15 Fun Speech Activity Games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zRgNymCB7w

My fictional friend introduction.

War on Drugs - Pro and Con debate question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJUXLqNHCaI

Is the war on drugs winnable?

http://apecsec.org/war-on-drugs-pros-and-cons/

http://aclu.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000730

Credible or Unverifiable Sources

Using our early climbing analogy, remember the mountain, (El Capitan) as we head up the mountain, we talked about clipping our caribeaners into stable pitons.  We discussed what makes a safe piton, pounding it in ourself, finding out if what we believe is true through diligent study.

image go to kokoamag.com 

Sometimes we are forced to hang off someone else's piton once in a while.  (those who have gone before.) How do we decide if they are trustworthy or a weak piton that has been set poorly and sets us up to fall?


There is nothing worse than to be telling a story and right in the middle someone breaks in and says, "That's not true.  That's been disproven."

 When we speak, write or even think, it is important that we base our proofs on credible sources.

Today's class we looked at these sources and rated them as to credibility.


.com     Is that source safe and credible?
.org       What makes this site credible?
.gov    
.edu
.wiki
google
autobiography
biography
pub.med
newscasts
podcasts
blogs
magazines



We gave examples of each of these and discussed their viability and credibility.

Cyber Attacks

Real Future on facebook

Cyber Attacks

Speech/DebateTopic Link

http://www.procon.org/

http://www.debate.org/big-issues/

For the last two weeks we have printed the pro con arguments from one of these two sites.  The class then breaks into teams and formulate their debate on this topic.

This is our topic this week:

History and Debate of Homeschooling

Homeschooling is rapidly growing in popularity, with the numbers increasing by at least 7 percent every year. There are currently approximately two million children homeschooled throughout the United States. Homeschooling is a hot topic, with a great deal of pros and cons.

Pros to the Homeschooling Debate

First and foremost, homeschooling offers a great deal of freedom, especially educational freedom. While the basics are certainly covered for all homeschool students, the students have a great deal of freedom over what they specifically learn and when. Students can focus on the subject matter that gets them excited, whether that is history, biology or creative writing. Next, homeschooling offers a great deal of physical freedom. Without the strict schedule of school hours, homework and school trips, families have much more freedom to vacation at odd times, visit museums during the week and other such activities. Additionally, homeschooling offers emotional freedom. Students often experience troubles with bullies, peer pressure, boredom and competition. In a homeschool environment, these factors are eliminated. Students are able to think, dress and act the way that they want, making sure that self-esteem remains intact. Lastly, homeschooling offers religious freedom not found in public schools, which is definitely important to many families.

There are many other pros to homeschooling as well. Members of homeschooling families often form significantly closer family relationships. Homeschooling provides a sense of stability to families during difficult times, whether it is illness, moving, death or a new family member. Homeschooling ensures that kids can get the rest they need. No longer are kids forced to rise before dawn to slave away in early morning classes. Lastly, homeschooling eliminates the need for busywork. Homeschooling is a much more efficient way to teach and learn, and can eliminate the need for homework.

Cons to the Homeschooling Debate

While homeschooling can do a great deal of good, there are also a number of disadvantages. First, there are the time restraints. Whether you work, are a single parent or simply choose a time-intensive schooling method, there is a great deal of factors limiting the time available for homeschooling. Financial restrains are another concern, as a source of income is often lost when the decision is made to homeschool. The closeness of homeschooling may prove too much for some families, as parents often must spend a larger amount of time with their children.

Other disadvantages come from limited social interactions. First, team sports opportunities are limited for most homeschoolers, especially teenagers who want to participate in competitive sports. Homeschoolers may find themselves limited in outside connection. While family interaction is great, kids should interact with others outside of the family in order to live full and well-developed lives. Lastly, homeschooling is considered unusual, so you may experience negative comments and attitudes as a result of homeschooling.

Another Great Opening Activity

The Job Interview

One student is interviewer, one is interviewee.  The purpose is to practice skills in circumstances as close to reality as possible.

Cover skill building, translating weaknesses into strengths.

William got interviewed at Arbys this week so he was our interviewer.

Great Opening Activity

After watching some funny interviews on Youtube with the surfer dude and valley girl we had some fun with the newscaster and interviewee.

The One Minute INTERVIEW  --  Learning to think on their feet.  Told the story of Aidan going to his Eagle scout project only to find that two newspapers and a magazine were there to ask him questions with the camera in his face.    Learning this is very important in a world of technology.

_______________________________

One youth is a new reporter who decides what catastrophe has happened and crafts their questions to find out the answers,

but

The second youth is the eyewitness who has to think on their feet and answer questions in a great challenging way at times leading the newscaster in a whole different way.

Fun, Fun, Fun.
____________________________


The topics for one minute speed speech practice were:

Youth under 18 should be bicycle riders only


All the people in the world should be bald

All contact sports should be banned

All  music in public places should be banned

Everyone in the United States should have to wear animal print every day.