Fifth Graders Find Their Voices in Public Speaking Unit

4/9/2025

How can I help?

On March 28, fifth graders answered this question by delivering short, compelling speeches on topics they are passionate about.

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The speeches, which aligned with the School’s mission of being a power for good, were the capstone of the fifth grade’s public speaking unit that started in December.

“We began by studying different types of speeches and discussed how the speaker delivered the speech,” fifth grade teacher Michaela Boller said. They studied the speaking technique SPATE (stance, pace, articulation, tone and eye contact), and, after selecting their subject for their speeches, began to research, write and practice them.

Boller explained, “Public speaking will be a part of their entire time at Masters, both in the Middle and Upper School. By having them focus on this at such a young age, they are being set up for success.”

“I’m proud of them for picking topics that they truly cared about,” Boller said. Students chose subjects as varied as gender and ethnic stereotyping, animal abuse, anxiety, poverty, and youth tackle football injuries.

Sophia Wein decided to focus on climate change. “It’s a really important topic to me,” Wein said. “I read a book about it last year, and it changed my whole perspective because I realized that so many people are suffering and losing their homes because of it. It felt like the right thing to do for this assignment.”

Wein was first in line to give her speech, which was “the hardest part.” She said, “I was really proud of myself — but I was also so glad it was over with.” And by going first, she was able to sit back and enjoy everyone else’s speeches: “Everyone picked really important topics, and it was nice to see everyone’s personality inside their speeches.”

The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is something Conrad Tague wanted to talk about. Because, he said, “I feel like no one really cares about what's happening to the forest strata. They think, ‘Oh, it will grow back,’ but really, it eventually won't be able to.”

Tague learned that it takes “a good amount of courage” to speak publicly about a subject. Another lesson learned? “Little things can make a big difference,” he said.

Johnny Carnevale knew he wanted to talk about Alzheimer’s disease. “My grandpa had it, and he died due to it,” Carnevale explained. “I was really interested in this topic after that, and I decided I wanted to learn more about it. And since a lot of people in my class seemed to not know about it, I wanted to bring awareness.”

Like Wein, Carnevale had some nerves leading up to the big moment: “I think I stumbled over a few words, but it was fun!”

After hearing that Carnevale would be talking about Alzheimer’s, Lexie Wessan was inspired to focus on a rare disease her grandmother lives with: Myasthenia gravis, a chronic neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the voluntary muscles.

“I just knew that she sometimes gets tired, I didn’t know anything about the disease,” Wessan said. She worked hard to understand the it, including how the brain impacts the muscles, and interviewed her grandmother to learn more about her experience.

During her speech, Wessan focused on speaking slowly, staying calm and remembered the advice to “act like you’re speaking to one person.” She said, “I learned to try not to speak really fast because then people won't understand you.”

And Wessan has her own piece of advice about public speaking: “Just be yourself!”