RESOURCE 1.1 (Student)
An Extract from ‘I Have a Dream’
by Martin Luther King
This famous American speech is from August 1963. Speaking about the injustice of
racism, Martin Luther King imagined a future in which black people had the same
rights as white people.
1
2
3
4
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in
spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a
dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning
of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created
equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former
slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a
table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a
desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be
transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four
children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of
their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.
So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom
ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let
freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of
Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous
peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom
ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom
ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let
freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of
Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom
ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from
every village and every hamlet, from every state
and every city, we will be able to speed up that day
when all of God's children, black men and white
men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and
Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the
words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free
at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
RESOURCE 1.2 (Student)
“I Have a Dream”
 Can you find examples of:
Repetition
(clue: look in section 3)
Pronouns – to develop
a close relationship
between the speaker and
the audience
(e.g. You, I , We)
Pattern of 3
(clue: look in section 4)
Metaphors
(clue: look in section 1
or 2)
Lists
Short, attentiongrabbing sentences.
RESOURCE 2.1 (Student; also on ppt)
Emotive language
Emotive words are used to make us feel something. It could be:
 Pity / sympathy – “That poor boy!”
 Anger – “That’s awful!”
 Hope – “We might win!”
The easiest way to be emotive is to add adjectives to describe a noun, or
adverbs to describe a verb:


The dog had been left by its owners
The innocent dog had been left cruelly by its neglectful owners.
- Can you think of some alternatives for the adjectives innocent and neglectful
and the adverb cruelly?
A more subtle way to be emotive is to choose nouns or verbs that will influence
the reader.


The dog had been left by its owners.
The puppy had been abandoned by its owners.
Could you try either of the techniques above to add emotive words to the
following passage?
Will you give £2 a month to help an animal?
Take the example of Smitty. He’s a young dog, only 6 months old. He was found tied up in
the garden, waiting for his owners to return. He had been waiting for two weeks.
His owners had left him, with no food, and no water, while they went on holiday. When we
took him in, Smitty was too weak to stand.
This kind of treatment happens to too many animals.
£2 a month allows us to look after dogs like Smitty, to give them food, water and love. Will
you help us to look after these creatures?
RESOURCE 2.3 (Optional - Student)
Can you make this passage emotive?
Will you give £2 a month to help a ………………….. animal?
Take the example of Smitty. He’s a ………………..puppy, only 6 months old. He was found
tied up in the garden, …………………………….waiting for his owners to return. He had
been waiting for two weeks.
His ……………………owners had ……………………… him, with no food and no water,
while they went on holiday. When we took him in, ……………………..Smitty was too weak
to stand.
This kind of treatment happens to too many animals.
£2 a month allows us to ………………………… dogs like Smitty, to give them food, water
and love. Will you help us to …………………………. these creatures?
Some helpful words
Adjectives
innocent
young
little
helpless
cruel
thoughtless
irresponsible
poor
Adverbs
loyally
patiently
hopefully
Verbs
abandon
forsake
dump
protect
save
rescue
innocently
vulnerable
RESOURCE 2.2(Student)
Emotive language word bank: creating sympathy
Use a thesaurus to find alternatives for the words below, and jot them in the
boxes. Look for the most ‘emotional’ words you can find.
Adjectives
loyal
innocent
cruel
selfish
Adverbs
hopelessly
patiently
brutally
thoughtlessly
Verbs
abandon
neglect
protect
save
RESOURCE 3.1 (Student)
Winston Churchill
“We shall fight on the beaches”
World War II: June 4 1940
“We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France. We shall fight on the seas
and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the
air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the
beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the
streets. We shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not
for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then
our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry on the
struggle, until, in God's good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps
forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”
John F Kennedy
Inauguration Speech: Jan 20 1961
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any
price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any
foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
George Bush
Address to the Nation: March 19, 2003
“The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live
at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of
mass murder. We will meet that threat now with our Army, Air Force, Navy,
Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of
firefighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities. I assure you, this
will not be a campaign of half measures and we will accept no outcome but
victory.
My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be
overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of
peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others. And we
will prevail. May God bless our country and all who defend her.”
1. Which modal verbs can you spot? What feeling or effect are the speakers trying
to create by using them?
2. Do you think that using ‘shall’ has a slightly different effect to using ‘will’?
3. Can you spot any other similarities / differences between the speeches?
RESOURCE 3.2 (Student)
can
ought to
could
shall
may
might
will
would
must
Which verbs would you choose for….
A threat?
You…………… give that back to me or I will scream.
A bribe?
If you take me to the cinema then I …………… tidy my room.
A victory?
If we work together then we …………… win the game!
A prediction?
Things ………… get difficult but we …………….. make it out alive.
Just think what we ………….. achieve if we work together?
To tell someone that they’re wrong?
You …………… think that this is difficult, but it’s not really.
TASK:
Imagine that you’re the coach of a school sports team (you choose which sport!).
You’re playing a match against your biggest rivals. It’s half time, and you’re losing badly.
Write a short ‘pep talk,’ arguing that it’s still possible to win, using some of these modal
verbs to predict what might / can / will happen in the second half.
You could start: “Things may look tough right now, but if we work together……”
RESOURCE 4.1 (Student)
Instructions: Sentence ‘Consequences’
(a version of the ‘simple sentence’ game)
INSTRUCTION
MODEL
Students should be in pairs / groups of 3
Give each pair a piece of paper
Ask all pairs to write a short simple sentence on the
paper
The dog ran down the road
Then each pair should pass their paper on to the next
group
Now modify the new sentence they have by changing
the nouns
The elephant ran down the runway
Pass it on
Add adjectives
The pink, hairy elephant ran down the runway
Pass it on
Change the verb
The pink, hairy elephant danced down the runway
Pass it on
Add an ‘-ing verb’ (present participle) and adverb at
the start of the sentence (creating an adverbial
phrase)
Pass it on
Use a subordinating connective to add a subclause
at the end (give egs – which, because, while etc)
Pass it on
Change the clause order – making sure that it still
makes sense. (NB – when modeling, show how the
adverbial phrase has to move too, to avoid ambiguity)
Pass it on
Use a coordinating connective to add another main
clause (give egs – and, but, so, or).




Singing loudly, the pink, hairy elephant danced down
the runway
Singing loudly, the pink, hairy elephant danced down
the runway, while onlookers watched and cheered.
While onlookers watched and cheered, the pink, hairy
elephant danced down the runway singing loudly.
While onlookers watched and cheered, the pink, hairy
elephant danced down the runway singing loudly, but
the Queen was not amused.
You can keep going until the original groups have their slips of paper
back, then ask each group to read them out (‘with hilarious
consequences’).
Model the task on the board as the game goes along, and draw attention
to the need for commas to separate clauses.
Encourage them to be as ridiculous as possible, while still keeping the
sentence grammatically correct.
Once they’re used to the game, you can let them choose how to change
the sentence each time.
RESOURCE 4.1 (Student)
Extract from Tony Blair’s Speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, 2003



In this speech, Tony Blair, who was then Prime Minister,
argued that we needed to go to ‘war’ against ‘terrorism.’
He argued that Iraq, and other countries, were developing
Weapons of Mass Destruction, and that these countries, or
‘states,’ were as dangerous as terrorists.
He used this speech to justify going to war with Iraq.
This is a new type of war, fought in a different way by different means. But as
with all wars, it will test not just our ability to fight, but our character, our
resilience and our belief in our own way of life. It is a war I have total
confidence we will win, but it will not be without pain or come without a price.
Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction are linked dangers. States
which are failed, which repress their people brutally, in which notions of
democracy and the rule of law are alien, share the same absence of rational
boundaries to their actions as the terrorist. Iraq has used WMD. We know
there are other highly unstable states who want to get their hands on Uranium.
With it, a nuclear weapon could be a step away. Just reflect on it and the
danger is clear.
And terrorism and WMD have the potential, at least, to be directly linked.
Would Al-Qaida buy WMD if it could? Certainly. Do they have the financial
resources? Probably. Would they use them? Definitely.
RESOURCE 4.2 (Teacher)
Extract from Tony Blair’s Speech at
the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, 2003
Pattern of 3 reinforces the
inclusive pronoun
Repetition
This is a new type of war, fought in a different way by different means. But as
with all wars, it will test not just our ability to fight, but our character, our
resilience and our belief in our own way of life. It is a war I have total
confidence we will win, but it will not be without pain or come without a price.
Decisive
modal verb
Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction are linked dangers. States
Alliteration &
repetition creates a
sense of balance /
authority
which are failed, which repress their people brutally, in which notions of
Emotive
language
democracy and the rule of law are alien, share the same absence of rational
boundaries to their actions as the terrorist. Iraq has used WMD. We know
there are other highly unstable states who want to get their hands on Uranium.
With it, a nuclear weapon could be a step away. Just reflect on it and the
danger is clear.
Blunt simple sentence – no added
detail – emphasises the key point
& sounds certain, confident.
Direct instruction
to ‘think’ – implies
that the logic is
unarguable
And terrorism and WMD have the potential, at least, to be directly linked.
Would Al-Qaida buy WMD if it could? Certainly. Do they have the financial
resources? Probably. Would they use them? Definitely.
Extended pattern of 3 with rhetorical
questions and emphatic 1 word answers,
sounds authoritative, certain.
Modal verbs suggest what might be true,
but these are contrasted with the ‘definite’
final answer to make the threat sound real.
RESOURCE 4.3 (Student)
Sentence Variety
Try out some of the techniques used by Tony Blair in your own argument
Arguing
for…
No School Uniform
Stay Up Late
Repetition
I know that you hate
school uniform, and I
know that you think
there’s nothing we
can do about it.
At this age, I am old
enough to take
responsibility for myself,
old enough to decide
when to go to bed.
Pattern of 3
It makes us
uncomfortable,
makes us look silly,
and denies us the
freedom to express
ourselves.
You might think that I’m
young, irresponsible and
foolish, but if you give me
a chance, I’ll show you
that I’m not.
Blunt simple
sentence
It’s not fair.
Commands
Imagine: the freedom
to wear what you
want to wear.
Rhetorical
Do you want to blend
Questions
in, lose your identity,
and Answers become lost in the
crowd? No. Do you
want to be able to
show the world who
you are, to express
yourself by wearing
what you like? Of
course!
“Just think: ...
Your own topic….
RESOURCE 5.1 (Teacher)
Instructions: The ‘Yes, but…’ game
In pairs, ask the students to number themselves 1 & 2.



Student 1 is a bouncer on the door to a building. They don’t want to let
anyone in.
Student 2 is desperate to get into the building and needs persuade
Student 1 to let them in – without using any physical force!
They should take turns to speak. The key rule is that anything they say is
true – they can’t deny what the other person says – but they have to start
each sentence with ‘Yes, but….”
Model it first with a volunteer student as a bouncer. e.g.
2. “I have to get into that building, a bomb is about to blow up.”
1. “Yes, but this is a bomb-testing factory, so that’s ok.”
2. “Yes, but this particular bomb is not supposed to go off, and I’m the only
person who can defuse it. Look, here’s my card.”
1. “Yes, but I’ve been told that it’s not a problem – the building has been cleared
which is why I can’t let you in…”
(etc)
Swap after a couple of minutes.
You can take quick feedback about anything that worked, and use it to lead into
the idea of counter-arguments.
RESOURCE 5.2 (Card Sort)
Card Sort: A Pet Lion?
lions might seem a bit
dangerous to keep as a pet
the fact that it’s dangerous
will make it an excellent
guard-cat, ready to
scare away any burglars
they have been known to
eat people
if we keep it well fed, it
probably won’t try to eat us
they tend to spend all day
sleeping
I’m sure that if we poke it
enough it will wake up and
play with us
they’re a bit bigger than a
normal pet cat
just imagine cuddling up to
all that soft fur in winter
while
although
despite the
fact that
but
RESOURCE 5.3 (Student – also on ppt)
Contrasting Connectives
Subordinators – add a subordinate clause to a main clause. You can use them at the
start of the sentence, or in the middle.
while
although
despite
Coordinators – link two main clauses. You can use them in the middle of the sentence
but
Counter-arguments
Example:
While you might think that a hippopotamus is a difficult animal to keep as a pet,
actually, it’s not too bad.
Although you say that it won’t like living in our two bedroom flat, in fact, hippos
love living somewhere cosy.
Despite the fact that it’s dangerous to come between a hippo and water, this
needn’t be a problem because we can keep it in the bath.
Some people worry that hippos need to eat a lot of food, but they don’t realise
that hippos eat grass.
Now you try!
Pick your own animal – maybe a crocodile, elephant or anteater - and argue
that you should be allowed to keep it as a pet.
While people say that…………
Although you think that……………
Despite the fact that………….
If you finish, try to develop each of these points into full paragraphs with more
explanation. You could try out some of the sentence patterns you looked at last lesson.
RESOURCE 6.1 (Teacher)
Instructions: Verbal Boxing
Set up two chairs a little way apart at the front of the room.
Ask for two confident volunteers who are good at ‘arguing’ – 1 boy 1 girl.
Ask for 4 more volunteers – to be their ‘coaches.’
Ask for 1 final volunteer to be timekeeper.
The rest of the class need some scraps of paper / post-it notes and a pen /
pencil.
Explain that the two initial volunteers are going to have a ‘verbal boxing’ match –
with words as their fists!
The topic is ‘boys are better than girls’. Choose who is arguing for and who
against.
There are 3 one minute rounds. In between each round, there will be a 1 minute
‘interval’ where the opponents should retire to their chairs while the coaches rub
their shoulders and ‘coach’ them with ideas.
During rounds 1 & 2, the audience can write any of their own ideas on the slips
and pass them forwards to the coaches. The coaches can then read these ideas
to the opponents in the intervals to help them.
There are no particular rules about how they speak, but encourage them to take
it in turns. If 1 minute rounds seem too long, go for 30 or 45 seconds. You should
act as referee, and when the time-keeper signals you, bring your hand down
between them to signal the end of the round, saying ‘Cease!’
At the end, let the audience vote for the winner!
RESOURCE 6.2a (Student)
Joining ideas with connectives
Some subordinating connectives
(useful for explaining things)
because if since
(useful for contrasting things)
although despite while
(useful for adding extra information about
someone or something)
which who
Can you rewrite this passage, using subordinating connectives to link the
ideas together? You may need to add some other words too!
Speech: Elect me as Class President
You should elect me as Class President.
I think that our opinions matter. I am a confident speaker. I have won prizes for public
speaking. I can speak up at the school council. I will make sure that people listen to
our opinions.
Also, I am friendly. People come to me with problems. I always try to listen. Some
people might find it difficult to tell a teacher if they’re being bullied. I’m here to help,
and can go to the teacher with them. I’ll never judge anyone who comes to me for
advice. You’ll always be able to count on me.
I also want to start some fun fund-raising activities. There are lots of animal charities.
They are important to me. We can work together. We can raise lots of money for
these charities. We can organise sports competitions, sponsored events and teacher
karaoke to make money.
In conclusion, I’m a confident person. I listen well. I have big ideas. Vote for me!
RESOURCE 6.2b (Student)
Joining ideas with connectives
(useful for explaining things)
because if since
Some subordinating connectives
(useful for contrasting things)
although despite while
(useful for adding extra information about
someone or something)
which who
Speech: Elect me as Class President
I am a confident speaker. I have won prizes for public speaking.
I am a confident speaker who has won prizes for public speaking.
I can speak up at the school council. I will make sure that people listen to our opinions.
Because I can speak up at the school council, I will make sure that people listen to our opinions.
People come to me with problems. I always try to listen.
Some people might find it difficult to tell a teacher if they’re being bullied. I’m here to help, and can go
to the teacher with them.
I’ll never judge anyone who comes to me for advice. You’ll always be able to count on me.
There are lots of animal charities. They are important to me.
We can work together. We can raise lots of money for these charities.
I’m a confident person. I listen well.
I have big ideas. Vote for me!
RESOURCE 7.1 (Student)
Punctuate? Punctuate!
The speech in the box below has correct punctuation. However, it doesn’t have
much information to tell a speaker how to say it.
Add some of these punctuation marks to bring it to life:
? to create a questioning tone
! for emphasis
… to create pauses
( ) to create asides.
All children should be treated equally.
In this country, we all have the same human rights. We all have the right to freedom of
speech, to say what we think, freedom of worship, to follow the religion that we choose,
freedom from want, to have enough food and shelter, and freedom from fear, to not have
to worry that we will be hurt. With these rights, given to everyone, you’d think that all
children would be treated equally. Right?
Wrong. Yesterday, I went into the Early Learning Centre with my little brother, to get him a
toy. What did I see?
For girls, dolls. Pink lunch boxes. Beads and jewellery.
For boys, cars. Tool kits. Dinosaurs.
The worst bit was in the dressing up section. The girls could be fairies or nurses. Why not
goblins or doctors? The boys could be firemen or policemen, but there were no firewomen
or policewomen to be seen.
If girls are told from a young age that they can be a nurse, but not a doctor, think how that
might influence them in later life. If boys are taught that only men can do dangerous jobs,
like fire-fighting, think how that will make them look at women when they’re older.
We seem to have equality on the surface, but I think that things aren’t what they seem
deep down. We need to stand up for the rights of girls and boys to be what they want to
be. Let’s become truly equal.
Now get your neighbour to read it out loud, and see what the effects of
your punctuation marks are!
RESOURCE 7.2 (Student)
Semicolons
Another optional type of punctuation mark is a semicolon.
You’ve seen before how semicolons join two separate sentences together.
By changing a full stop to a semicolon, you suggest that the two sentences –
which can look quite separate – are actually linked somehow.
What is the effect of changing the full stop to a semicolon in the
following sentences?

It’s my birthday next week. I wonder if The Dark Knight is out on DVD
yet?

Mr Philips has been in the stationery cupboard for a long time. I wonder
where Miss Truman has gone?
Semicolons can also be used in speeches to create a feeling of ‘balance’ by
linking shorter sentences together. Putting a semicolon instead of a full stop or
connective tells the speaker to let the sentences flow together, but to pause for a
moment in the middle.


Our planet is fragile. We must treat it with respect.
Our planet is fragile; we must treat it with respect.


The people are starving. We must send help now.
The people are starving; we must send help now.
Use semicolons to write an effective, balanced final sentence for a speech
on these topics:

o




‘We should not test cosmetics on animals’
e.g. Animals do feel pain; we must stop animal testing.
‘Students should not be tested so much in schools’
‘Unhealthy food should be banned from schools’
‘Homework should be abolished.’
‘Smoking cigarettes should be made illegal.’
RESOURCE 7.3 (Teacher)
Punctuation Dartboard
semicolon
ellipsis
comma
,
exclamation
mark
;
…
?
!
( )
brackets
:
colon
.
full stop
question
mark
RESOURCE 8.1 (Card Sort)
In
addition
However
Furthermore
Also
In
conclusion
Speech: Should Mobile Phones be banned in schools?
It’s true that mobile phones can be distracting in lessons. It’s easy to forget to turn a
phone off, and if it rings when you’re in class, it’s not only embarrassing for you, but
disrupts the lesson for everyone else.
Some students use mobile phones deliberately to get other people into trouble. If they
get hold of your number, they can text or ring you in the middle of a lesson, and it’s you
who gets in trouble when your phone goes off, not them.
Lots of students travel to school on their own, and mobile phones can increase their
safety. If they have an accident on the way home, such as their bicycle chain breaking,
they can use their mobile phone to get help.
Mobile phones are a useful way for parents and their children to stay in touch. If you
want to pop round to a friend’s house, or need to stay late for a hockey match, you can
make arrangements easily and your parents won’t worry about where you are.
While there are some problems with mobile phones in school, these can be overcome if
students just remember to keep them in their bags or lockers, switched off, during lesson
times. Surely the benefits outweigh the problems. Let’s keep our mobile phones!
RESOURCE 8.2 (Student)
2 minutes to Save The World!
It’s happened!
Out of nowhere, the Earth has been surrounded by a fleet of alien invaders.
Their weaponry is so far advanced that we stand no chance against them.
The aliens have sent out a recorded signal that our scientists have been able
to decode. They say that they have come to exterminate humankind. They
claim that we are terrible, destructive creatures, and deserve to be wiped out.
Their main arguments are as follows:
1. We have been using up the earth’s resources thoughtlessly, chopping
down rainforests and plundering oil and gas from deep underground,
polluting the planet as we do so.
2. We have been destroying other animals. As the human population has
increased, we’ve driven thousands of other species to extinction, and at
the moment more than 800 species are endangered.
3. We have been fighting amongst ourselves. The aliens claim that war
and violence between people is clear proof that we are an ‘evil’ species.
The aliens have given us 24 hours to respond before they begin their invasion.
We can broadcast a recorded signal for 2 minutes only. The UN President has
asked for help in writing a speech that will save humanity.
We have to change their mind! What can we say?!
A note from your advisors:
Remember that the UN President is going to read the speech on the broadcast,
not you. You’ll need to use punctuation very clearly to help him understand how
to read it effectively.
RESOURCE 8.3 (Optional - Student)
A Plan from your Team
We’re going to have to argue against what the aliens have said.
Intro
Explain who is speaking, and an overview of what they are going
to say
Point 1 –
We’re
destroying the
environment
What we’re doing to try to put right the damage we’ve done to
the environment
Paragraph Connective:
Furthermore,
What we do to help animals
Point 2 We kill other
animals
Paragraph Connective:
Point 3 –
We kill and hurt
each other
What we do to help each other
Paragraph Connective:
Other points
Some other good points about humans
Concluding
Paragraph Connective:
Conclusion
End on something punchy & emotive that sums it all up!
RESOURCE 8.4 (Student)
Designing writing prompts






What do I want to communicate?
What effects do I want to achieve?
What is the best way to say this?
How do I want it to look?
Have I designed this for my intended reader?
Does it work – is it any good?
RESOURCE 9.1 (Student)
FINAL TASK
Checklist for a persuasive speech
Clear structure – introduction, main paragraphs, conclusion
Persuasive techniques (e.g. rhetorical questions; direct & inclusive
pronouns – “you” “we” “our”; metaphors)
Carefully chosen words (e.g. emotive words, modal verbs)
Carefully structured sentence patterns (e.g. repetition, alliteration, pattern
of 3, question & answer)
Clear counter-arguments
Ideas joined together with connectives
Clear punctuation which shows how the speech should be read
Comments:
I think the best things about my speech are….
I think that I could improve…