In October, the Greater Princeton Branch of AYLUS (GPA) students continued their Education Help Program. Although schools are restarting, some middle school students are still looking for tutoring classes to improve their academic skills in classes like math, science, or reading. Because of this, GPA is holding tutoring opportunities in core subjects.
GPA members (10/13, 2 hrs) Karen Yang and Kevin Song: Today was our fifth writers’ workshop! First, we began with a warm up about a song and having to construct a narrative from it. We then guessed if it was a true story or not. We then did a few one-on-one conferences and then tried out a group writing prompt (after splitting students up into two groups) that loosely followed the recent hit, “Squid Games.” We want to develop this more and we’ll see everyone next week!
GPA has also been working with middle school students on important public speaking skills. We designed the class for beginners with the desire to improve their speaking skills. GPA members led by Alissa Wu and Grace Li teach these classes and creates a schedule based on past roles and student preferences, updates the class spreadsheet, designs slideshows and activities, finds informational videos, and sends students speech feedback. The class has 10 students, who spend most of the time doing speeches, but they also watch informational videos and do other class activities. We facilitate classes and guides each student as they gain experience within each of the meeting roles.
On September 17th (2 hrs), the class theme was “Bread.” The class continued doing Project 6 Speeches; the aim is to improve message delivery by varying volume, pace, pitch, and overall by using vocal techniques. They then continued practicing impromptu speeches with questions centered on the theme, such as “What is your favorite type of bread?” and “Do you think nutrition or bread taste is more important?” Students would take a few seconds to think about the question, then give a 1-2 minute speech. After they finished, the teacher gave them feedback did, and pointers on what to improve.
On October 1st (2 hrs), the class theme was “Lunch.” The class wrapped up Project 6 speeches; the aim is to improve message delivery by varying volume, pace, pitch, and overall by using vocal techniques. Next class, they will work on Project 7. After the speeches were over, the teacher gave them advice on their speeches, such as ways to make slides more readable, or guidelines about how many words should go on a slide. They then continued practicing impromptu speeches with questions centered on the theme, such as “Do you like school lunches?” and “Do you think it is important for students to know how to make their own lunch?” Students would take a few seconds to think about the question, then give a 1-2 minute speech. After they finished, the teacher gave them feedback did, and pointers on what to improve.
The program allows GPA members to provide reading, writing, speaking, communication, and more to their students across the country.
