I ask that question at workshops and you can see some of the responses.
Some are confusing: Does “expression” mean facial or vocal?
Some are wrong: “pitch” is important in choir and “rhythm” is important in the greeting card business.
Some are bad advice: speaking “slowly” is a bad idea for an exciting story, speaking “loudly” suggests shouting and fails to realize that we can sometimes speak quietly for effect, and “enthusiasm” is inappropriate for many speeches (“Yesterday, my grandmother died!!”).
The rubrics below give some idea of how haphazard our approach is.
9th Grade Science in the News
1. Oral Presentation
make eye contact with the class 5 pts. ________
speak loud enough for class to hear 5 pts. ________
hold head up 5 pts. ________
use note cards 5 pts. ________
knowledgeable 5 pts. ________
2. Written Presentation
5 w’s answered 20 pts. ________
3. Display
written work is mounted on poster 5 pts. ________
articles are cut out neatly 5 pts. ________
display is colorful 5 pts. ________
display includes hand-drawn map, picture 15 pts.________
4th Grade Historical Fiction Project
Book Report components complete and on time (10 points)
There is an interesting opening and a satisfying conclusion (10 points)
Make eye contact with the audience (10 points)
Speak loudly, clearly & slowly (10 points)
The character in the story is creatively shown to the audience with historical facts, motivation, and expression (20 points)
Preparation and practice are evident (10 points)
Presentation is organized and within the time limit (3-4 minutes) (15 points)
Keep audience engaged and interested (5 points)
Costume and/or Props (10 points)
The Solution:
A common language would be very useful:
so students can understand the skills of speaking effectively (the same skills are needed for capital S “Speaking” and lower-case s “speaking”);
so teachers can know how to teach those skills.
The logical, multiple-trait framework I introduce in Well Spoken will make teaching and evaluating speaking much easier.
First, recognize that there are two very distinct parts of all effective oral communication: Building the Speech (all the things you do before you utter a word); and Performing the Speech (the skills needed as you are speaking the words). Never blend those two distinct features in a rubric.
Checklists for Students:
Click here to see a checklist students should use for “building” a talk
Click here to see a checklist students should use to prepare for “performing” a talk
In the book, I show how a student built a speech against a Supreme Court decision. Click here to see an organizer with the opposite viewpoint.
Score sheets & Rubrics:
Click here to see a “building” rubric.
Click here to see a “performance” rubric.
Click here to see an organizer Erin Rigot of SC uses for creating talks
Click here to see a rubric Laurie Whitmore of CA created for a great beginning-of-the-year assignment. Note that she doesn’t cover all of ACOVA or PVLEGS yet–yes, that is legal!
Click here to see a historical fiction book report rubric.
Click here to see a rubric for K-2 students.
Click here to see a rubric for a high school science organelle project.
Click here to see a podcast rubric from Digitally Speaking.
Click here to see a performance rubric for digital presentations.
Click PVLEGS studentscoring to see a score sheet students should use as they listen.
Click to see a score sheet students should use as they listen. (If I did this correctly, you can print these back-to-back so students can score “building” on one side and “performing” on the other.)