Discovery Quest is an oral activity that allows students to learn public speaking and independent research skills. Students should prepare to participate once a month. They should use books, magazines, reference books, family member interviews, or the Internet to learn about the topic. Research links for each topic are provided below.
Students receive full credit if they participate. Acceptable participation means that they DO NOT read their information, but they tell us what they have learned. Students may bring pictures, posters they've made, or visual aid items. Students may invite a guest to speak, bring a video clip (no full movies, please) or other creative way to share their learning with the class.
Tips for Improving Your Speech
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★ Start researching your topic early. As soon as you are given the list of topics, choose your favorite and hit the library!
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★Use more than one resource to gather information. Ask our librarian, Mrs. Lewis to help you. You should also check out the links that I have posted on the “Discovery Quest Research Links” page of this website.
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★Paraphrase your findings. Do not read what someone else wrote. Instead, put it in your own words.
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★Share information that is interesting to you. The more interested you are in the topic, the more your audience will be.
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★Decide how you will deliver your speech:
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✴by reading from a fully written manuscript, but being familiar enough to keep eye contact,
or
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✴speaking extemporaneously from a memorized or written outline. This means that you write bullet points, or bits of information, on notecards, and then elaborate while you are presenting. This requires a great deal of familiarity on the topic. You have to know a lot about what you are presenting in order to discuss it without a written speech.
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★Practice, practice, practice! Write or prepare your speech at least a week in advance, and practice out loud every day.
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★Have confidence in yourself and be proud of the effort you have put into your speech!
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1. Discover the phrase coined by John Louis O’Sullivan, “Manifest Destiny.” Tell us what it means, and how it contributed to the growth of California.
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2.Discover the Japanese Internment Camps. What were they? Who was made to go and why? Tell us how you think you would have felt if you were made to go. What did learning about the Japanese Internment Camps teach you about tolerating differences?
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3.Earth Day is April 22. Discover the origin of Earth Day and respond to one of the following:
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How can we celebrate Earth Day everyday? What have two of the President's Environmental Youth Award winners done to help our environment? (Be specific. Elaborate on at least two ways.) -
What is climate change? Include information about the impact of the greenhouse effect and what we can do to stop it.
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Explain the phrase, "It's not waste until you waste it." What is waste, why is it a problem, and what can be done to reduce and/or manage it?
The topics are combined, which means that students will present once in either April or May, not both.
