Teach your fifth-graders acronyms to help them remember the components of a good speech. In "A Kid's Guide to Social Action," Barbara A. Lewis suggests KISS, which stands for "keep it short and simple." Teach your students that a short speech can be more memorable than a longer one. Show them how to write simple sentences so their audience does not lose interest. Encourage your students to create their own acronyms to help them remember what they want to include in their speech.
Demonstrate to your students the power of practicing a speech by reading it out loud. Write two sample speeches to read to your students. One should be a model of what you are looking for in the speeches, and the other should be the opposite. Read each speech out loud. Invite your students to choose the better speech and describe why it is better. Encourage your fifth-graders to read their speeches out loud to a family member or friend before their final presentation. Remind them to listen for fluency of ideas to make sure their final product makes sense and gets their message across.
Provide your fifth-graders with index cards to help them remember key ideas from their speech. Remind your students that reading their entire speech is not an appropriate way to deliver their message. Instead, teach them how to write short sentences or ideas on a series of index cards. This will help your fifth-graders remember their speeches, but will prevent them from simply reading them out loud. Create a few model index cards as examples to help get your fifth-graders started.
Give your students two sample speeches. In the first, make eye contact and use your hands to support what you are saying. In the second, stand completely still and do not look at your students. Ask your fifth-graders which speech was more engaging and interesting. Encourage your students to practice looking at their audience while they speak. Remind your fifth-graders to smile and use appropriate gestures to support the points they wish to make in their speech.