Ideas for oral communication.

1. Many famous orators of the day presented at the Chautauqua.  Have students choose a passage from one of their speeches to deliver in their most dramatic manner. 
   • Russell Conwell  “Acres of Diamonds”
   • William Jennings Bryan.  "Cross of Gold"
   • For more ideas about speeches, click HERE
2. One of the topics frequently discussed at the Chautauqua was about temperance.  Use an online dictionary to find the meaning of temperance.  Have students write a speech for today urging their friends to use temperance in using alcohol..  
   1. Merriam-Webster Online 
   2. Dictionary Online
3. Another popular event at Chautauqua was debate; opposing points of view would be expressed.  Choose a topic relevant to your school or community to debate or choose a topic from The Fence. After students have researched and prepared their arguments, have them present their debate to classmates, friends and/or family.
4. Travel logs were another popular event at the Chautauqua.  Explorers and travelers would talk about the places they had visited.  Sometimes these were accompanied with slides.  Have students prepare a PowerPoint about a place they have actually visited or would like to.  have them present their travel log to their classmates.
5. Reader's Theater is a way for students to share prose and poetry with others.  It is simple to do and can be adjusted so all readers can be successful and participate.  The following resources will be helpful.
   • Free Scripts from Reader's Theater
   • Reader's Theater 

   Two popular poets of the early 1900s were Eugene Field and James Whitcomb Riley.  Develop a reader's theater using their poetry.  Copy and paste the poem into a word processor.  Assign lines or verses to different readers.  

   • Eugene Field
   • James Whitcomb Riley
6. Choral Reading was another popular entertainment at Chautauqua.  Choral reading is a reading done by two or more people from the same passage at the same time.  Try some of these creative techniques:
   • read using different voice volumes
   • read as a whole group
   • read with different small groups
   • combine solo, small group and whole group readings

   Use a poem from A Child's Garden of Verse by Robert Lewis Stevenson, another turn-of-the-century author.

   	Speaker	Voice
   Pirate Story by Robert Lewis Stevenson	Narrator	loud, clear
   Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing, Three of us abroad in the basket on the lea.	3 students	'sing-song'
   Winds are in the air, they are blowing in the spring, And waves are on the meadow like the waves there are at sea.	whole group	begin quietly, get louder 'sing-song'
   Where shall we adventure, to-day that we're afloat, Wary of the weather and steering by a star?	3 students	slow, steady, clear
   Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat,	1 student	quickly, softly, mysteriously
   To Providence	1 student	quickly, a little louder
   or Babylon	1 student	quickly, louder still
   or off to Malabar?	1 student	slowly, loudest
   Hi! but here's a squadron a-rowing on the sea-- Cattle on the meadow a-charging with a roar!	3 students	fearfully, slowly, getting faster and louder by the end
   Quick, and we'll escape them	1 student	softly, almost whisper
   they're as mad as they can be,	1 student	whisper
   The wicket is the harbor and the garden is the shore	whole group	relieved, slowly

7. The Star Spangled Banner