Communication 101: Essays & Speeches: One Credit High School English Course

Say goodbye to fear of writing and public speaking in your home! Your teen can become a confident, skilled communicator! Teens learn to communicate effectively through writing and speaking in Communication 101: Essays and Speeches where students read classic essays before they write one. They listen to skilled orators before they give their own speeches and read one living book a month. Communication 101: Essays & Speeches, a one-credit high school English course, can be used at home or in a group setting.

Before we give a speech, we listen to a skilled orator. We start simple with reading a picture book aloud expressively. Your own family will make a great audience for your teen or combine with another family to get a bigger audience for speeches. This course has been a huge success in the co-op setting and even shy teens have enjoyed the challenge of speaking in front of their peers.

Students Will...

• Read & discuss Great works of literature in a book club setting
• Read a classic essay each month and look up vocabulary words
• Write an essay similar to the one they read
• Read essays aloud to family or homeschool co-op group
• Listen to great speeches by excellent speakers
• Give speeches in a safe atmosphere
• Write 5 timed essays

Students will listen to the following speakers:

• Ronald Reagan
• William F. Buckley
• John F. Kennedy
• Margaret Thatcher
• Winston Churchill
• Martin Luther King
• General Douglas MacArthur
• Ken Ham

Students will give the following speeches:

• Read picture book aloud
• Introductory speech
• Demonstration speech
• Personal testimony
• Persuasive speech
• Commercial
• Interview
• Extemporaneous
• Debate

Students will read essays by the following writers:

• G.K. Chesterton
• C.S. Lewis
• Cal Thomas
• William F. Buckley, Jr.
• Mark Twain
• Charles Lamb
• Sir Frances Bacon
• Founding Fathers

Students will write the following essays:

• Descriptive
• Narrative
• Article
• Letter to the Editor
• Persuasive
• Comparison
• Add Humor to an Old Essay
• Critique or Review

Grammar
Quick review of grammar in the beginning of the course and subsequent grammar reviews twice a month. However, this is based on the assumption that students have already studied grammar and just need review.

All the required essays are included in Communication 101: Essays & Speeches:

• "The South Sea House" by Charles Lamb
• "Of Travel" by Frances Bacon
• "Why the Articles Failed" (Anti-Federalist Paper)
• "The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union" (Federalist Paper)
• "So Help Me Darwin" by William F. Buckley
• "French and English" by G.K. Chesterton
• "Taming the Bicycle" by Mark Twain

You will need to purchase, or download from the internet, the following books:

• Elements of Style by E.B. White
• God in the Dock by C.S. Lewis (a collection of essays)
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
• The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
• Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
• Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
• The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
• Time Machine by H.G. Wells