The gods must be listening. No sooner do I blog about the debate memoir Weisenheimer and the challenges that verbally gifted kids face, than an announcement goes out that a debating opportunity for the younger crowd is coming to Montgomery County. Well, MoCo is a big place, so I should qualify that and note that once again it’s an opportunity coming to that other part of the county.
Introduction to Public Speaking for 4th and 5th graders – 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Wednesday at Wooton HS. Students will learn how to confidently present a speech before an audience. Through exercises and practice, students will work on delivery skills including vocal variety, articulation, and voice projection. In preparing a final speech, students will learn how to write and organize a speech!
Introduction to Debate for 6th through 8th graders – 6:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.Wednesday at Wooton HS. Students will learn how to give a great public speech, organize ideas, write a case, research, refute the other team, and much more.
Classes will be Sept. 22 – Dec 8, Cost for the course is $200.00
Register online at http://www.capitol-debate.com (click on fall programs). Questions may be directed to Ron Bratt at 443 538 4992 or bratt@capitol-debate.com.
Back in the day, C. would have loved something like this. Also of interest to the socially engaged gifted student, Learn-Serve Fellows:
Through the LSI Fellows program, high school students from across the greater-DC region learn how to bring sustainable change to communities, both local and global. We address problems such as hunger, poverty, and climate change in the face of a constantly-changing global economy. This highly-diverse group of students learn to understand and respond to these global challenges. In collaboration with our partner organization, Youth Venture, LSI Fellows design and launch their own social ventures—in the process becoming leaders for change.
There’s not much detail on the website, specifically which local schools are participating. My hunch that it takes a highly motivated kid to seek out a sympathetic teacher.
They did a debate unit in 4th grade last year at the HG Center. It was REALLY popular with the kids — with mine, especially, who never shirks from a good argument.
In 2008 and 2009 we were in Singapore where we opted to send out kids the Australian school rather than the American school (It’s woefully difficult fore foreigners to go to public schools.), and both of our kids (the grade 1 and grade 5) loved the emphasis on public speaking. Nearly every project had a public speaking component, even for the littlies, and there was an annual by grade speech contest. Would love to hear from others whether public speaking is incorporated into the curriculum in the US before high school. We are lucky to have a debate program in our middle school that is run by high school students, but why aren’t there more opportunities in school? Could this be a class size issue?
My son had to do a lot of oral presentations in middle school, but that was at a private school. I don’t know how much the public middle school pushed oral presentation.