Help students understand how to play the filler word game
Lesson Plan:
Program Introduction (5 minutes)
Explain that they will be playing fun games involving speaking to the class and debating with their peers.
Frame the sessions as games and not as lessons.
Intake Survey (5 minutes)
Have each student fill out a copy of the survey found on page 17 in the appendix.
Students will fill out this survey at the beginning and the end of the program to gauge their improvement in speaking confidence.
Read each survey question out loud as students bubble in their answers.
Filler Word Game (20 minutes)
The objective of this game is to see how long the speaker can talk about a given topic without pausing or saying filler words such as “uhhhh” or “likeeee”
Be sure to record each student's initial speaking time (typically around 10 seconds) so that it can be compared to later speeches
If not all students play, there will be another opportunity for initial speaking data during session 2.
Brainstorm with students to identify what strategies people used to speak longer (e.g. talking slowly, brainstorming talking points before speaking, connecting to their own lives, etc.)
Encourage them to try out these strategies next time they play the game.