How to Teach 'Writing Speeches' in Form Four

Welcome to UNIT 17.4

PREVIOUSLY: In Unit 17.3, we discussed about the various ways of teaching the sub topic “Expressing point of view” in Form Two.                   

IN THIS UNIT 17.4, we will cover the sub topic “Writing speeches” in Form Four.

TOPIC’S INFORMATION

Main Topic: WRITING USING APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE CONTENT AND STYLE

Sub Topic: Writing speeches

Periods per sub topic: 10 out of 20 (For Part One)

Class: Form Four

DESCRIPTION OF THE SUB TOPIC

Writing a piece of speech and delivering it, needs enough ability to overcome. Speeches are needed in various contexts. In that case, writing good speeches and presenting them well is a good thing for students to learn.

We listen to various speeches from numerous sources. Those sources are like radio, TV, and online channels.

Part One: Writing a speech

(For Part 2, Click Here!)

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE LESSON

In this sub topic's/lesson's Part One, the student should be able to write a speech.

1. TEACHER’S PREPARATION STAGE

This stage is about the preparation of the teacher before undertaking the lessons of the particular sub topic. These are all activities, procedures, materials, teaching aids, and games prepared by the teacher for teaching a sub topic:

1. Putting heads together: Introducing the topic/lesson properly. Organising how students will be able to get to know what is the topic/lesson about. It is where teacher makes sure that students are going to be in his/her train. It includes brainstorming and familiarisation of the topic/lesson with the students.

This makes students stay together with the teacher. It is at this stage students can understand what is going to be discussed in the particular topic.

In this sub topic/lesson, the teacher will introduce students to the definition, ways and reasons of writing speeches. Thus, a teacher has to prepare three things in order to brainstorm with the students. These are:

• Definition of a Speech
• Steps or ways of writing a speech
• Various reasons of writing a speech

2. Preparation of Materials. A teacher has to decide on the teaching/learning materials he/she is going to use.

In this sub topic/lesson, the teacher will have to prepare sample speeches from various sources. These speeches can be found in books, newspapers, magazines, and some audio-visual speeches can be found in an online form or in any other storage forms.

3. Target Practice. Show them/Guide them to the practice of the functions of the sub topic. A teacher has to show or guide students to the target practice of the grammatical functions of the sub topic.

In this sub topic/lesson, in order to get to know various grammatical patterns and structures of speech writing, the teacher will guide students to practice how to write speeches by using correct tense, appropriate grammatical expressions and appropriate writing styles. Some of the most used expressions are:

• Mr. President, Guest of honour, May I take this opportunity...
• I am pleased to...
• It gives me much pleasure....
• I feel honoured to be here....
• Let me begin/start by....
• Last but not least....,
• You are all aware of .....
• Allow me to say.
• Dear parents/ students/teachers....
• On behalf of ....
• Dear fellow students....
• Lastly....

Linking words:

Apart from discussing common speech expressions, the teacher has to guide students to discuss about other linking words that are commonly applied. Some of these linking words are:

• Besides,
• Finally,
• Thank you for your attention
• Moreover.

4. Context-Based Practice. A teacher leads students to the discussion on how the target grammatical functions practised earlier can be applied or integrated into the contexts and situations. The students are guided by the teacher to apply the learnt skills in relevant contexts and situations like school and library.

In this sub topic/lesson, people make speeches in a number of contexts and situations. The teacher has to help students in discussing how to write speeches in the contexts like class, school, parent’s day, graduation day, meeting, public meetings, open days, ceremonies, and other functions. For example, the teacher can ask students to write speeches on their common contexts like Standard VII Graduation, Welcome Form One Party, or Form IV Graduation Day. All these are the common contexts the students can write about.

5. Vocabulary Building Practice. At this time, teacher discusses with the students on the vocabularies and phrases to apply in the already mentioned contexts and situations.

In this sub topic/lesson, the most commonly applied vocabularies are: Honourable, distinguished guest, your Excellency, Majesty, Highness, chairman, Secretary, Secretary General, chairperson, Mr. President, besides, moreover, finally, ceremonies.

2. TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCEDURES, ACTIVITIES AND GAMES

Guide the students to the full sub topic/ lesson procedures, activities and games for better understanding of the sub topic by following these activities:

ACTIVITY ONE: Brainstorming. Here the teacher and students participate in the Brainstorming of the sub topic/lesson through oral questions with answers, pair works, and group discussions of all important concepts to get students on track.

In this activity, the teacher will introduce the sub topic/lesson with brainstorming activities. He/she will discuss with the students on the definition, ways of writing speeches and reasons of speech writing.

First, ask them oral questions like:

• What does a Guest of Honour do at a ceremony?
• How does he/she start presenting a speech?
• How does he/she makes or presents points?
• How does he/she end a speech?

These are important questions to ask students before they start learning how to write speeches.

By definition, a speech is a formal talk about a particular subject matter that is given to a group of people or audience. A speech can be made, prepared, given or delivered in different ways and situations.

How a speech is planned or written

A speech can be planned just like an essay.

First, when planning to write a speech one has to think how he/she is going to open a speech. That is, he/ she should think about the right expressions in the introductory part of an essay. When writing a speech one should seriously consider using appropriate expressions to greet the audience.

Second, when planning a speech one has to think about the points he/she is going to make and how he/she is going to support each point.

Third, also one should think how he/she is going to end a speech. The right expressions are taken into consideration when closing a speech.

ACTIVITY TWO: Teacher's Demonstration. Teacher's application of his/models or examples so as to bring the topic/lesson and the students into the real or common sense of the topic/lesson.

In this activity, the teacher discusses with students on how speeches are prepared, and then the teacher demonstrates one of his/her prepared speeches to the students. By demonstrating to them, students relate what they have learnt about writing speeches and the speeches demonstrated by the teacher.

INTRODUCTION OF THE SPEECH

Opening Greetings

Honourable and distinguished guests

Your Excellency

Mr. President

Madam, Guest of Honour

Dear parents and students

Distinguished teachers

Madam President

Madam Minister

Madam Member of Parliament

MAIN BODY OF THE SPEECH

Beginning and Development Of The Speech

It gives me much pleasure to...

May I take this opportunity to...

I have a great pleasure in/to...

It is a great honour to/for me to...

May I begin by...

CONCLUSION OF THE SPEECH

Closing the Speech

I would like to close this speech/my speech by...

Finally, may I say/I can say...

It has been a great honour to/for me to be here today...

It is a high time now we...

Thank you for your attention.

Teacher's Model

Forest Conservation

A Speech on the Importance of Forest Conservation at the Nkomo Village

Mr. Village Chairperson, Mr. Village Executive Officer, all members of Nkomo Village Forest Conservation Team, dear villagers, I am pleased to be with you today on this very special day. It really gives me much pleasure to join together in the conservation of our beautiful forests. Some other people may have been invited to this eventual occasion, but you chose me instead. I feel much honoured. I humbly invite all of you to share the importance of our beautiful forests today.

My dear Nkomo villagers let me begin by defining a word 'forest'. A forest is a large tract of land covered with a dense growth of trees and other natural vegetation. In other words, it is defined as the collection of ecosystems dominated by trees and other vegetation.

We are all aware that Nkomo Village is surrounded by several virgin forests that make our land more attractive and arable for agricultural activities. Bearing all these in mind, the following are advantages we can get from our forests when we properly maintain them:

First, availability of enough rainfall. Forests attract the formation of rainfall. This is done through Eva transpiration in which water vapours from plants and rivers go upward to form the rainy clouds. And as a return, this enough rainfall will make sure there is enough rains for agricultural activities.

Dear Villagers, another advantage of forests is maintenance of ecosystem for tourist attractions. Apart from conserving environment, forests are sources of income because of tourists. Most of these forests have attractions like animals, caves and others. In Nkomo Forest Conservation Area, we are blessed with animals, birds, and rivers. All these have been reliable sources of income. Thus, we are hereby encouraged to conserve our beautiful forests.

Also, harnessing of honey and bees wax. Nkomo Forest Conservation Area has been a source of our daily income. The presence of this forest improves the living standard of many Nkomo villagers and other people. Honey and bees wax are in high demand in international markets. These advantages will be lost if we do not pledge to conserve our forests properly.

Lastly, forests have a variety of merits to the local community. However, the forests in most parts of our country have been destroyed because of severe human activities. Another problem is fire. Burning of the forests has been a big problem in our villages even here at Nkomo village. It is better we take serious measures to control this bush fire.

Let's begin to change, my dear villagers. If we don't change today, our future generation will curse us for failing to prepare good environment for them.

Thank you very much for your attention

ACTIVITY THREE: Students' Demonstration. Showing students how models like that of a teacher can be applied by them. Here students need to be guided on how to use given expressions, structures, vocabulary, and phrases or similar ones.

In this activity, after brainstorming and sharing ideas on the content of each section of the speech, the teacher will now guide students to select a familiar topic and context to write the speech on. For example, the teacher may discuss with students and come to consensus that they should write a speech on Standard VII Graduation.

As they plan for a speech, students are encouraged by the teacher to brainstorm on the purpose, context, and audience.

Before they start organising their speeches, the teacher to remind and introduce the format and style of a speech. He/she should also remind and guide them to apply appropriate vocabulary.

The teacher guides the students to organise ideas in logical order. While in pairs, students are supervised by the teacher to draft, revise and edit their speeches.

In order to reinforce their writing, the teacher can provide students with sample speeches for reinforcement.

ACTIVITY FOUR: Taking/leading students to the real situations or contexts where they can apply what they have mastered. Here speaking, reading or writing activities are involved.

ACTIVITY FIVE: Winding up the topic/lesson. Here teachers summarise the topic/lesson by emphasizing the importance of the sub topic/lesson and suggesting other related aspects of the sub topic/lesson.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY: As a teacher, what other activity can be applied in this sub topic/lesson? You can always drop your alternative activity or activities to this article so as to improve teaching and learning of ‘O’ Level English Blog! (OLE).

GRAMMAR PRACTICE:

Concessions/Sentence Connectors

There are various concessions/sentence connectors in English language. To help students write well and deliver speeches smoothly, the students have to master various sentence starters, sentence connectors and concessions. To explore more about delivering speeches, you can visit the following links as well:

• Participating in debates, dialogues, interviews, impromptu speeches and discussions Part 1
• Participating in debates, dialogues, interviews, impromptu speeches and discussions Part 2
• Participating in debates, dialogues, interviews, impromptu speeches and discussions Part 3
• Expressing one’s feelings, ideas, opinions, views and emotions
• Starting, intervening and closing a conversation/discussions
• Negotiating solutions to problems
• Speaking and giving advice

REFLECTION

Ask students to say if they attend various occasions like conferences, graduations, ceremonies, and other parties. Because they often do attend, ask them what they hear from the so- called Guests of Honour. These Guests of honour give speeches, and they apply skills like these to properly prepare or write their speeches.

ASSESSMENT

A teacher should design an evaluation for students by using appropriate assessment tools like oral questions or assignments so that to see if the student is able to write a speech.

ASSESSMENTS

Assessment #01: Group work

Imagine that you have been asked to make a speech entitled "The Beginning of New Life After School" at Form Four Graduation Ceremony.

Assessment #02: Pair works

Imagine that you are a famous person and you have been invited to give a speech at Standard VII Graduation Ceremony at your village or street.

Assessment #03: Individual work.

Make a speech of not less than 200 words to thank the people who have attended at your friend's Wedding Ceremony.

Note: You can give students more individual works, pair works, and group works to facilitate their interaction and understanding of the sub topic or lesson. As English language teacher you have to give students more works to do. Because language is meant to be largely spoken and written, the teacher should rely on written exercises and notes. Instead students have to learn English language by vigorously exercising individually, in pairs, and in groups.

SUMMARY/CONCLUSION

Sum up the sub topic/lesson by emphasizing students to learn how to write speeches as well as encouraging them to apply speech writing skills because they are life skills and applicable in most parts of our life.

NOTE: These stages explained above are not necessarily covered in a single lesson of single or double period. Remember that this is the guide for teaching the whole sub topic which has periods ranging from 6 to 20. So, the teacher's task is to divide these stages according to the total number of periods for a particular sub topic.

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?

This article is about how to study and teach "Writing a speech" in Form Four. As a student or teacher, what is your opinion on how to study and teach this sub topic/lesson?

Your opinion is worth and I believe that it can make these materials better for our own consumption.

You are Welcome!