Sixth Graders Present Persuasive Speeches
Students in Mr. Randolph’s sixth grade class delivered their speeches Thursday, Feb. 1. The speeches, an annual rite of passage at Country School, are part of an emphasis on developing the skills to be a confident and competent public speakers and advocates.
Students choose a topic of personal significance and write a two-minute speech focusing on three specific areas of persuasion. They are required to collect and analyze evidence to develop their points and complete several drafts of their speech, ensuring that they follow a thesis statement to its natural conclusion. When the writing process is completed, students shift attention to the presentation process, learning how movement, body language, gesticulation and tone contribute to a successful public address. At the culminating event, students present their speeches in an auditorium, in front of a large audience of students, faculty, parents, siblings and grandparents.
Mr. Randolph’s students celebrated the accomplishment with a pizza party and now look forward to lending moral support to their peers in Mrs. Sensbach’s, Mr. Henry’s and Mrs. Gardiner’s classes who will present in the upcoming weeks and months.
Members of Mr. Randolph’s class and the topics of their speeches included:
John Bajaj: “Should athletes have to graduate from college before going pro?”
Porter Barnett: “How to minimize the incidence of concussions in sports”
Ben Bilden: “The tragic cost of Alzheimer’s disease”
Walker Bright: “Too much homework is unhealthy for kids”
Katey Charnin: “The Middle and Upper Schools need a new library”
Tanvi DebNath: “The dangers of cyberbullying”
Elsa Franks: “The unfair image of hunters”
Izzy Goldberg: “The evil of elephant poaching”
Sloane Griffiths: “The cost of playing sports excludes many people from playing them”
Elizabeth Hackett: “The lethal dangers of prescription painkillers”
Sam Jones: “Hockey can be both physical and safe”
Will Mackey: “Taking the knee during the national anthem in the NFL”
Anna Majewski: “Using animals to test cosmetics is wrong”
Maisy Ricciardelli: “Boys have more opportunities to enjoy sports than girls”
Ned Smith: “Fishing is a valuable lifetime activity”
Malcolm Stewart: “The value of technology classes in school”
Bradley Werneburg: “NCCS should have a 3:00 dismissal for all of its students”
New Canaan Country School is a co-ed, independent day school for students in Pre-K (ages 3 & 4) through grade 9. Located on a 75-acre campus at 635 Frogtown Rd, in New Canaan, the school provides transportation to families living throughout Fairfield and Westchester counties. For more information about the school or the Middle School (grades 5 & 6) curriculum, please visit www.countryschool.net/middleschool.
New Canaan Country School
New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.
