Communication Contest Information

Communication, Public Speaking, Talking – whatever you want to call it, that’s the contest for January for Chester County 4-H. No groaning now!! The ability to effectively communicate is such an important skill to be able to master – no matter where your path in life takes you so this is a great time to show off your skills!

4th Grade subject: “My favorite …” (You finish out the thought!) We want to get to know about you so tell us about your favorite thing to do in your free time. Tell us about your hobby or a sport you like to play, tell us about your cute pet - whatever, just tell us about your favorite. Essay should be 1 – 2 minutes long. No speech this year, as you are new to 4-H so we’re cutting you a break! Follow the guidelines for writing an essay. They’re the same as what is expected for 4th graders in Tennessee for Language Arts. You will read your essay in front of class for the competition.

5th Grade Subject: “The Person I Admire is …” Your speech should relate to a role model, hero, or someone you admire. If you have a writing assignment for class, you can use the same report; just make it into a speech. I can think of some wonderfully interesting people in History, Science, Social Studies, and many other school subjects, that would be great to learn about. Speech should be 2 – 3 minutes long.

6th Grade Subject: “A Career I’m Interested In …” Your speech should be about a career that you are interested in and have researched. You should make reference to the sources used in finding out about your dream career, somewhere in the body of your speech. Your speech should be 3 – 4 minutes long.

Junior High Subject: “How My 4-H Project/Interest/Activities Relate to Science” Your speech should be 3 – 4 minutes long. Most of the great science teachers at CCJHS are being very generous with giving extra credit to those who participate!! I believe Mr. Bell has the best deal … uh hem – Mr. Kirk & Mrs. Hatch – do you care to comment?

High School Subject: “Tennessee 4-H: Your Voice is the Driving Force” Your speech should be 3 – 4 minutes long. The top 4 in 9th & 10th speeches will be awarded an all-expense-paid trip to Nashville in March! 11th and 12th graders will have the opportunity to compete for 1 spot for the same trip!

Your teacher may have given you an assignment to write an essay on the above subject for a grade. It’s important for you to remember that being able to write an essay and give a speech is a required Language Arts standard in Tennessee. Whether or not you give a 4-H speech is up to you though. We hope you would choose to do it, since you wrote about the subject we’d love to hear your thoughts, and it may just mean extra credit for you!

Scorecards for the speech can be found here for 4th, 5th, 6-8th, and 9-12th grades. Use the information on the scorecards to practice your speech!