One thing I’ve found with my middle school students is that they love to be inspired. I mean, come on, don’t we all? If you are looking for an Oral Communication idea, definitely try out these TED Talk lessons.
1. Analysis of TED Talks
Chances are pretty high your students have seen a TED Talk in their educational careers. However, have they really stopped to think about what makes this talk so great?
Before you begin watching examples of TED Talks, have students work in groups to brainstorm ideas about what makes a good TED talk. Share the ideas with the whole class and make an anchor chart.
Then, share a few TED talks with your class. Check out Pernille Ripp’s blog post or We Are Teachers for excellent lists. Pick TED Talks that reflect your students’ interests or that would act as a window to new ideas.
As they are watching the video, have them jot down what they notice about the following criteria:
In groups, have students share their observations. Then have them discuss the effect that each of the criteria would have on the audience.
2. Brainstorming Ideas
Now that your students know what a TED Talk is all about, it’s time to come up with ideas of what they could talk about. Remind them that the tagline is “Ideas Worth Spreading.”
If you read this blogpost for what makes a great TED Talk, you’ll find that when accepting applicants for TED Talks, they need to answer the question, “What’s your big idea?”
Students should brainstorm ideas of things they are passionate about but should also be able to state their big idea. They don’t necessarily need to persuade the audience to do something, though!
When helping your students decide on a topic, they can start by listing:
- Things they are passionate about
- Inspirational people in their lives
- Something they want to know more about
- Issues in the world that they want to change
- New ideas or inventions
- Events in their life that have impacted them
3. The Hook
Your next TED Talk lesson will have your students playing around with different hooks to grab the audience’s attention.
Watch the beginning of a variety of TED Talks and have your students identify the hooks that they heard. They can list them on chart paper.
Then, have your students work in pairs or groups to come up with a different hook for the following:
4. Decide on main points
Have students work independently and conference with them about the main points for the speech. They can decide on 3 main points that fit with their big idea and include 2-3 supporting details to go along with each one.
5. Transitions
Use the transcript for a TED Talk of your choice. Print off and have students work in pairs to highlight the transition words. As a class, make an anchor chart of transition words and phrases that they identified.
Students will then choose some transitions they may want to include in their draft.
6. The Conclusion
Talk to your students about the recency effect – that people will be more likely to remember the last few things about their Talk.
Follow the same process for the conclusion that your students did with analysing different hooks.
Before students leave the audience with something to think about, they will need to summarize the main points of their speech. Then they can end with a bang!
Encourage your students to come up with a different conclusion for their TED Talk using the list below:
7. Draft the TED Talk!
Now is the time for your students to take all their planning sheets and brainstorm some success criteria.
Once they have drafted their Talk, make sure they go back and add in the transition words and phrases they jotted down on their planning sheet.
8. Visual Aids
This TED Talk lesson will be the one that sticks with them over the next few years! Goodbye overcrowded slide presentations!
Find an example of an ineffective visual aid and put it on a Google Slide. As a class, go through the features of an effective visual aid:
- Use the same font throughout (no more than 2 fonts per slide)
- Choose contrasting colours (dark background – light font) with 2-4 colours per slide
- Use graphs and charts
- One message/point per slide (only include the main points…not the details)
- Only use graphics that reinforce the message
Read this post if you want more information about designing visual aids.
Share the ineffective visual aid and have students work in groups to improve it using the criteria above.
Then give them time to create their own.
9. Rehearse/Feedback
As a class, discuss some types of body language and gestures students may use in their TED Talk. Create an anchor chart. Then, have students watch this video and include additional gestures on the anchor chart.
Students should then go back to their draft and add in a few gestures.
Now it is time to rehearse their speech! Encourage your students to practise their speech in front of a mirror at home or with a family member. They will need to have at least the introduction and conclusion memorized.
Split students up into groups of 3 and have them deliver their speech to their group. Group members will use the success criteria to give feedback.
10. Present the TED Talks!
Decide if you will have all students present the same day or if you’ll spread it over a few classes. Consider adding some flair and print off a TED Talk logo or add a circle rug on your stage.
Be sure to celebrate all their hard work!
Love these ideas? Make sure you check out this TED Talk resource that comes with printable TED Talk lesson plans, graphic organizers and editable success criteria and rubrics.
Looking for more lesson plan inspriation? Check out these blog posts:
I’m Lauren, from “From Math to Music” – your go-to person for all things Math and Classroom Community.
Being a middle-school teacher and a mom of 3, I know how hard it is for busy teachers to create resources that allow for deep thinking and build classroom community. That's why I love sharing tips and tricks that you can you use in your middle school classroom right this minute.
