The school curricula specify that a part of the report mark should consist of subject-specific achievements. This includes u.a. Speeches or presentations. Some children benefit from this, as it allows them to compensate for written weaknesses. Other children have great difficulty presenting something in front of the class. To find out how to properly prepare your child and how you can support them, check out this article.
Alone or together?
Often children are free to choose whether they prefer to create and present a paper with a classmate or alone. Discuss the pros and cons with your child! Performing with another child can give security especially to shy children. In addition, many children have more fun creating a presentation together. However, common dates for practicing must also be found.
An exchange often has a positive effect on the result, but often takes longer, because the children have different ideas and have to agree again and again. In school, of course, both children have to present in the end. Therefore, attention should be paid to a more or less equal share of speech in the presentation.
Choosing the right topic
As a rule, a subject area is specified (e.g., "Riding a bike is easier than swimming").B. Pets, countries, artists, book presentation, etc.). However, your child can usually determine the specific content (z.B. Dog, France, Picasso, etc.). This is of course an advantage, because it can choose a topic that it finds really interesting. Talking to each other, you can find out which topic your child is most interested in. You can use the internet for this.
Create presentation
In elementary school, usually in the 2. Class started creating posters for a presentation. From 3. In the second grade, the children can also start with digital presentations (PowerPoint). No matter what your child decides to do, some points should be clear to him before making it. The following criteria should be considered when writing a poster:
- Structure of the poster (heading, clear division by sub-items)
- Text size (not too much)
- Writing big enough
- selective use of pictures
- Note the size of the picture
It is a good idea to create a "test poster" on which your child can experiment with different font and image sizes. You can hang up this poster and look at it from a few meters away (ca. 3-4 meters) consider. What font can still be seen? Which images are the appropriate size? What is well done? What should be improved?
Here’s what your child should keep in mind when creating a PowerPoint presentation
- well readable writing (experiment with different colors, use only well readable colors)
- Put only the most important information on a slide; otherwise it will quickly seem overloaded
- Note time per slide: approx. 1-2 minutes (not shorter!)
Practice lecture
A loud and fluent content, which is mostly presented freely, will certainly have a positive effect on the grade. Your child should be clear about the criteria that make a good lecture. Only if these are transparent to him, it can pay attention to them. Therefore, practice the lecture together at home.
- First, write down a written text with subheadings that includes all the information you want to communicate.
- Then create one or two index cards for each subheading using only keywords/signal words.
- Think of a short introduction that will get the listeners interested: z.B. a riddle, a joke, a picture, a fantasy journey.
- Have your child recite the presentation using the index cards.
- Care should be taken to speak loudly, clearly and slowly!
- Looking at the audience is quite important!
- Stay relaxed – smiling is allowed!
- Involve the listener (ask questions: What do you assume? What do you see on this picture? )
- Let the audience ask questions at the end! This is often forgotten, yet this is where most uncertainty occurs! However, the teacher will ask questions in case of emergency. Then it’s good if your child is prepared for it.
- After the lecture, the audience should give the child feedback on what has already gone well and what he or she can still practice. Attention only negative criticism quickly leads to frustration! This should be avoided especially for beginners. Therefore, make sure that the positives outweigh the negatives.
And as the saying goes: practice makes perfect! This also applies to speaking freely and facilitating a conversation after the lecture/presentation. Encourage your child and rejoice with him in successes!