You be the Judge
Preview or Forecast Central Ideas
OBJECTIVE: In small groups, students will take turns judging what would be the best central idea and main points for a topic given by the teacher. Students will also identify the organizational patterns (i.e. chronological, topical, spatial, cause-and-effect, problem-and-solution) as well practice previewing a central idea and main points.
Materials: A list of possible speech topics (i.e. Adult Illiteracy, being an organ donor, The Electoral College, Funding of health-care research, great blues guitarists, high adventure theme parks, history of the motion picture).
Steps:
1. Divide the classroom into small groups and give each group a number.
2. Group #1 will be judging the remaining groups and deciding which group has come up with the best or most logical central idea and main points.
3. Read a topic to the class (i.e. Adult Illiteracy).
4. The competing groups should be allowed 3-5 minutes to decide what organizational pattern they believe works best for the given topic and then list a central idea and two to four main points. When finished brainstorming, one student will present what they’ve come up with.
5. Group #1 should take no more than 2 minutes to determine which team they choose to win the round.
6. Rotate groups.
7. Example Topic: Adult Illiteracy. Central Idea: Adult Illiteracy affects everyone. Main Points: Adult Illiteracy is widespread in American today, Adult Illiterates often live in poverty, and Adult illiteracy is costly to society. Organization Pattern: Cause-and-Effect.
Results: Students should now be able to determine what organizational patterns works the best for their future individual speeches.
Re-Stating What You Just Said
Reinforcing the Central Idea/Thesis in your Conclusion
Objective: Using the previously created handout, students will be given fifteen to thirty minutes to effectively find the thesis statement/central idea in an introduction and write a concluding thesis statement/central idea for three out of the five given. In order to be correct, the students’ statements must meet four out of the five standards outlined in the rubric.
Materials: An over head projector will be needed for this activity.
Steps:
1. The teacher will explain to the students that the conclusion of a paper, speech, etc is the last attempt for your audience to understand the information you are presenting and/or the stance you are taking on an issue whether this be for an informative assignment or a persuasive assignment.
2. Next, students will have to understand that the reinforced central idea/thesis is not simply restating what was said in the introduction but is a way to effectively communicate your main position or informative statement about a subject again in a new way.
The teacher will give students examples of well written reinforced central idea/thesis statements as well as poorly written statements. These will be shown to students using an over head projector.
Example of a well written reinforced central idea/thesis statement:
Introduction –
…The spoon has been feeding the mouths of humanity nearly since the beginning of recorded history, yet seldom have we served up any recognition for it. To better understand this super server let’s first set the table of time, stir through the ingredients of this scoop and its uses, and finally serve up a souvenir rack full of special spoons….
Conclusion –
“…The spoon has seldom been served up the recognition it deserves. First we set the table with cavemen and bark spoons. Seeing that this was not the best material to be placed in the mouth, today spoons are made out of ever conceivable material and used in our everyday lives. Next we stirred through the structure, methods of use, and proper spoon etiquette. Finally, we traveled the world with famous spoons…”
Example of a poorly written reinforced central idea/thesis statement:
Introduction –
“…The Right to Farm laws protects farmers from nuisance lawsuits that are brought on by their neighbors; these laws need to be maintained and enforced. To better understand the Right to Farm laws let’s first look at the history, then find out what some of the laws are and why they are important, and finally why these laws need to be maintained…”
Conclusion –
“…The Right to Farm laws protects farmers from nuisance lawsuits that are brought on by their neighbors. In Nebraska, it is very vital to maintain and protect Right to Farm laws. In order for everyone in the state to be safe in usage of their farm practices and with their entire surroundings, these laws need to continue to be enforced…”
3. After discussing with your students the differences in the previous examples, the teacher will introduce students to their rubric that they will use to differentiate well written and poorly written reinforced central ideas/thesis statements. The following rubric will be used. The teacher will take a few moments to go over this rubric with the students.
Concluding Thesis Statement/Central Idea Rubric
Student: __________________________________________ Date: _____________________
Yes No Comments
Is the thesis statement re-stated exactly from the introduction?
Is the reinforced central idea/thesis statement effectively stated to help audience members understand that this is your central idea?
Are the supporting points re-stated in the concluding statement?
Do the supporting points logically connect back to the focus of the paper?
Does the concluding statement make a well transition into the conclusion?
4. Next students will be given the opportunity to practice writing their own reinforced central idea/thesis statements. Students will receive the handout provided that asks them to re-write the central idea/thesis statement for three out of the five given. Students will be given fifteen to thirty minutes to work on this activity. This handout is found on the last page of this document, page three.
5. Once the time has expired, there will be a class discussion of what students have formulated. They will be able to see if their statements meet four out of the five requirements and have the opportunity to fix them if needed during this time.
Results:
Homework Assignment – Students will be asked to write their own reinforced central idea/thesis statements for the speeches/papers they are currently working on. Their grade for this assignment will be if they have met four out of the five requirements on the rubric. This will be due the next day of class in order to continue writing their concluding paragraphs.
Reinforcing the Central Idea/Thesis Statement in a Conclusion Exercise
Name: ____________________________________________ Date: ____________________
Reinforce the central idea/thesis statement given so that is can be used in a concluding paragraph for three out of the five given. Be creative!
1. “…Bubbles, while seemingly simple, have been known to entertain children for hours, yet they are also subject to college chemistry lectures and labs. To better understand these tiny wonders we will dip into the soap solution of bubble biography, blow out the science of bubblology, and let is burst with bubble business…”
2. “…In many of Dickinson’s pieces the words, similes, and metaphors are easy to understand at the beginning, but become more difficult to grasp by the end of the poetry selection. This is shown in two of her poems: “A Bird came down the Walk” and “Because death could not stop for Me”…”
3. “…Flannery O’Connor uses her characters, her settings and their interaction to express grace and redemption. After briefly looking at the meaning of grace, we will then see how O’Connor uses her characters to express grace and redemption. And finally we will take a look at the interaction between the setting and the characters in the stories The River and A Good Man is hard to Find. …”
4. “…The Right to Farm laws protects farmers from nuisance lawsuits that are brought on by their neighbors; these laws need to be maintained and enforced. To better understand the Right to Farm laws let’s first look at the history, then find out what some of the laws are and why they are important, and finally why these laws need to be maintained…”
5. “…The spoon has been feeding the mouths of humanity nearly since the beginning of recorded history, yet seldom have we served up any recognition for it. To better understand this super server let’s first set the table of time, stir through the ingredients of this scoop and its uses, and finally serve up a souvenir rack full of special spoons….”
Katelyn Klute
September 2, 2009
Call for Reinforcement
Reinforce Central Idea(s)
OBJECTIVE: Students should view a speech given by a professional and compile a list of the speaker’s use of posture, gesture, eye contact, vocal cues, and appearance. Then students should write a two page critique that explains how the non-verbal communication enhanced (or not) the central idea the speaker was campaigning.
Materials: A cued up video clip of a current speech given by a local politician or community member who is campaigning for something they believe in.
Steps:
1. Play a cued up video of a current speech given by a local politician or
community member who is campaigning for something they believe in.
2. During the video students should compile a list of the speaker’s use of posture, gesture, eye contact, vocal cues, and appearance.
3. Then students should write a two page critique that explains how the non-verbal communication enhanced (or not) the central idea the speaker was campaigning.
4. Ask student to share what they think is significant when reinforcing a central idea. Is non-verbal communication more important than they thought? How important is it to be truthful about your passion for a topic?
Results: Students should type, edit, and turn in critique as their homework assignment.
Preview Central Ideas
Drawing Points
Topic: Developing clear and concise previews of main points within a speech.
Objective: During a brief moment in class, the students will be able to create eloquent and concise preview/forecast statements for central ideas after drawing three central ideas (no matter how obscure) from the teacher’s basket. The students will then deliver a very brief speech, within which they will present their forecast statements to the class. The forecast statements must be presented clearly and concisely, and must preview each main point as a separate entity of the entire body.
Materials: The students will need writing utensils and notecards, so that they can jot down their ideas and then refer to them in their speeches. The teacher must have several prepared “main points,” in a basket, from which the students will draw.
Steps:
1. To begin the activity, the teacher announces what the theme or topic of the speeches will be. For example, “my dream job” or “my favorite animal.”
2. Each student approaches the basket and draws three slips of paper.
3. The slips of paper should all have different “main points” written on them. They can certainly be fun and silly. For example, if the topic of the speeches is “my favorite animal” one main point could say “___ is my favorite animal because of the unique sound it makes.”
4. Once the students have drawn their main points, they must select the order in which they will present them in their speech and then create their clear, concise and creative previews for those main points. They may jot ideas down to refer to on their notecards.
5. After about 5 minutes of preparation time, the students should present their speeches, which should be very informal and focus primarily on the preview statements. This should not last more than a minute or so per student.
6. The challenge to the students is to take three random and silly points, and create clear and flowing preview statements for them. This should be a fun and relatively quick exercise.
Result: Students will feel more comfortable presenting a short and relatively informal speech in front of the class and will be more familiar with creating preview statements for central ideas. The activity should be relaxing and fun, but also a good exercise in choosing effective language and utilizing it eloquently. Again, while this should be a relatively quick, fun, and carefree task, the students could maximize its potential by writing a reflection on the activity and what they learned from it as a brief homework assignment.
Elizabeth Thomas
September 2nd, 2009