How Michelle Obama addresses an audience
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can understand how rhetorical questions can be used to address an audience when delivering a speech.
Key learning points
- Michelle Obama is an American lawyer and author who served as the First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
- Successful public speaking includes speaking loudly and clearly and engaging the audience.
- A speech is written for a specific audience in order to achieve its purpose.
- A speaker can engage an audience through a variety of techniques, including rhetorical questions.
Keywords
Audience - a group of people listening or watching a performance or speaker
Addressing - speaking to a person or group of people
Rhetorical question - a question asked that does not expect an answer, but rather makes a point or creates emphasis
Common misconception
Children may think that their speech should be purely made up of rhetorical questions.
Highlight and explain how rhetorical questions can be interspersed with statements and information that reinforce the point and help to achieve the purpose too.
Teacher tip
Find the corresponding clip online for the extract of this speech in Learning Cycle 2 and let the children see how Michelle Obama delivers this speech. Highlight how she uses other techniques such as speaking loudly and clearly and body language.
Equipment
You will need access to the video clip of Michelle Obama’s speech at Eastern Kentucky University in 2013.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Select the examples of public speaking.
Q2.How can a speaker be engaging when making a speech?
Q3.How can a speaker be engaging when making a speech?
Q4.Match the keywords to the correct definition.
Q5.What was the name of Martin Luther King's famous speech?
Q6.True or false? 'I Have a Dream' by Martin Luther King Jr. was written to help bring about racial equality.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these techniques allows the audience to hear and understand the speaker?
Q2.What is a rhetorical question?
Q3.Match the rhetorical question to the appropriate speech topic.
Q4.As an advocate for education, Michelle Obama has made many speeches aimed at...
Q5.What was the main rhetorical question Michelle Obama repeated in her speech?
Q6.How does the use of rhetorical questions help a speaker achieve their purpose?
To help you plan your 3 English lesson on: How Michelle Obama addresses an audience, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 3 English lesson on: How Michelle Obama addresses an audience, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 English lessons from the Introduction to speeches unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.