. Students will soon be choosing their persuasive speech topics. After that, they'll be doing extensive in-class research to develop their side of the issue. Then, when the day of persuasive speeches rolls around, each student will be giving his or her speech. What I like best about this round of speeches is we have question and answer time after each speech so the audience can really get involved with the topics that each speaker brings out.
In December, we change gears a little and put on a debate. Debate time is an excellent opportunity for those speech students to defend their viewpoints yet also remain respectful of each other's opinions as well. I love debate because it gives students an great opportunity to display passion and enthusiasm for real-life issues that interest them. They really are "fighting about serious things" and learning many life lessons along the way.
