By Kassandra Salisbury
The 9th grade English class is doing speech class curriculum during the first semester of the year, focusing on many communication and organization skills.
Elwood English teacher Nicole Salisbury explained, “Right now we are planning persuasive speeches. They are learning about persuasive appeals and how to build an effective argument. They’re also building on their organizational skills by planning and organizing their speeches.”
The class isn’t all about public speaking, though. Salisbury said freshman students have also been reviewing grammar and vocabulary skills.
Besides giving speeches, students have had the opportunity to be involved in some fun activities.
“For Constitution week, we did an activity in which students formed a society on a deserted island and wrote a constitution that would help that society,” said Salisbury. “Students had fun thinking about what they would do if they were in charge of a society. Once they wrote their constitutions, each group presented their work to the rest of the class and they voted on which constitution they would rather live under.”
Salisbury has many goals for this class.
“The goal of having first semester English as speech class is for students to develop public speaking skills. This will help them as they go through high school and give presentations. It will also help later on with job interviews or interacting with people at college or future jobs,” commented Salisbury.
Salisbury said the students in the freshman class have many strengths, but one, in particular, stood out
“I think the 9th graders have been adventurous because they have been willing to try something new and get up in front of the class to perform their speeches,” explained Salisbury.
On the flip side, public speaking can be a challenge for many students.
“The biggest challenge is overcoming the fear of speaking in front of the class. Most of them have met this challenge and they have performed some outstanding speeches,” said Salisbury.
Salisbury said teaching the speech curriculum is a highlight of her year..
“I am always amazed with the growth students show as they work through the speech curriculum in the first semester,” she said. “I think some of them surprise themselves. It’s fun to see them conquer fear and develop new skills.”