Public Speaking – Treasuring the Moments

World War I Co-op Speech Day – Part II

Elisabeth — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 04:39:35 +0000

We’re home from a lovely Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania with family.

So I need to finish telling you about our World War I homeschool day. In my last post on our WWI speech day, I mentioned some of the speeches that were given. (The Sinking of the Lusitania, Donuts, Sgt. York, Army Nurses, Life in the Trenches, War Dogs and Cher-Ami the carrier pigeon.

After the aforementioned speeches, we heard about The Forgotten Warriors (war horses), and then Wesley came and told us about Air Warfare and specifically Frank Luke.

I found this to be an interesting point he brought out in his speech; although there are always conflicting numbers, the average number of days a pilot lived was 8 days with only 18 hours of active duty. Frank Luke was the 2nd highest scoring American Army Air Service pilot in World War I. Phoenix, Arizona also has an air force base named after him called Luke Air Force Base.

(Some of the speech makers and audience)

Audrey gave the last speech and it was her very first time to do it all on her own. She did a fantastic job, speaking very clearly and with her speech almost completely memorized.

She spoke on “Food” and how Americans were able to grow 15% of their family’s food by planting Victory Garden’s.

Before we began our speeches, I handed out little booklets I had made to everyone.

I included some quotes of Bro. Branham & the famous WWI poem “In Flander’s Field”.

I also asked each of our speech makers to give me 5 things they wanted people to remember from their speech. I typed them up and included them in the booklet.

These booklets were given to our guests to keep and also to each of the kids. It will be a little memento of their day and hopefully, it will help the kids remember what others talked about. I’m sure that many of them get so “tied up” with their own speech they hardly remember any others.

Lydia finished up our day by singing the World War I song “When I Get Back to the U.S.A.” and then everyone joined her and sang “My Country Tis of Thee”.

You can hear the actual music on First World War.com.

When I get back home again to the U.S.A.

In the land of peace and freedom, I intend to stay,

Somehow I never feel at home when I’m away from there, anywhere,

No other nation in this creation would ever do for me.

I guess I’m cranky, ’cause I’m a Yankee, But then I’m proud to be.

On the pier you’ll hear me shouting Hip, Hip, Hooray,

When I get back to the U.S.A.

Next was lunch – all authentic World War I fare.

The menu consisted of:

Beef Stew – taken from Foods that Will Win the War and How to Cook Them – written in 1918

Hot Pot of Mutton and Barley (replaced the mutton with elk meat)

Oatmeal Muffins

Rice Corn Bread

Corn Meal Muffins – taken from Best War-Time Recipes by the Royal Baking Powder Co. – written in 1918

Whole Wheat Chocolate Cookies

Herbert Hoover WWI Cake

If you click on any of the links above it will take you to the recipe.

Audrey wanted to serve everyone since her speech topic was on food and the war.

Then Joane, one of the homeschool moms, had some activities she had planned for the kids and they all had a ball doing them.

Melody, picking her way through the ~~grenades~~ water balloons

I loved seeing all the kids playing together.

I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the propaganda war posters that were made.

We had a wonderful time on our Speech Day. It took us a year-and-a-half before we finally got to it but I’m feeling motivated now and hope to get on track and do another day with a different topic, of course, in 2013.

The kids really enjoy it, it gives them practice writing speeches as well as delivering them and then there’s also all the creativity involved of choosing props, costumes or anything else we feel like adding in.

And we mom’s have quite a bit of fun, too.

Our World War I Co-op Speech Day – Part I

Elisabeth — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:00:00 +0000

I have learned that… morning functions are a bit challenging.(cough, cough) Our World War I speech co-op day was held Saturday with guests arriving at 10:30a.m. so that we could begin at 11a.m., the time the war ended. But because of the challenge of morning functions, we officially started about 11:15 with the shooting of our cannon and 30 seconds of silence.

We had a really good day, the event was smaller than some of our others have been but for some reason I enjoyed it so much.

Headquarters was in a canvas wall tent with a wood burning stove to keep us toasty or hot as some probably were. It was a perfect setting. I had a drink station set up outside the tent for everyone to either have tea, hot chocolate or coffee before they entered.

I think my speaking career ended that day. I tried to give an introduction but it was so embarrassingly pathetic. I have a hard time saying I can’t do something because I figure you can always learn, but honestly, I think it may be time to throw the towel in, “Enough is enough!” We can’t help but laugh every time we think of my “smooth wording.”

Zachary read a few quotes about WWI from Bro. Branham. So interesting.

Wesley recited “In Flanders Fields”, the most famous poem of World War I in his intense and dramatic way.

Serenity told us about how the war started and the sinking of the Lusitania.

Justus told us about Sgt. Alvin York and the hand of Providence in his life.

There was a speech on the war horses of WWI and one on the donut lassies with fresh homemade donuts passed around for us all to eat.

A little skit was put on about Nurses in WWI, Life in the Trenches, Dogs used in the war and Cher Ami, a little carrier pigeon.

Part II to come…

We’re here in PA having Thanksgiving with my sister and her family and my mom and dad. It’s time to head to the kitchen and get some of those mashed potatoes made for Thanksgiving Day.

I love this holiday!

I’m thankful for all of you! Happy Thanksgiving!

Preparing for our Speech Day on World War I

Elisabeth — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:24:32 +0000

Ready or not, our homeschool speech co-op day is happening Saturday. They have been so much fun in the past and the kids have a lot of great memories from these days. Medieval Times was a favorite but so was Under the Sea & Pioneer Day, We’ve also done Democratic Republic of the Congo and Inventions. I think this must be our 6th time to have a homeschool speech co-op day.

The point of our speech day is to teach our children public speaking skills but the bonuses are they get to learn about a subject in-depth (we hope), learn to write a speech and practice their public speaking skills all in a fun setting. We invite grandparents and others who we will feel are interested in the kids and what they’re learning.

For some reason, we have all been lagging with the topic that was chosen. It has now been ~~over a year~~ almost 2 years since we chose our topic. Tsk, tsk! Usually we plan for about 6 months and then have the speech day. Not this time.

We had a work day a few weeks ago. This is something we started with our Medieval study. We have a good time all working together on various projects. I think these are always fun days. We usually try to have the kids do some projects that we can use as props/displays for the actual co-op day.

One of our projects this year was for the kids to choose either a Central Power flag or an Allied flag and then construct it out of construction paper.

We found this website that had all the flags of World War I with pictures and a brief history of each one.

This is a German Naval Jack flag which was used on all Imperial German warships between the years 1909-1919.

All the flags will be attached to a dowel and placed in the ground for display.

Then we had all the kids trace a war poster they had chosen from the WWI era onto a poster board using our digital projector.

The kids all took their posters home to paint them or color them – their choice.

These are the ones my kids painted. They’re mostly done but parts of the face still need to be completed. We’ve purchased plenty of 1×2’s that we’ll be pounding into the back yard with a child’s completed war poster stapled to it. We’ll have 10 of them dotted around the yard. I think it’s going to look great.

Something we had not planned but is kind of neat is that we’re having our WWI co-op day near the time World War I ended. The war actually ended on November 11 (formerly known as Armistice Day), and our speech day is going to be on November 17. I think it will add to the occasion. We are planning to start at the exact time the war ended 11a.m.

It’s shaping up to be a fun day but one of the main things of all is getting those speeches written and we still have 2 to go! This is not something I recommend. You don’t want to follow our example in this for sure!

WWI Study – High School Speech

Elisabeth — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:31:47 +0000

We’ve started our WWI study in preparation for a group of us getting together in August (not sure about the date yet) for a speech day where each of the kids will give a speech on something they’ve been studying related to WWI.

To begin Wesley’s study he is reading Lusitania by Diana Preston.

For our high school students we have started steering them away from giving an informative speech and are asking them to experiment with new types of speeches. This year they can choose from the following:

Special Occasion Speaking (SOS): SOS is an event where students prepare a humorous speech on a timely and relevant topic. This can be influenced through news, politics, current events, trends, and so on. It must be geared towards a specific audience, who must be addressed in the speech.

Dramatic Duet Acting (DDA): In this speech, a pair of students acts out a dramatic script. Students are generally allowed to use a table and two chairs to help add to the event. Students each play just one character and work to form a meaningful interaction with each other.

Ceremonial Speeches: A ceremonial speech is one that is given to mark an important occasion in someones life, such as a graduation speech, a wedding toast, or a eulogy at a funeral. These speeches can be both emotionally moving and fun.

Persuasive Speeches: The purpose of a persuasive speech is to change people’s minds or behavior about something. This is a very difficult thing to do. For a persuasive speech to be truly effective, it’s not enough to simply present your arguments in an eloquent way. You need to actually get the audience to change their minds.

Dramatic Interpretation – be one or more people by moving yourself into different positions. You act out a story, act out a scene, or do a mini-skit.

For our last co-op day (Medieval Times), the older kids did Dramatic Interpretations. It was quite fun to see the kids and their different interpretations! So I’m really looking forward to hearing what they’ll do this year.

Because you just never know….

Speech Writing for the Young

Elisabeth — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:22:09 +0000

Just how do you go about writing a speech for younger children that have not learned to do it for themselves? How can you guide them into being able to eventually do it for themselves? There are always so many ways to approach something and if you have something that works for you that is different than me – great! But for those that need some direction, that wonder where to start, I will share what has worked for me.

For our upcoming Middle Ages Homeschool Speech Co-op Day I have 5 children giving speeches. Their ages are 3, 6, 11, 14 & 17. The older ones wrote their own speeches, including Serenity (age 11), but Audrey (age 3) and Justus (age 6) needed help. Now Audrey does not have to give a speech but she wants to and asked me one day if I had her speech ready yet. So I had to come up with something. I settled on the subject of Chess and wrote her out 3 sentences. She also has 2 pictures to show the audience. That was one easy speech to write – once the topic was chosen. Now all that’s left is practicing those 3 lines with her everyday to help her memorize them.

Justus is in the early stages of learning to read so how is he supposed to give a speech? It’s easier than you think. One of the books we were reading together was Coat of Arms by Catherine Daly-Weir and Jeff Crosby. It’s a very simple book and easy enough for little children to understand. I made sure that Justus was in the room when I read it to the other children. He also agreed that he would like to give a speech on Heraldry so I told him to be sure to pay attention so that he would know all about it.

After several readings of the book, we were ready to write Justus’s speech. The first thing I do is decide where we need to begin. In this case we wanted to begin with the duties of Heralds a 1,000 years ago. I then asked Justus what Heralds duties were. He tells me what he knows and I write it down. If he needs some prompting I will do that, too. Then we move on to the next point we want to cover with me asking him what he knows about it and writing down what he says.

The above step is so important. I have heard children give speeches that were completely above their heads because the parents did the writing and expected the child just to say what was written. Most times, with the final speech, there is still something not quite right about it. The child is unable to read it (or recite it without much help ) because they have been unable to make the speech their own. When a child can tell you back what he has learned (does this sound familiar?) as they do during an oral narration it becames his own. It’s information he possesses – not just what mom has learned and wrote down.

When the child “owns” the information for himself, he is able to share it with others without being so tied in to a written speech. Sure he needs an outline or even an actual speech to direct him from point to point, to keep everything in continuity but the words are his words. The understanding is at his level. Besides, there’s something really cute about children’s words even when everything is not said perfectly.

The other problem when a parent does most of the writing is that they want to include any information they(the parent) learned in the child’s speech causing it to become overwhelming for the child and usually too long.

Okay, so now what am I’m going to do with Justus’s speech since he is unable to read for the most part? I put his speech to pictures. I was a little apprehensive about the time it would take for me to put his speech on Heraldry to pictures but was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it went.

This is page 1 of his speech.

When he looked at it he wondered what in the world it was all about but once I explained each picture (and many of them repeated themselves) it was no problem. Because the information had become “his own” he was able to see the pictures and know what he was talking about. His speech is near 3 minutes long. Sometimes in his speech he may not be grammatically correct but that doesn’t bother me a bit. I think it adds to it. Besides, those things will fall off in time.

Just to reiterate, here are the steps I followed:

1. Read the information to the child. (not information that is above their head but at their level)

2. To write the speech, decide where it should begin & what points you want to cover. (you may want to make an outline)

3. Go over each point with you child and ask him to tell you what he knows about it. (prompt him if necessary)

4. Write down what your child has said.

5. You (mom) either write the speech using pictures or if he can read, write the words. (you will need to flesh out his sentences since he will have given only facts)

6. Have him practice his speech every day and you will be amazed at how proficient he will be!

Review – Beginning Public Speaking

Elisabeth — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:43:01 +0000

Beginning Public Speaking

Written by: Teressa Moon

Publisher: Communicators for Christ

For the past several months I have been teaching a public speaking class to about 13 homeschoolers. My guide for conducting the class has been Beginning Public Speaking by Teresa Moon, published by Communicators for Christ. It has been a wonderful resource.

There is a Teacher’s Edition, Student Workpack & DVD which are all available from Communicators for Christ for the price of $99.95. I did not have the DVD’s but used only the Teacher & Student Book and I think you really could just use the Teacher’s Edition and not purchase anything else. The individual books can be purchased through Christian Book Distributors.

The books are aimed at ages 8-12 but I adapted it for use for younger and older students as well since we were a more informal group and wanted to include everyone that wished to participate. It was so cute to watch the little ones get up and practice introductions, impromptu speeches and their delivery skills.

I acutally split the class up. The younger class consisted of children up to the age of 11. While they were giving their speeches the older ones would play a game or go outside. Then when the younger children finished we had the older class come in (ages 12-up) to give their speeches.

The book is laid out for 9 classes. The types of speeches covered are:

Impromptu Speaking Introductions

Reading or Recitation of a short story or poem

Expository Speech

Humorous Interpretation

Impromptu

Extemporaneous

Dramatic/Humorous Interpretation

Persuasive Oratory

The class went in this order: Discussion, Presentations, Activity & Assignment. If you have the DVD’s you can even watch a demonstration of the type of speech that you are assigned for next class. Since I did not have the DVD, I usually just gave the speech myself.

This course was excellent in exposing the children to various types of speeches and teaching them the basics needed in good speech delivery. I would have really liked to purchase the DVD’s but felt the price was much too high but if you were to get several people to go in on it, it would be doable. I highly recommend this course.