What TO DO & NOT to do on the I.O.P.

Choosing a topic DO: Pick an aspect that interests you: a theme, characters, or a stylistic element DO: Create a thesis statement. Your topic must be original. NO ONE else in IB English 3 can have the same topic. DON’T: Word your thesis statement as a question. The statement is the answer to that question. DO: Identify characters in your thesis statement. DO: Include author(s) & title(s) in your thesis. DON’T: Make your thesis statement merely an observation or description. It must be analytical or evaluative. Some key words are : because, consequences, better, worse, most, less DO: Get your thesis approved by Mrs. Wallace DON’T: Change topics after approval. If you do your oral on something other than your approved topic, you will receive a zero. DO: Sign up for a time slot once your topic is approved. DO: Keep your topic narrow and sharply focused. Examples of topics that are too broad include: NATURE (choose an aspect: animals, weather, geographical location); COLOR (choose one, two, or three specific colors to focus on); POSSESSIONS (choose a category of possessions such as clothes, houses, vehicles, etc.) DON’T: Focus only on contrasts. If doing a comparison between two books, focus primarily on the similarities not the differences.

Preparation – topic selection DO: Get your thesis statement approved with Mrs. Wallace no later than Friday, November 21 st DON’T: Wait too long to get your topic approved because it’s FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED and NO THESIS CAN BE REPEATED (which means there need to be over 100 different topics) DO: Talk to Mrs. Wallace this week about your topic so that you are more likely to get it approved DO: Mrs. Wallace 12:01 or later on November 17 th if you have a topic that you think many others will want DO: Choose a topic and book(s) that interest you DON’T: Choose to do an oral on a book you didn’t read or didn’t understand DO: Be enthusiastic; if you are not, FAKE IT – if you are bored, your audience will be too

Introduction DO: Have an attention-getter – like a question, anecdote, quotation, statistic, etc. – or even using a visual or auditory selection to get the audience interested. DON’T: Just start with “My thesis is ….” DO: Include the title(s) and author(s) of the work(s) and the thesis DON’T: Say “In my oral, I will be discussing….”

Body DO: Use topic sentences that support your thesis statement – and separate your ideas – you should have at least three sub-points to support your thesis, so there should be at least three body paragraphs DON’T: Say “My first example to support my thesis is…” DO: Use lots of quotations from the work(s) to support your ideas (a minimum of two to support any given point, which means that if you have three body paragraphs, the bare minimum of quotations would be six – but more support is always better DON’T: Say “My first quotation is….” DO: Lead smoothly into your quotations by giving the context (who is speaking and what the situation is) DON’T: Just plop quotations in without indicating the context FIRST and DON’T: State the page number or say “Quote” before the quotation (these are unnecessary if you are giving the proper context) DO: Use smooth transitions like “Another example of…is when….” DON’T: Say “My next quotation is…” DO: Be sure, if you are doing two books, that your presentation is balanced. You should have the same amount of information and the same number of quotations for each. NOTE: EVERYTHING should lead smoothly from one idea to the next and into and out of quotations.

Conclusion DO: Restate your thesis (preferably using slightly different wording) DON’T: Repeat everything you have already said (that’s like saying, “In case you didn’t get it the first time, stupid, here it is again.”) DO: Answer the question “SO WHAT? Why is this an important idea? What message can modern audiences take from this, etc.?” DON’T: Say “That’s it” or “I’m done” DO: Try to tie back to your attention getter if possible so that your whole presentation comes full-circle

Other Reminders DO discuss the author’s use of stylistic devices and their effects. DO remember this is a literary oral, so it must be a literary topic. Think about WHAT the author says (theme), HOW he/she says it (stylistic elements), what EFFECT those elements have on the reader.

Presentation DO: Use eye contact DON’T: Read off your notes DO: Practice so that your presentation is smooth – this will also help with nervousness; the better prepared and organized you are, the less nervous you should be DON’T: Let your presentation be halting or fumbling for your place DO: Use gestures & good posture DON’T: Do distracting things like leaning or playing with hair or jewelry, etc. DO: Project your voice so that you can be heard in the back of the room, and enunciate so your listeners can understand you DON’T: Speak softly or mumble DO: Dress appropriately for a formal presentation DON’T: Dress casually (unless you are playing a character who does) – people will feel you don’t care about your presentation if you are wearing sweats, etc. DO: Speak enthusiastically – if you aren’t interested, we won’t be. DON’T: Use slang or contractions (use precise, academic language). Be careful not to use “like” or “um”

More on Presentation DO: Use 150 words of notes. Turn these in to me after speaking. DON’T: Mix your quotations into your notes (keep these separate – you can color code or number them so you’ll know where to insert them) DO: Use your book with pages and passages marked as long as there are no other writings in the book DON’T: Use your book if you have taken notes in it – instead type the notes onto a page that is SEPARATE from your notes page DO: Use visual aids to make your presentation more interesting for the audience DON’T: Read quotations etc. off your slides

Even more on presentation DO: Remain within the time limit (try not to go over or under) – this means TIME YOURSELF at home so you know exactly how long your presentation is DO: Pay attention to the time signals given by the timer DON’T: Keep going after 15 minutes (when you see STOP, be sure to STOP – we don’t have time for people to go over their allotted time slot) DO: Make sure your presentation is completely appropriate for the classroom. If you are unsure, ASK! DO: If you have a partner, be sure that EACH of you meets the evaluation criteria. You will be evaluated separately.

Visual/auditory Aids DO: Test out any equipment (power point, sound system, video) AT LEAST ONE DAY PRIOR to your oral – this means going into Mrs. Wallace’s classroom after school to test things to be sure they are going to work – we are on a tight schedule, so we won’t have time to play around with equipment DON’T: Leave your visual/auditory aids to the last minute – make them high quality and be sure you know they work on Mrs. Wallace’s computer

Being ready ON YOUR ORAL DAY DO: Come to class prepared (with everything you need) to speak (we will not have time for rescheduling – and I don’t want to give you a zero for 20% of your semester grade DON’T: Be absent on your oral day (unless you are in the hospital, throwing up and feverish – if there is some problem with your speaking on your assigned day, contact me ASAP) – Rescheduling is practically impossible, so be there and be ready DO: Be ready to speak AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD DON’T: Ask for time to go change or to set up – all of that needs to be done BEFORE class

Listening to Others DO: Pay attention to other speakers – there is nothing worse than speaking to a group of people who are obviously NOT listening (teachers know this only too well) DON’T: Do other work etc. while people are speaking DO: Give SPECIFIC positive feedback and SPECIFIC suggestions for improvement (just saying “Good job” is not helpful) DON’T: Say anything hurtful. Temper your suggestions so the criticism is constructive.