Resources

This guide is provided to give an overview of events offered at the National Junior Forensic League National Middle School Forensic Tournament.

This document demonstrates three basic character "pop" positions used in the different interpretation events.

Use this document to develop characters for your interpretation piece.

Some performers are quick studies and others are painfully slow. There is a definite trend to ask for lines earlier and earlier in rehearsal. It used to be thought that if actors memorized too early they would lock the delivery of the line as well. So many exercises are now designed to liberate and vary delivery that the problem of locking is rare. If you have trouble learning lines, here are some suggestions:

Unlike stage acting, storytelling is an art that engages the audience in a dynamic, interactive manner, to allow spectators to be drawn in to the world illustrated by the storyteller. A good storyteller understands his or her personality well enough to tailor stories to his/her style, and vocal and physical abilities. For this performance, you may tell either a true story (remembrance of an actual experience you – or someone you know – had) or a believable fictional story. Interesting stories have a certain degree of embellishment (enhancing details by exaggerating them) and perhaps even suspense!

Answer the questions in this document to help develop your characters.  This document helps you discover why your characters act the way they do.

Use this activity to practice building cases.

Finding a good topic for a presentation is often the most difficult task for many speakers. The first rule for making a good choice is to find something that already interests you. When the topic interests you, your enthusiasm for the subject can spread to your listeners.

An outline, whether sentence or topic, is divided into points and subpoints. Subpoints always go under the main points of which they are a part and which they support.

Use this worksheet to help focus your topic. In the first example, a student might initially think of “gun control,” and then use the worksheet to determine more specific concepts, as well as more general ones. Use the bottom portion to help focus your own topic idea.

Identify the organizational method used for of the following sets of main points

In general, it is important that audiences can clearly identify a beginning, middle, and end.

Persuasion is the process by which a communicator influences the values, beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors of another.

Overcoming Fear of Speaking/Performing and Creating a Personable Classroom Atmosphere.

Glossary of Public Forum Debate technical terms.

Policy Debate: Case Construction Activity

Policy Debate: Policymaking Activity

Public Forum Debate: Case Construction Activity

Class Public Forum Ballot

Glossary of terms.

Flow template.

Resolved: Interscholastic competitive athletics should be abolished in the US K-12 public education system

Resolved: Teachers in the K-12 US public education system should be compensated through merit-based pay

This document is designed to help students organize their arguments for Congressional Debate.

This document can be used to organize claims and facts that will be used during Congressional Debate.

Use this document to practice drafting legislation.

Use this document to test your knowledge of Parlimentary Procedure.

Please define the following terms used in Parliamentary procedure.

Objective: To incorporate effective personal illustrations as supporting material in a speech. The ILLUSTRATION is one of the most effective types of supporting material. Remember, an illustration is a detailed story. So detailed, in fact, that it paints a vivid picture in the mind of the audience. The effect should be as if you are playing a “mental video clip” in the mind of the audience.

An impromptu speech is spontaneous, because it happens when the sudden need to give a speech arises. Sometimes these are informal, such as describing a company or person to someone on an elevator or bus, and sometimes they are formal, such as when someone with experience in an area is called on to answer a particular question.

Sylvia Hyde, coach at Clay Middle School in Carmel, IN has taught 10 years of middle school French, 15 years of high school English, and has coached speech at the middle and high school levels for 11 years, with national qualifiers/participants at both levels. A resource in her school district, Ms. Hyde has been called upon to consult on using video capture of student presentations as part of differentiated learning strategies, and to help build speaking and listening proficiency. Her webinar will explore how various forensic strategies can enhance Common Core adherence in the foreign language classrooms, both at the middle and high school levels.

Whether you are an educator or sponsor at a middle school, or a high school coach looking to start a feeder program, join us for this discussion of strategies for starting out small, and building a meaningful middle school program. We'll highlight strategies for integrating into an existing high school circuit, as well as creating a new, middle school-centric circuit of competition. We'll also look at parent engagement and other best practices. Hosted by Adam Jacobi, League Middle School Coordinator.

Join Robert Cannon, president of the Southern California Junior Forensic League and member of the League's national middle school advisory committee, as he discusses strategies for managing students at tournaments, and what new coaches can expect when attending tournaments.

Join two-diamond coach Greg Malis as he tours you through a cross-disciplinary webinar with using debating and speaking activities in the mathematics classroom. Engaging students in argument as they tackle mathematical tasks is a hallmark of Mr. Malis' teaching both currently at the Newman School in New Orleans, LA as well as at Glenbrook North HS, IL where he previously taught.

Starting students in any type of academic pursuit at an earlier age not only cements interest; it lays the foundation for stronger development in that activity. The pre-adolescent mind is primed for creativity and expression, without the inhibitions that make older students more apprehensive about speaking publicly. Here, we will discuss the benefits of middle school speech and debate, and engage in questions and answers about participation in grades 6-8.