Every student deserves 60 seconds in the spotlight. This activity provides that, builds communication skills too.
Students
speech, monologue, theater, extemporaneous speaking, presentation, public speaking
What do students talk about when they're talking with their friends? They talk about everything, right? They talk about little things too. Why not give them an opportunity to do just that and build their communication skills at the same time?
This activity can be a fun way to start each day's class. Or you might do it as a way of settling down young kids after recess.
The fun part of this activity is that the topics are topics you might not normally think of as subjects for a "speech," or monologue. For example, would you expect to be asked to talk for 60 seconds about potato chips? Clocks? Bees? Tattoos?
The Activity
Introduce two containers (boxes, fishbowls, or paper bags will work). In one container put slips of paper; each slip
has one student's name on it. In the other container, put slips of paper with a wide variety of topics (see sample
topics below) on them. Choose one slip from the container holding students' names. Bring that student to the head
of the class. Have the student select a slip from the "topic container" and read aloud that topic. Then set the timer
and go! The student must talk extemporaneously for 60 seconds on the announced topic.
Tips for Using This Activity
Daylight Saving Time hamburger rolls a clock chess flamingos a helicopter the car wash the newspaper washing dishes ladybugs tennis an answering machine |
my tongue the wastebasket a lobster millionaires tattoos ice cream oatmeal nightmares an onion a porcupine thunderstorms a mousetrap |
bees paper clips quilts retirement blood pressure cheating rocking chairs a sandbox stained glass a dime comic strips a hairbrush |
This simple rubric can be used to rate the students' One-Minute Monologues. Peers might participate in deciding on the rating to be given to each student. The goal is to earn 100 points. Some teachers might use the rating that results as a quiz grade.
Seriousness
Use of Time
Monologue Content
Other Elements
EducationWorld.com
Gary Hopkins
FINE ARTS: Theatre
GRADES K - 4
NA-T.K-4.1 Script Writing by Planning and Recording Improvisations
Based on Personal Experience and Heritage, Imagination, Literature, and History
GRADES 5 - 8
NA-T.5-8.1 Script Writing by Planning and Recording Improvisations
Based on Personal Experience and Heritage, Imagination, Literature, and History
GRADES 9 - 12
NA-T.9-12.1 Script Writing by Planning and Recording Improvisations
Based on Personal Experience and Heritage, Imagination, Literature, and History
LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.5 Communication Strategies
NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge
See more Lesson Plans of the Day in our Lesson Plan of the Day Archive. (There you can search for lessons by subject too.)
For additional lessons in the arts, see these Education World resources:
For additional language arts/reading lesson plans, see these Education World resources:
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Copyright© 2008 Education World
Originally published 04/04/2006
Last updated 111/02/2008