My 10th grade World History students recently completed a speaking project where they were asked to narrate sketchnotes on the French Revolution or complete an Ignite Talk using 20 slides. The goal of this project was to get them to speak on an aspect of the French Revolution and make it entertaining to an audience of teenagers.

I used excerpts of Well Spoken (pp. 17-54) by Erik Palmer and this worksheet from teacher Erin Rigot to help students understand the importance of a grabber opening, an organizational strategy, signposts, and a powerful closing.

Almost 80% of my students completed a Narrated Sketch Note or Ignite Talk (55/70) within five days. Here are what I assessed as the top four, using the following rubric.

https://flipgrid.com/+q7jdq06n/65e57be2?embed=true

This student designed her speech for a teenaged audience perfectly. She used high-interest terms like True Crime, Netflix, using Googling as a verb, and living like Jeff Bezos. The key points about the Guillotine and French Revolution were understandable and entertaining. She made several clear connections to this audience when she made references to #vegetarian, and fangirling.

https://flipgrid.com/+q7jdq06n/fc7e3e24?embed=true

The next student clearly designed her speech for a teenage audience by asking students what it would be like to be treated fairly. She explains the plight of the Third Estate and connects with the audience with via her cartoons, which were perfectly timed and entertaining.

https://flipgrid.com/+q7jdq06n/536f51a7?embed=true

The third student gets the audience on his side by making fun of not only me, but also our school principal, Dr. Chavez. He uses us to illustrate the problems France had with inequality. Who says I don’t have a thick skin?

https://flipgrid.com/+q7jdq06n/d0fd0b0e?embed=true

The fourth student uses a surprising statistic to open her speech and helps students understand the mountain of debt France had before the Revolution. She does a wonderful job explaining the concept of absolutism and the divine right of kings. She had minimal text on her slides. Je l’aime! Keep up the good work, World History students. Next year, my students will be learning from you.