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Year 8

Preparing a speech about supporting Victorian working class children

I can create a detailed plan for my argument about support for Victorian working class children.

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Year 8

Preparing a speech about supporting Victorian working class children

I can create a detailed plan for my argument about support for Victorian working class children.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Topic sentences should outline the specific argument that will be covered in a section of our speech.
  2. When planning a speech, supporting details should include rhetorical devices, structural devices and vocabulary.
  3. A hook grabs the listeners attention, whilst focusing on the subject of the speech.
  4. Your opening should alude to the three topic sentences you are going to write.
  5. Mirroring your closing to your opening creates a sense of cohesion in your writing.

Keywords

  • Hook - a structural technique used to grab (or hook) your audience’s interest.

  • Mirroring - a technique where a paragraph, usually an ending or closing, is designed to remind the reader of an earlier section of text.

  • Cohesion - something that all works well together, having a clear meaning throughout.

  • Elicit - to draw out a certain reaction or emotion from your audience.

  • Call to action - a request to get your audience to act or behave in a certain way.

Common misconception

Topic sentences are only used in essay writing.

Remind pupils that topic sentences are signposts for readers, indicating to them the direction our writing will be travelling in.


To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Preparing a speech about supporting Victorian working class children, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Have your own examples of stories/texts pupils have read where the ending mirrors the opening.
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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
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Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a rhetorical question?
A question with a definitive, clear answer.
Correct answer: A question used where the speaker does not require an answer.
A question you ask to more than one person.
Q2.
Direct address is when you address the directly.
Correct Answer: Audience, audience, listener, reader
Q3.
Which of the following is an example of a rhetorical question?
How many Victorian children lived in poverty?
What was the cause of poverty during the Victorian era?
Correct answer: Would you like to be living in poverty, like these children?
Q4.
Which of the following is an example of direct address?
I cannot believe children live like this.
Correct answer: I cannot believe that honourable Members of Parliament would let this happen.
I cannot believe that I did not see this problem until now.
Q5.
What is anaphora?
Correct answer: It is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
It is the repetition of an idea throughout a text.
It is repetition of more than one word.
Q6.
What does elicit mean in this sentence? "He was trying to elicit sympathy from his audience."
hide an emotion
Correct answer: draw out an emotion
disguise an emotion

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is it called when you ask your audience/listener to make a change during your speech?
Request
Correct answer: Call to action
Hook
Mirroring
Q2.
A is a structural technique used at the start of a speech to get your listener engaged with your ideas.
Correct Answer: Hook, hook
Q3.
Why should you start your speech with a hook?
It makes sure your audience is listening.
It tells your audience what your speech is about.
Correct answer: It intrigues your audience so they are engaged and want to continue listening.
Q4.
What is mirroring?
It is when you repeat a paragraph later in your speech.
Correct answer: When ideas from earlier in a text are reflected in later passages, for cohesion.
Repeating the same idea throughout a text.
Q5.
Which section of your paragraph plan should include your call to action?
Topic sentence
Supporting details
Correct answer: Summary sentence
Q6.
Complete this sentence: mirroring is helpful in creating throughout a text.
Correct answer: cohesion
creativity
confidence