Oral Presentation Rubric: Geography

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Written Essay Student has detailed Student has general Student has fragmented Student has little or
information with proper information in his/her information in his/her no information with
citations, grammar and own words on own words with many extensive grammar
spelling in his/her own information gathered grammar and spelling and spelling errors.
words on important with few grammatical errors in partial essay No essay or MLA
information gathered in and spelling errors in format and MLA format.
proper essay format and proper essay format citation.
MLA citation. and MLA citation.
Geographic Student exceeded Student met the Student partially met Student did not
Research and requirements of minimum requirements requirements of complete the required
Organization compiled, cited, analyzed of compiled, cited, compiled, cited, analyzed Geographic
of and explained analyzed and explained and explained information for
Information Geographic information Geographic Geographic information his/her presentation.
in his/her presentation. information for his/her for his/her presentation.
presentation.
Oral half of Student presented in an Student presented in an Student presented in an Student presented in
Presentation organized, informative organized and organized manner but a disorganized and
and creative way. With informative way with with little information non-informative way
proper speech giving little creativity using and no creativity using with little creativity
skills. improper speech skills. improper speech skills. using improper
speech skills.
Visual half of Presented a creative and Presented video/power Presented video/power Presented a
Presentation stimulating video/power point that assisted their point that assisted their video/power point
point that enhanced their presentation meeting presentation below that did not assist
presentation beyond minimum minimum requirements. their presentation or
requirements. requirements. meet requirements.

Requirements:

1.) Essay: All essays will be two to five pages in length depending on the information
needed to cover a subject completely.
2.) Information in the essay will be in a students own words but may include very
limited quotations. NOTE: An essay is not a list of quotations but the writers
relating of analyzed and researched information.
3.) The information must include:
A.) All geographic information about the subject.
B.) Geographic information must be defined, explained and relevant to the
subject. Visuals may be used but do not count as part of the essay length.
 C.) Information must be presented as part of the essay not a separate
paragraph or presentation of information.
4.) Essays will be in proper Collegiate Format as follows:
A.) Cover pages are not required but an upper left hand corner insert is.

Example:
John Doe
Geography 101
Period 3
Mr. Gaebler
September 12, 2012

B.) Page numbers will be inserted in the MLA style, the page number is
preceded by your last name spaces, i.e. Brown 1. Also in the MLA style all
pages that contain the essay text are numbered in the upper right hand
corner.
C.) Typeface will be Times New Roman size 12.
D.) Titles are centered under upper left hand corner insert.
E.) Essay will be submitted electronically, single spaced only, and comments
will be inserted in red as needed after review.
F.) Paragraphs are separated by one space only and indented.
G.) All research will be cited in a citation area or page after the essay. The
following web site gives the MLA citation formats that will be used. Read
what is needed and use it properly.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/

5.) The introduction paragraph in one space below the centered title. Is left
justified and indented, (NOTE: all paragraphs are left justified and indented on
the fist sentence only.) It contains an introductory sentence, the theses statement,
(explanation of the essay) and a transition as the last sentence leading to the next
paragraph and or subject.

6.) The Body of the essay, following the introduction may vary from two to several
paragraphs depending on the amount of information being related. Each
paragraph is a continuation of a previous paragraphs transition and has as its last
sentence a transition to the next paragraph.

7.) The last paragraph is the conclusion that reiterates the theses statement and
includes a concluding statement of the information presented in the essay.

Essay Dos and Donts:

1.) Always speak in first person whenever possible. The use of the words Were, was,
 Has, been, or any other past tense verbiage is discouraged except when it is part
of the context of a quote or needed to describe someone or something.

2.) Speak on and to the subject at the outset. The use of phrases such as, I am
writing about or , This essay is about or any similar verbiage is forbidden
and will count as improper formatting.

3.) Plagiarism is an academic and federal crime do not take it lightly. Plagiarism is
the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another
author and the representation of them as one's own original work. This does not
include citation or quotation where proper credit is given and listed in the citation
page. Any student caught plagiarizing will get a 0 on their paper.

Proper Speech Skills:

If you ever meet someone who says they have no fear of speaking in public
avoid them they are an idiot.

Speaking in public is a fearful but controllable situation that everyone faces in life
and there are a few tricks to make it easier and more enjoyable to bear in mind when
making a speech or presentation.

1.) Be organized in your thoughts and if possible use brief bullet point note cards to
keep you mind on track of what you are saying and the order in which you wish to
present it.
2.) If you are uncomfortable making eye contact with the audience find two or three
places in the back of the room to use as a focus. This gives confidence to you the
speaker when the audience may seem hostile.
3.) Make the subject interesting by using verbal inflection to avoid sounding boring
and uninterested in your own words. If you sound bored your audience will be
bored and loose interest quickly.
4.) Use the Pause to your advantage. Many speakers feel they must fill every
moment with sound, the sound of their own voice, or people will become bored
and stop listening. Not true. The time for the speaker seems intolerably long when
trying to convey information but in fact it is relatively short, so when you feel
nervous about a silent moment use it to enhance your speech at moment where
you wish to present a particular word or phrase to make a point.
5.) The speakers are also the best listeners. Listen to yourself when you speak to
others even in a casual conversation. How many times do you use the sounds ah
or um, or something similar when speaking? Make a conscious effort to stop
using them. Nothing turns off listeners more than to hear a steady stream of uh,
um, ah, um, um, um ah that takes the place of actual words.
6.) Avoid at all costs using colorful metaphors when speaking. These are what are
defined as swear words that are used to shock, insult, or hurt others and are too
often used in every day conversation without a real understanding of their actual
meaning. Do not use these words. There are 400,000 words in the Colloquial
English language that, used properly and with good speaking habits, are much
more effective, less insulting and have more shock value.