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Mirror Speeches
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Activity Description
Use the any of the video sources for student pronunciation practice. There are several speeches by famous people from around the world. Each video has large subtitles so that students can see the words and develop their vocabulary at the same time as practicing pronunciation and oral presentations.
Preparation
- Practice with the channels
- Make sure that the sites (YouTube and TED Talks) are not blocked at your school if you will have students use the site at school. Otherwise, you could assign students to use the channel outside of class time.
How-To
1. Demonstrate to students how to navigate to the channels, select videos, and select "Videos" to see all the videos. Demonstrate how students can turn on subtitles and see transcripts.
2. Students select a person they know about and watch their speech.
3. Watch the speech with the subtitles. Then select just a portion of the speech you want to practice.
4. Navigate to English Speech Channel and find your selected videohttps://www.englishspeecheschannel.com to see the full transcript. Copy and paste the information about the speaker and the portion of the speech you want to use and copy and paste it into a word-processing file. Print the file. In the coming weeks, watch the video and note the speaker's use of intonation, word stress, volume, pitch, and other speech features as well as nonverbal communication (hand movements, facial expressions, use of eyes, mouth, and gestures). Practice the part of the speech you have selected and use the same speech features to try to sound as much like the speaker as possible.
5. On (date) students provide some information about the speaker and the speech and then deliver your part of the speech. The teacher can use a rubric to give students feedback on their speech – body language, volume, stress, and intonation, etc.
Teacher Tips
This activity is inspired by a tweet by Hillary Clinton: These California ESL students are using Hillary's 1995 speech in Beijing to learn English. On the Learn English with Speeches channel’s accompanying website at https://www.englishspeecheschannel.com/, there is brief information about each speaker, a famous quote, and the written transcript for each video. TED Talks typically have links to information about the speakers and transcripts, as well. You could have students select a video at the beginning of a class, practice their speech throughout the term, and deliver the speech at the end of the class. You could have students share their presentation information on a shared Google slideshow (example).
More Ways
Teachers can also use the site to find inspirational videos and create listening comprehension exercises.
Program Areas
- ESL: English as a Second Language
Levels
- Intermediate Low
- Intermediate High
- Advanced
Lesson Plan
Brainstorm students what features of verbal and nonverbal communcation there are that help a speaker communicate their message, meaning, and feelings.
Ask students to guess what percentage of communication is nonverbal.
Then explain the 55/38/7 Formula:
"It was Albert Mehrabian, a researcher of body language, who first broke down the components of a face-to-face conversation. He found that communication is 55% nonverbal 38% vocal, and 7% words only."
Show a snippet of a speech from one of the video sources. Pause to point out verbal (stress, intonation, inflection, volume, pausing) and nonverbal features (facial expressions, hand and head movements, gestures, posture) that the speaker makes.
Demonstrate how to take the transcript for just a part of the video and annotate it with underlining and notes in the margins with what the speaker does vocally and nonverbally.
Optionally, use or assign students to visite the Web site Tools for Clear Speech's section on Rhythm, Intonation, and More.
Assign students to find a video themselves and do the same annotation. Then have them practice in pairs or small groups or by by making video recordings of themselves on their phones or by using a tool like Flip and provide in-person or text, audio, or video feedback.
Distribute the Mirror Speech assignment prompt.
Have students deliver their mirror speeches to the class. Using a rubric or checklist, provide peer or teacher feedback. You can also have students complete a self-evaluation of their progress.
Students will be able to better express themselves with vocal / pronunciation features and use nonverbal cues to make their meaning clear.
Documents
- Mirror Speech Assignment.docx - Mirror Speech Assignment Prompt
Standards
- Reading Foundational Skills
- RF.2 - Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). (Phonological Awareness)
- RF.4 - Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. (Fluency)
- Reading
- CCR Anchor 1 - Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
- CCR Anchor 2 - Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
- Speaking and Listening
- CCR Anchor 3 - Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
- CCR Anchor 5 - Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
- CCR Anchor 6 - Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
- Language
- CCR Anchor 1 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- CCR Anchor 3 - Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
- CCR Anchor 5 - Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.