Week Thirteen: Public Speaking

Students spent most of their time the first day utilizing their new letter writing skills to request in-kind donations from local businesses for the GYSD project. Students also wrote letters to their elected officials from city council members up to President Barack Obama telling them about their project and inviting them to come. This was an exercise in civics so students could learn who represents them and how easy it is to contact them.

On Thursday, we talked about some of the skills that make a strong public speaker. We also talked about tips to overcome the fear of public speaking. Student practiced by giving impromptu speeches on topic drawn out of a hat on random topics. Students had 2 minutes to prepare a 2 minute speech that was thoughtful, organized, and had a thesis. At the end of the speeches, the students gave peer feedback and learned from one another about how to become more effective speakers. Some of the topics were kind of crazy and the speeches were pretty entertaining! Nevertheless, the students learned a lot and are excited to practice more in the future!