What’s the Point?
Determining the Purpose behind Your Speech
Topic: Specific Purpose Statements
Objective: During this 50 minute lesson, the students will develop specific purpose statements for famous speeches, as well as for topics that are either a persuasive, informative, or entertainment speech. The students will write their purpose statements on notecards and share their ideas with their groups. After this lesson, they should be able to develop a specific purpose statement for a speech topic of their own choice.
Materials: One notecard for each student in the classroom and highlighted sections of three famous speeches for the teacher to read aloud to the class.
Steps:
1. Begin by preparing three snippets of famous/familiar speeches to read to students. There should be at least one persuasive speech, one informative speech, and one entertaining speech among your snippets. Some examples of each included: “I Have a Dream,” by Martin Luther King, Jr. (persuasive), a clean and school appropriate piece of comedy (entertaining), and a presidential State of the Union address (informative). Have these ready before the start of class.
2. Read the first selection (no particular order is necessary) aloud to the students. Then, ask them to think about the speech. What was the reason that this person gave this speech? What sort of affect did they want to have? After about a minute, ask students for a few responses and write them on the board in a single column, leaving space at the top for a category name to be written in later, as well as space for two more columns. Try to spend around five minutes on each speech.
3. Do the same thing with the other two speeches.
4. After finishing with each of the three speeches, talk to the students briefly about persuasive, informative, and entertainment speeches. They should already have an understanding of each type of speech, so this will be a recap. Ask the students which column on the board is persuasive, which is informative, and which is entertaining. As they answer, write the correct answer in the extra space left above each column.
5. Then, discuss purpose statements. Tell them that there are general and specific purpose statements for every type of speech, as their answers on the board illustrate. Focus more on specific statements, as this is what they have already begun to work on by giving the answers on the board. A specific purpose statement tells what the speech is about, why the speaker has chosen to talk about it, and what affect they expect to have on their audience.
6. Next, divide students into groups of three by numbering them off. If the class number is not even to divide by three, have some groups of four. When the students are in their groups, give each student one notecard and number them off again, 1-3, within their group. Each group will now have a 1, 2, and 3. If there happens to be four people, randomly pick a number between 1-3 for the fourth member.
7. Ask the 1s in each group to write a purpose statement on their notecard for a persuasive speech about going to the polls and voting. Make sure they do not focus on a single party, but simply just voting in general.
8. Ask the 2s in each group to write a purpose statement on their notecard for an informative speech about pollution.
9. Ask the 3s in each group to write a purpose statement on their notecard for an entertainment speech about a funny situation that is clean and appropriate for high school students. For example, it could be something funny that a younger sibling did.
10. When finished, each student will share their statement with their group and receive feedback. Does this statement establish a specific purpose? Does it explain why the speech will be given?
11. Next, have students regroup. All of the 1s will form a new group, as will the 2s and 3s. If the class is big, have two or more groups for each number. It is ideal to keep groups smaller so that each student has the opportunity to participate.
12. Have students read their statements to their groups again and give feedback. This time, they will all have purpose statements for the same type of speech, so they will be able to see how and why other people view the speech as important to give.
13. When the groups have had a few minutes to talk amongst themselves, give students an assignment to come up with their own idea for a persuasive, informative, or entertainment speech and to develop a specific purpose statement for the speech for the next class period.
Results: After completing this lesson, students should have a good understanding of what a specific purpose statement is. Understanding why they want to give a speech will help them in the development of their speeches.
Bringing Your Audience Out of the Woods: Thesis Sentences
Thesis sentences
OBJECTIVE: Using the handouts provided, students will participate in a group activity recognizing the two types of thesis sentences and be able to create them on a homework assignment, answering four out of five problems correctly. In order to be correct, the students’ theses must meet the standards for each type of thesis sentence as outlined in class.
MATERIALS: Enough small bells for each group of three to four students to have one; a white board or chalkboard
STEPS:
1. Ask the students to imagine going on a trip through the woods on a scavenger hunt. The only problem is—they have no map or directions. Explain that this is the same situation the audience is in if a speaker does not provide a thesis sentence or “map” in a speech.
2. Discuss with the class how having a thesis sentence would help the audience. Answers that might be mentioned could include helping the audience to know what is coming next, to remember what has already been discussed, and to remember the main message that they should take away from the speaker’s presentation.
3. Pass out the thesis sentence handout to all students and go over it with them.
4. In order to check for students’ comprehension, read the following thesis sentences aloud and call on students randomly to identify the type of thesis sentence, why it is that type, and the main points (which are italicized below).
• “A newspaper company has three divisions, the publishing division, the editorial division, and the business division.” (informative, has main idea for the audience to understand, identifies main supporting ideas about what or how)
• “High school students should be required to participate in community service activities because these activities help them develop compassion, get them involved in the community, and are helpful when applying for college scholarships.” (persuasive, has a central idea for the audience to accept or believe, lists reasons why)
• “My dog is a half Labrador Retriever and half German Shepherd.” (not a complete thesis)
• “We should adopt the new e-mail system because it is easier to operate, it enables you to check your spelling, and it provides more options for organizing messages.” (persuasive, has a central idea for the audience to accept or believe, lists reasons why)
5. Divide students into groups of three or four. Explain that they are going to play a game identifying types of thesis sentences. The rules are as follows:
The teacher will read a thesis sentence, and each team will discuss what type it is and why as well as identify the main points. If they decide that the sentence is not a thesis, then they must identify why it is not and write a thesis sentence on the white board or chalkboard about that same subject. The first team to decide upon an answer will ring their bell, giving the answer right away (no extra “think time” so no groups are allowed to ring the bell immediately in order to be first). If one team answers and is not correct, another team can ring in and answer. Each correct answer is worth two points: one for identifying and one for explaining and identifying main points or rewriting. For the final question, the teams will each secretly write down and give to the teacher a wager of a certain number of points. They then will be given a topic and a thesis type and must write a thesis sentence about it. The team who gets the most points will win a prize determined by the teacher. For example, it could be allowing the winning group to bring a snack or drink to the next class, extra points on a test, or an exemption from a homework assignment.
RESULTS: The students will complete a homework assignment in which they must write a thesis sentence of a given type and topic. Correct answers will vary, so the teacher must assess them individually.
Thesis Sentences
Thesis: One central idea that you want your audience to remember after you’ve concluded your speech
Two types of thesis sentences:
Informative: The main idea that you want your audience to understand
Persuasive: The main idea that you want your audience to accept or believe
Along with these main ideas, you also want to add your main points, which will clarify or support your thesis. Usually there are two to five main points. To decide on these points, you can ask specific questions about your thesis.
For an informative thesis you might ask “What” or “How” questions.
Thesis: My family has many interesting traditions.
Question: What traditions do they have?
*an Easter egg hunt
*eating pork on New Year’s
*singing Christmas carols
*watching home movies on birthdays
Final Thesis: My family has many interesting traditions, including an Easter egg hunt, eating pork on New Year’s, singing Christmas carols, and watching home movies on birthdays.
For a persuasive thesis you might ask “Why” questions.
Thesis: We should make smoking illegal in all public places.
Question: Why should we take this action?
*It might encourage smokers to quit.
*Breathing secondhand smoke is dangerous.
Final Thesis: We should make smoking illegal in all public places because it might encourage smokers to quit and breathing secondhand smoke is dangerous.
Game Questions (answers are below and main points are italicized)
1. Spiderman is the best superhero because he has a cool costume, can shoot webs out of his hands, and has a more interesting alter-ego than other superheroes.
(persuasive, has a central idea for the audience to accept or believe, lists reasons why)
2. My dog is the most talented dog in the world.
(not a complete thesis, students should give support for “why”)
3. Physical education should be required in schools because of growing childhood obesity rates, improvements in self-confidence, and increased attention in other classes.
(persuasive, has a central idea for the audience to accept or believe, lists reasons why)
4. Our government is made up of three branches, including the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.
(informative, has main idea for the audience to understand, identifies main supporting ideas about what or how)
5. Many inventions have changed life in the 20th and 21st century.
(not a complete thesis, students should give examples of inventions)
6. The Fourth of July is the best holiday.
(not a complete thesis, students should give reasons why)
7. Schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives because childhood obesity rates are growing rapidly and half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar.
(persuasive, has a central idea for the audience to accept or believe, lists reasons why)
8. Everyone should take a course in public speaking because it builds confidence, helps in understanding the communication process, and helps in learning how to organize thoughts.
(persuasive, has a central idea for the audience to accept or believe, lists reasons why
9. There are two different kinds of thesis sentences, including informative and persuasive.
(informative, has main idea for the audience to understand, identifies main supporting ideas about what or how)
FINAL: Write a persuasive thesis sentence about what our school should do with a $100,000 improvement grant.
Name_________________________________
Writing Thesis Sentences
Directions: Write a thesis sentence for each of the following topics, making sure it is the correct type (informative or persuasive) of thesis. Underline your main points.
1. Informative about your family
2. Persuasive about why someone should participate in your favorite extracurricular activity
3. Persuasive about why someone should give you a million dollars
4. Informative about the (school-appropriate) topic of your choice
5. Persuasive about the (school-appropriate) topic of your choice
Nicole Peters
September 2, 2009
Super Duper!
Creating a thesis statement.
Objective: By the end of the assignment the student will know how to create a thesis statement.
Materials: The student will only need pen and paper.
Steps:
1. Ask the students to get out a piece of paper and a writing utensil.
2. Have the students envision their favorite superhero.
3. Instruct the students to write a thesis statement introducing their superhero as if they were present in class.
4. The thesis must contain interesting information about the superhero; it can be true or made up.
5. After students have completed the task they will then take turns reading their thesis to the rest of the class.
Result: The student will learn that when creating a thesis statement it needs to be creative so as to intrigue your audience or reader.
Candice Nicholson
What’s the Point?: Specific Purpose Statements
Specific purpose statements
OBJECTIVE: After completing the lesson, students will be able to write specific purpose statement for their speeches and recognize the importance of keep the audience in mind when writing a speech.
MATERIALS: Specific purpose handouts; a numbered list of possible speech topics
STEPS:
1. Begin the lesson by reviewing general purpose statements, since this should be what the students learned about previously. This would include discuss of statements “to inform,” “to persuade,” and “to entertain.”
2. Tell students that after they’ve decided on their general purpose, they must then narrow down their topic by selecting a specific purpose.
3. Go over the specific purpose handout.
4. After discussing the importance of keeping your audience in mind when writing a speech, have students consider the audience question posed on the handout. Answers might include the music students’ interest in the music played, medical students’ interest in the benefits of music therapy, and social workers’ interest in knowing how to implement such a program.
5. Continue going over the rest of the handout.
6. Divide students into groups. Have one student pick a number between 1 and 20, and the number he or she chooses will match the topic for which each group must write a specific purpose statement.
7. After the groups have all finished their specific purpose statements, each group will select one member to read the statement to the class. The whole class will then discuss how well it fulfills the requirements for a specific purpose statement. Continue with this until the class has mastered the concept.
RESULTS: For homework, students will write the specific purpose for their speeches and select three groups of people who might be interested in their topic. Then, students will write how the content of the speech would change depending upon the audience. The next topic to be discussed is the central idea.
Specific Purpose Statements
Specific purpose statement—a statement that includes your general purpose (to inform, to persuade, etc), your intended audience, and your precise goal
—Should focus on ONE aspect of the topic
—States what the speaker wants to say and what the speaker wants the audience to know
Specific purpose: To inform my audience (of musical students) about the benefits of music therapy for people with psychological or cognitive disabilities.
***Keeping the audience as the center of the speech is VERY important!
For example:
Specific purpose: To explain the benefits of music therapy for people with psychological or cognitive disabilities
—Who is the audience? Musicians? Medical students? Social workers? How would the content of the speech change based upon the audience?
Tips for Writing Specific Purpose Statements
—Write the specific purpose as a full infinitive phrase, not as a fragment
INCORRECT: Calendars
CORRECT: To inform my audience about the four major kinds of calendars used in the world today
—Express the specific purpose as a statement, not as a question
INCORRECT: What is Dia de los Muertos?
CORRECT: To inform my audience about the history of Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos celebration
—Avoid figurative language in your specific purpose statement
INCORRECT: To inform my audience that yoga is extremely cool
CORRECT: To inform my audience how yoga can improve their health
—Limit your purpose statement to one distinct idea
INCORRECT: To persuade my audience to become literacy tutors and to donate time to the Special Olympics
CORRECT: To persuade my audience to become literacy tutors
OR
To persuade my audience to donate time to the Special Olympics
—Make sure your specific purpose is not too vague or general
INCORRECT: To persuade my audience that something should be done about medical care
CORRECT: To persuade my audience that the federal government should adopt a system of national health insurance for all people in the United States
Speech Topics
1. School uniforms—persuasive
2. Compulsory physical education classes—persuasive
3. Governmental censoring of information on the Internet—persuasive
4. Television—informative
5. Education—informative
6. Zoo animals—persuasive
7. Antarctica—informative
8. Performance-enhancing drugs—persuasive
9. Exercise—persuasive
10. Mexico—informative
11. Dogs—informative
12. Driving age—persuasive
13. Alternative fuels—informative
14. Immigration—persuasive
15. Rain forests—persuasive
16. DNA evidence—informative
17. Walking—persuasive
18. Barbie—persuasive
19. Comic books—informative
20. Space program—informative
Nicole Peters
September 16, 2009
Topic: Specific purpose statement
Objectives: After completing this activity, students will be able to be clear their topics in a speech.
Materials: N/A
Steps:
1. Think 3 favorite holidays and write factors about each holiday in their notebook.
2. Make groups which consist of 4-5 people. And, exchange their thoughts about holidays.
3. After 2 step, students should be clear what they want to say in a speech.
4. Based on their notes, make specific purpose statement about holiday.
Results: When students make a speech, they would be clear about the topic and make specific purpose statement.
Aki Kato
September 26, 2007