FUTURE ORATORS OF AMERICA STAND AND DELIVER

Great is our admiration of the orator who speaks with fluency and discretion. – Marcus Tullius Cicero

The students filed into the cafeteria/auditorium and took their seats quietly under the watchful eyes of teachers and support staff. There was a sense of excitement in the air as the children watched three well dressed important looking adults enter and take their seats at a table a short distance back from the stage. Mrs. T went on stage, and smiled at the audience as they gave her a round of applause. Using the microphone positioned mid-stage she welcomed the audience and asked for complete silence. The audience complied and the oratorical contest began.

How did it all start? Months before in the classroom teachers began introducing guidelines necessary to having a school wide oratorical contest. Their students’ self esteem grew as they learned how to stand and deliver a poem, fable or their own work. At some point the students chose the category they wanted and began the selection process. Once a decision was made they began practicing in front of their class (see the Public Speaking blog article from March 21). This lead to performing in monthly assemblies, and finally in front of the entire student body at the school-wide contest.

To put such a contest on at your school, the following steps should be taken:

* divide the contest entries into poetry, fables and individual work by grade level

-provide challenging poetry to students for memorization
-introduce fables as a way of telling and dramatizing stories
-encourage all students to write their own essays which they later memorize for presentation.

* put on a pre-contest assembly so everyone will know guidelines and expectations

* have classroom tryouts to ascertain finalists for the contest

* choose and invite three appropriate and interested community members to be judges

* choose non-classroom staff members to be assistants.

* award trophies and ribbons to the winners.

* provide certificates for all participants.

* write thank you letters to judges after the contest.

At Martin Luther King Elementary School in Seattle we had yearly oratorical contests as part of something called P.E.P. (the Proficiency in English Program). Children from kindergarten through fifth grade chose their category and began memorizing and practicing their selections in preparation for the spring contest.

The best fable I ever saw was dramatized by a kindergarten girl. It was called "The Eagle and the Chicken" and required several minutes of memorization. She won a trophy for her effort. The best rendering of a lengthy poem was called "Why Did You Come To School Today?" and it was delivered by one of my first grade students. At other school programs it later became a standard of excellence for young orators in terms of length and difficulty, and often received a standing ovation. Both of these selections are offered in the Book Nook below for your scrutiny.

The students often chose poems or fables over writing and delivering their own essays, probably because young children are still forming their views of the world and don't feel confident about what they have to say. Therefore, anyone brave enough to try would usually end up with a trophy or ribbon for their efforts in that category.

So now, the contest is over, the ribbons and trophies have been awarded, and all who participated have received their certificates of participation. There are some big smiles, and, of course, a few tears, but one has the sense that many are thinking “Next year I’ll be up on that stage holding a trophy.” It’s a process that starts in kindergarten and grows through the years in schools where dedicated teachers take their children on this wonderful oratorical adventure.
No matter what your political beliefs there are few who would dispute the oratorical ability of our president. We have seen him change a political landscape with words well delivered. I can’t know for sure, but perhaps, just perhaps, his phenomenal speaking ability started with an elementary school oratorical contest.
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BOOK NOOK

WHY DID YOU COME TO SCHOOL TODAY?
by Julia Ansley

Why did you come to school today? Did you come to learn, or did you come to play? Did you come to smile or to wear a frown? Are you here to build or to tear things down? Will you be a minus or another plus? Are you here to help and work with us? Or do you need a vent for your frustration over all the wrongs in our homes and nation?

Are you here to reach out and unite? Or are you often a person who needs to fight?Are you simply in school because you’re forced to come? Do you know that education helps to make someone educated and verbal, ready for a job so you don’t have to go out to beg or rob?

You come to school to learn things that you really need to know. You must study and learn and your skills will grow.Stop fighting and fussing and join the team that works hard to spread the American dream.

The teachers can’t possibly do it all! You’ve got to have pride, and stand up tall.You’ve got to first want to be someone then to study and learn and get the job done.The way to improve things is to be a star, instead of crying and hating where you are. Instead of hating yourself and those around you, try improving yourself and the things that surround you.

Learn to read, write and spell. Learn to add and subtract. Learn to work a computer and you’ll improve, that’s a fact. Follow rules, do your work, cooperate and obey these three things guarantee that you’ll have a nice day!

It shouldn’t matter if others disrupt class and act like fools. It’s the followers and “wannabes” who cause problems in our schools. No matter what you do in class, no matter what you say.The most important question to ask yourself is, “Why did I come to school today?”

For a great selection of fables go to:
http://www.aesopfables.com

...And to think a kindergarten student memorized the fable below and made it her own with a great dramatic flair!

FABLE OF THE EAGLE AND THE CHICKEN

A fable is told about an eagle who thought he was a chicken. When the eagle was very small, he fell from the safety of his nest. A chicken farmer found the eagle, brought him to the farm, and raised him in a chicken coop among his many chickens. The eagle grew up doing what chickens do, living like a chicken, and believing he was a chicken.

A naturalist came to the chicken farm to see if what he had heard about an eagle acting like a chicken was really true. He knew that an eagle is king of the sky. He was surprised to see the eagle strutting around the chicken coop, pecking at the ground, and acting very much like a chicken. The farmer explained to the naturalist that this bird was no longer an eagle. He was now a chicken because he had been trained to be a chicken and he believed that he was a chicken.

The naturalist knew there was more to this great bird than his actions showed as he "pretended" to be a chicken. He was born an eagle and had the heart of an eagle, and nothing could change that. The man lifted the eagle onto the fence surrounding the chicken coop and said, "Eagle, thou art an eagle. Stretch forth thy wings and fly." The eagle moved slightly, only to look at the man; then he glanced down at his home among the chickens in the chicken coop where he was comfortable. He jumped off the fence and continued doing what chickens do. The farmer was satisfied. "I told you it was a chicken," he said.

The naturalist returned the next day and tried again to convince the farmer and the eagle that the eagle was born for something greater. He took the eagle to the top of the farmhouse and spoke to him: "Eagle, thou art an eagle. Thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly." The large bird looked at the man, then again down into the chicken coop. He jumped from the man's arm onto the roof of the farmhouse.

Knowing what eagles are really about, the naturalist asked the farmer to let him try one more time. He would return the next day and prove that this bird was an eagle. The farmer, convinced otherwise, said, "It is a chicken."

The naturalist returned the next morning to the chicken farm and took the eagle and the farmer some distance away to the foot of a high mountain. They could not see the farm nor the chicken coop from this new setting. The man held the eagle on his arm and pointed high into the sky where the bright sun was beckoning above. He spoke: "Eagle, thou art an eagle! Thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly." This time the eagle stared skyward into the bright sun, straightened his large body, and stretched his massive wings. His wings moved, slowly at first, then surely and powerfully. With the mighty screech of an eagle, he flew.