Earlier this week, students in our 11th grade courses presented speeches based on their study of historical documents and of rhetorical strategies in their social studies and English classes.
This “speech-off” is the culminating activity of a collaborative, interdisciplinary project developed by Natalia McMillan, Jen Fatone, Pat Clarke, Matthew Haig and Cindy Schwartz. Students studied the Constitution, analyzed the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, and then developed speeches arguing for or against the Federalist position using information from their close reading of these texts. Students were required to reference these texts and used rhetorical techniques such as appeals to pathos, ethos, logos and metaphor.
Students in Jen Fatone’s and Natalia McMillan’s English 11R classes selected the “top 6 orators.” These top students presented their speeches, in a “Speech-Off” to their peers. Using a prepared rubric, they were evaluated on their presentation, argument, counter-argument and rhetorical technique by the audience.
The following students presented speeches:
- Matt Baltzer
- William Farrar
- Christopher Kosel
- Aamir Muneer
- Billy Richman
- Jesse Romano
Based on the feedback from the audience, Matt Baltzer earned the highest marks, followed by Billy Richman and Christopher Kosel!
Thank you to Wheatley English teachers Ms. Fatone and Ms. McMillan and Wheatley social studies teachers Patrick Clarke, Matthew Haig and Cynthia Schwartz for their work on this interdisciplinary project.