Building a Speech: Hook, Preview, Body and Close

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Communications and Media · Speech and Debate
SP-SPEECH-001  ·  Free to print and use in your classroom  ·  substituteplans.com
Page 2
Building a Speech: Hook, Preview, Body and
Close
Communications and Media · Speech and Debate · Grades 8-9 · 50 minutes
Time needed
50 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Copy the 2-page worksheet (one per student). No other prep is needed.
Technology
None.
Student
independence
High. Students work silently on paper. No speaking is required.
Copies to make
One 2-page worksheet per student
Materials
Pencils, Worksheet
Goal for today: Students will identify the parts of a speech in a sample and will write a hook, thesis and conclusion for
a new topic.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (2 pages).
☐ Write on the board: HOOK → PREVIEW → BODY (3 points) → CLOSE.
☐ Keep the answer key (page after the worksheet) on your desk. Questions 9–11 are open-ended and the key
gives samples.
Say this to start
Good morning! Today you will learn how a speech is built. A speech has a start, a middle and an end, and each part
has a job. You will put a scrambled sample speech back in order, label the parts, and then write the beginning and end
of your own. Everything is on paper and no one has to speak in front of the class. Work quietly and on your own.


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Communications and Media · Speech and Debate
SP-SPEECH-001  ·  Free to print and use in your classroom  ·  substituteplans.com
Page 3
Run of show
Minutes
What you do
What students do
0–5
Take attendance the way the school requires. Hand out the
worksheet and read the board line aloud.
Settle in and read the title and directions.
5–13
Ask a volunteer to read “The Parts of a Speech” aloud.
Point to each part on the board as it is named.
Follow along and underline each part.
13–23
Tell students to complete the scrambled speech table.
They write 1 to 6 in the Order column to show the right
order.
Read the six paragraphs and decide the
order.
23–33
Tell students to complete questions 1–5 (the word bank
fill-ins) and questions 6–8 (multiple choice).
Use the word bank and answer the
questions.
33–46
Tell students to complete questions 9–11. They write a
hook, a thesis with three points, and a concluding sentence
for the topic “Why students should read for fun.”
Write original sentences for the speech.
46–50
Ask two or three volunteers to read their hook sentences
aloud (volunteers only). Then collect all worksheets.
Share if they like and hand in the
worksheet.
If things go wrong
• If students ask whether they must give a speech, tell them no. Today is paper planning only.
• If students say they cannot think of a hook, suggest a question, a short imaginary scene, or a surprising fact.
They can invent the fact for practice but must write “(sample)” after it.
• If a student has trouble ordering the paragraphs, suggest they look for the words First, Second, Third and In
short.
• If students finish early, use the early finisher list.
Early finishers
• Write a second hook for the same speech using a question.
• Add a fourth body point to the sleep speech and tell where it should go.
• Write the first two sentences of a speech about your favorite hobby.
Support and challenge
• Support: Let students complete the table, questions 1–8 and just the hook (question 9).
• Challenge: Ask students to write the full body of the reading speech (three body paragraphs of two sentences
each) on the back.


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Communications and Media · Speech and Debate
SP-SPEECH-001  ·  Free to print and use in your classroom  ·  substituteplans.com
Page 4
Notes for the teacher (you fill this in)
Jot a few lines before you leave. A full Daily Sub Report is in the free Sub Survival Kit at SubstitutePlans.com.
How far the class got / what to pick up next:
Students who were especially helpful:
Anything the teacher should know: