I saw a great lesson today. My MT is doing a unit on how to give a formal speech. The unit is building up to an "authentic assessment" in which students must give a speech about an injustice in the community to the community. Naturally, students are feeling very nervous about this unit. My MT is carefully scaffolding each lesson to prepare students to reach their ZPD. Today MT made copies of "The Three Little Kittens"and had students practice public speaking with it. She had the class divide into two groups and line up facing each other. The students were then to alternate reading a page of the story to each other. Students were to practive, eye contact, posture, breathing, tone, and volume. After the pairs finished reading the story, she had students rotate and practice again with another student. Each time students rotated, they were to focus on a different aspect. By the fourth round, most students had improved. After the activity she had them debrief by saying what, if anything, they got out of the lesson. Many students said it helped them feel more comfortable making eye contact. Other students said it helped them become better readers. Other students said that they learned that the practice helped them memorize the material. Only one student said she got nothing out of the activity, but she could not articulate why she did not like it.

I think this is a great activity that helps students get hands-on experience, allows them to interact with one another, and promotes teamwork. I would definitely adapt this lesson for my classroom in the future.