Oral Language

The oral language curriculum includes creating and presenting oral language material (like presenting a dream vacation, as students did earlier this year) and also the skill of taking note of a speaker's key points.

Through this year I have been the speaker, telling stories of my life (like how I prepared for my job interview to be a teacher, for instance) and as I speak, students are asked to jot down the key thoughts that they hear, then share at the end. I have also sometimes asked for them to identify the most important point...this, in turn, is the main idea.

Being able to jot down the key points of a speaker is a skill we use later in life...at high-school, college, university and work environments (I still use this skill at meetings!).

This builds on skills taught earlier in the year in reading...namely, trying to find the key points in a non fiction text...and underlining or highlighting then.

Besides myself, I have included other 'speaker' material. Once again, the interent is able to provide a diverse and interesting material.

Here are some of the speaker's we have listened to:

TED Talks
Kevin Allocca from YouTube "Why do Videos Go Viral"
Erik Johanson, photographer "Impossible Photography"
Charlie Todd from Improv Everywhere "The Shared Experience of the Absurd"

YouTube
How Matt Harding Got People to Dance With Him  for which you should probably watch his around the world dance video first. 
How Mystery Guitar Man made the 4 iPhones video puzzle
How Freddiew made the special effects in 'Skydiving out my Front Door"
Ross Capicchioni Survival Story Part 1 and Part 2 (a teen in detroit survives a shooting. This is an amazing story of strength in the wake of adversity; dealing with stress; the importance of positivity in life)

National Film Board of Canada
The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes