CLASSROOM
CROSS-CURRICULAR SUGGESTIONS: Enriching Your Classroom
by Erik Dominguez
T
he New York Times published an article on March 20, 2019, entitled “High School Doesn’t Have to Be Boring: Debate, drama, and other extracurriculars provide the excitement many classrooms lack. And they can help overhaul the system.” Indeed, the buzzword in education in recent years has been “student engagement”—how do we communicate the needed information to our students and get them to demonstrate for us their proficiency in that standard in a novel way? Speech and debate activities are not just for after-school enrichment. They can enrich your classroom by providing an eclectic and rich discussion, performance, or debate— all while assessing your students’ skills. Here are just a few of the examples you could try.
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ROSTRUM | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020
English Classrooms Most states have a speaking standard that students must hit in order to show achievement in the class; thus, this is not a difficult transition. However, many teachers box themselves into the traditional persuasive or informative speech, using outdated or formulaic outlines that leave the student (and teacher) feeling as if they are simply reading an essay out loud. Here are some fresh ways to incorporate speech and debate skills (and events!) into the English classroom. Read and Respond. Instead of the typical discussion, give two or three students a few minutes to prepare a two- or three-minute speech addressing the reading assignment you gave. This holds
students accountable for reading the material and teaches them how to respond in a more organized fashion. Paragraphed Portions. Assign each student a paragraph they have to act out from the novel, play, or poem you are reading. This is a great opportunity to talk about character development and visualization within the literature! This Book Stinks! Let’s face it—students don’t always love what we assign them to read. And that’s okay! Allow students to vent out their frustration in a two- or three-minute, well-organized speech as to why their reading assignment does not reach them. They must use sound logic and argumentation. This
will have students dig deep into why they feel the author falls short in the literary elements and plot structure that they will have learned.
Social Studies Classrooms Social Studies teachers may also find the following activities helpful in incorporating speech and debate skills into their classroom. The Timeline is Askew! Have students prepare a two- to three-minute informative speech on their day-today life—however, their day-to-day life is much different because the United States lost the Revolutionary War and we are still under British rule; or