Title: At school, we talk about school

Scenario development: Katarzyna Maciejak

Topic of the classes:

At school, we talk about school. About the art of speaking.

Target group

7th‑grade students of an elementary school.

Core curriculum

II. Language education.

2. Differentiation of language. Student:

7) understands the concept of style, recognizes colloquial, official, artistic, scientific and journalistic style.

III. Creating statements.

1. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

2) functionally uses rhetorical means and understands their impact on the recipient;

3) collects and organizes the material material needed to create statements; edits the compositional plan of his own statement;

4) creates a statement using the appropriate composition for the given form and the principles of linguistic cohesion between the paragraphs; understands the role of paragraphs as a coherent whole of thought in the creation of written utterances and applies the paragraph rhythm (interweaving of long and short paragraphs);

5) uses the knowledge of the principles of creating thesis and hypothesis and arguments in the creation of the essay and other argumentative texts;

6) differentiates the example from the argument;

7) agrees with other people's views or polemicizes with them, substantively justifying their own opinion;

7. Speaking and writing. Student:

4) performs a voice interpretation of texts read and delivered;

8) creates consistent statements in the following species forms: review, essay, application, biography, CV, cover letter, speech, interview.

IV. Self‑study. Student:

6) develops skills of independent presentation of the results of his work;

9) reliably, with respect for copyrights, uses information.

The general aim of education

Students learn the structure of argumentative speech and create their own speech.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Operational objectives

Student:

• recognises its influence on the atmosphere at school;

• gives the elements of the argumentative speech;

• applies the principles of effective speech;

• creates a code of a good speaker;

• talks about emotions related to public speaking;

• creates his own argumentative speech.

Teaching methods / techniques

• giving: talk;

• practical: exercise exercises;

• programmed: using a computer, using an e‑manual.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Lesson plan overview (Progress)

Introduction

1. The teacher defines the purpose of the course: the students will learn about the difficult art of delivering a speech. Together with the students, the teacher sets the criteria for success.

2. The teacher starts the lesson by talking to the students. He/she refers to the role of the school in the students’ life, the students’ influence on the atmosphere at school and its image.

Realization

1. Students talk in pairs about what they like about their school and what they would like to change in it. They are wondering whether they can take any initiative to correct what needs to be changed. The students do tasks 1 and 2 in the abstract.

2. The teacher starts a discussion about school situations that require delivery of a speech or participation in a discussion. The teacher asks the students how the for and against essay should be built. The teacher draws attention to the differences resulting from the purpose of the speech.

3. Students read the text by Witold Kołodziejczyk in the abstract, on the ability to present one’s own achievements, and then, working in groups, create a code of a good speaker (taking into account the guidelines of Kołodziejczyk). The representatives of each group present the findings. Students can choose the best code or combine different ideas and create a common version.

4. Students do the task in the abstract - on the interactive board they write down as much emotions and feelings as possible, which may appear in case of a public appearance. They take into account the different stages of appearance and the personalities of the speakers (e.g. fear of speaking and satisfaction after making a good impression; excitement in feisty people and stress in shy people).

5. The teacher asks students to think about how to deal with the difficult emotions associated with public appearances (e.g. To be well prepared - this will minimise stress).

6. Students look at a diagram presenting the structure of argumentative speech, divided into introduction, development and ending.

7. Students create their own argumentative speech (their task is to convince the form‑master to conduct a weekly class meeting on a subject of interest to them).

Summary

The teacher distributes questionnaires to the students to evaluate their own work.

Next, the teacher sums up the lesson.

Homework

Write an occasional speech (about 100‑200 words) to persuade your school principal to expand the range of extracurricular sports activities.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

At school we talk about school

School is a place where you gain knowledge and skills but also meet new colleagues and learn how to function in a larger group. Together with the principal, teachers and parents, you create the image of the school and influence its atmosphere. Therefore, the image of the school also depends on your behaviour, your attitude and your learning progress.

Participating in the school life, we often face the necessity to make a speech or take part in a discussion. If we want to celebrate a ceremony (the inauguration of the school year, the jubilee), we prepare a commemorative speech. When the aim is to convince others to take concrete action, we make an encouraging speech. At school, we usually prepare presentations, project during which we have to present and describe the effects of our work.

Classical argumentative speech, that is one in which the speaker strives to convince the audience, consists of three parts: introduction, main part and ending. See which elements should be included in particular parts.