"I Have a Dream" Podcasts

Students will watch MLK Jr's speech on YouTube. Share and dicuss. Then students may also watch, for example, President Obama's inauguration speech, to contrast and compare different speeches.

Students then think about what they have dreams for in their lifetime. What do they hope for? What are they passionate about?

Once the students have their dreams in mind, we dicuss the elements of speeches. What makes a good speech? We may refer back to the videos we watched, but also think about what we would hope to hear in a speech.

Each student will then write their own speech, using the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, proofreading and editing), about their dreams.

Once the speeches have been edited with the teacher, they will rehearse their speech with a partner. They will work on speaking with a confident voice, not talking too loudly or quietly, and not reading too quickly or too slowly.

As students feel comfortable reciting their speech, they will be recorded using a microphone and recording software. Students will be recorded once, played back for them, and they will have a mini conference with the teacher about what they could do to improve their speaking voice. Then they are recorded a second time.

The teacher then will convert their speeches into mp3's and uploaded to the class blog for families to enjoy.

Students will then listen to other speeches in the class and compare and contrast student wishes, speeches, and the actual reciting of speeches.

Finally, they will assess themselves using a speech rubric with components that the class agrees on with the teacher.