Today, February 3, 2017 Students from Period 2 and Period 5 were invited to the Little Theater to be in the audience while Mrs. Blake’s speech team participants had a dress rehearsal.  Students were given the following instructions prior to entering the Little Theater:

Mrs. Blake’s Speech Showcase:

You will pay attention to the students who are speaking in the Little Theater. You will write an edublog post about these students and their speaking qualities; feel free to take notes so you can remember what to write about.  You are an audience member and you will critique the students and their speeches to help them improve for the competition.

 Please focus on the following so you can give them advice to improve:

• how do they use their voice (loud, quiet, tone)
• facial expressions (helpful, distracting)
• engaging/interesting/boring
• were any movements distracting or helpful to bring about the intended message?
• did they succeed in delivering the intended message?
• Any advice? (constructive criticism)
• Any positive comments?

Students have the option of writing about all 5 speech presentations or pick 1-2 to describe or reflect over in detail.  Students need to summarize what they saw and heard and explain in detail their interpretation of the speech as well as giving positive comments and constructive criticism so students can improve before their actual competition.

Here were the 5 Speech Presentations during period 2:

1. Hope spoke from the perspective of a mother grieving the loss of her son Jesse who died in the Sandy Hook tragedy
2. “Hungry Heart” had some repetitive phrases including “We Fall, We Get Hurt, We Get Up Again!” and “I see you…You Matter”
3. The Humorous Duet was performed by Tony and Casey who were arguing brother and sister over Instagram and it was called “Mutually Assured Destruction”
4. The Dramatic Interpretation or “DI” was called “Widow’s Walk” related to the Tragic Events surrounding September 11th.
5. Radio Speaking had to be 4:50 exactly…..and it was!

Here were the 5 Speech Presentations during period 5:

1. Humorous Interpretation entitled “Who’s a Good Dog?”
2. An Oratorical Declaration by Grade called “Hungry Heart” had some repetitive phrases including “We Fall, We Get Hurt, We Get Up Again!” and “I see you…You Matter”
3. The DDA (Dramatic Duet Acting)  was about schizophrenia with the person who has the mental illness and the voice she is hearing entitled “What the Voice Wants Me To Do”
4. SOS (Special Occasion Speaking)
5. Radio Speaking had to be between 4:50-5:05…..and it was!