Date: January 4, 2010
Dear Parents/Guardians.
Over the course of the next five weeks the students in Grade 6 will be preparing for and participating in the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board’s Oral Communication Festival. For this Festival, which is a public speaking contest, the students will be responsible for the writing and delivery of short researched speeches. Each speech must be 2-4 minutes in length.
Public speaking is a skill which is used throughout our lives for interview situations, work presentations, etc. It is hoped that through participating in the Oral Communications Festival students will learn to present themselves and speak in a confident and knowledgeable manner.
The speech topic has been explained to them in class on December 3rd , to get them thinking, about their topic. Their speech must answer the following question: Does one person have the power to significantly impact the world around them?
I have posted a few sample speeches and links to speeches on my Staff Web page, as well as the rubrics, we will be using for evaluation.
The first stage of the competition is at the classroom level where students present their speeches to classmates. One winning speech will be selected from each class. Classroom speeches will take place the week of February 1, 2010. At the next level, students will compete with other students in the junior division. The school competition will be on February 11, 2010. at 9:00 am in the auditorium. Next, the first and second place winners from the intermediate and junior division will move on to compete at the cluster level, they will compete against other students from surrounding schools. The cluster competition will take place in March, at Dalewood School. From there the first and second place winners from cluster 2 will move on to the Board Finals where they will compete against the top students from each cluster.
The Ontario Curriculum is very specific in it’s expectation of students to demonstrate skills independently. It is critical that the students both write and deliver their speeches by themselves. Students will most certainly be given support as they learn to write introductions and conclusions, and in the way to incorporate research into their speeches. The end product however, must be an independent demonstration of skills.
You can assist your child by talking about an appropriate topic for the speech contest. They may need to do some follow up research at home. You can also help by assisting with the practicing, the delivery of the speech at home.
Thank you for your support in your child’s education,
Sincerely
Mrs. D. Vanderburgh
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