Speaking with Power

Students are often asked to give a speech or teach classmates about a given topic, but where should they start and where should they end? This program gives them narrated instruction in everything needed to give an informative speech.

Students use the INFORM Strategy to research and organize knowledge to purposely share with others. They consider various topics for a speech including an object (such as an unusual sculpture), a place, a person, an event, a process, an idea or concept or an invention. Students may use an interactive map or paper/pencil to record main ideas and details and create their introduction, body, and conclusion. They include reasons, examples and comparisons to help clarify and support information, they make the speech flow by adding transitions, and they practice delivering the speech.

Structure of the CD Program:

• Welcome & Introduction
• Choosing a topic (activity)
• Speaking Styles
• Characteristics of Formal/Informal (Activity)
• The INFORM Steps/Step Blaster (game)
• Example Speech
• The INFORM Map
• Steps-Review Quiz 1
• Delivery; Choosing an Attention Grabber (activity)
• Supporting Statements (interactive)
• Examples of transition words Quiz 2
• Practice speech (map & delivery activity)
• Informative Strategy Checklist
• Generalization activities

Author(s): Sue Vernon, Jean B. Schumaker

​Publication Info: Edge Enterprises, 2012

Using the PERSUADE Strategy, students build essential skills for effective persuasion by learning how to organize, prepare, and present their ideas convincingly. They research their topic thoroughly and support their arguments with facts, statistics, and real-world examples to responsibly influence others’ thinking or inspire action. Students learn to capture their audience’s attention, structure their speech with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion, and enhance their message with visual aids, smooth transitions, and persuasive rhetoric. They also practice delivering their speech and reflect on their performance through self-evaluation.

The Structure of the CD Program:

• Welcome & Introduction
• Responsible persuasion (activity)
• Speaking Styles (Formal/Casual activity)
• The PERSUADE Strategy Steps
• Step Blaster (game)
• Example speech
• Using the steps (the outline)
• Attention grabber (activity)
• Transition words (print)
• Delivery techniques (activity)
• The PERSUADE Strategy Checklist
• Quiz
• Practice Activity

Author(s): Sue Vernon, Jean B. Schumaker

​Publication Info: Edge Enterprises, 2012

Every student has at least one story to tell, and this computerized instructional program enables each student to do just that. The program provides self-paced individual instruction in oral strategies for giving a narrative presentation. These strategies help students prepare a story and present it to an audience in either oral or written form. The four major instructional segments are related to listening to and preparing to tell a story, learning the social skills needed to connect to an audience, practicing oral story-telling skills, and practicing story-writing skills. All instruction is narrated and presented with visual graphics and video clips of someone using the strategies. Students can print out materials as needed from the CD.

Prerequisites: Previous instruction in the Sentence Writing Strategy would certainly be helpful. Students need to be able to write complete sentences

Author(s): Sue Vernon, Jean B. Schumaker, Donald D. Deshler

Publication Info: Edge Enterprises, 2010