Pioneer's Black History Month Oratorical Fest
Celebrate Black History Month by participating in our 2nd Annual Oratorical.
Who can participate? All Pioneer students are invited and encouraged to research, select an African-American figure, and perform a piece authored by that figure.
What is an Oratorical? A performance of African-American-authored poetry, speeches, and/or monologues recited by another person (In this case, a Pioneer Student). See a sample oratorical fest here.
How do you participate?
- Fill out the participant form (this form includes info on how to submit your video).
- Submit video performance (up to 3 minutes for solos & up to 5 minutes for pairs/groups).
- Based on the number of submissions, all or some students will be invited to a live showcase.
- All submissions will be made available for community viewing via our website.
When is this taking place?
- February 5th: Video submission Deadline. Make sure to say your name and grade in your video (Sample video submission).
- February 10th: Videos posted for viewing & invites for live showcase sent.
- February 15th, 3:30 - 5 pm: Showcase practice
- February 22nd, 6:30-8:00 pm: Showcase
Places to look for texts:
- American rhetoric top 100 speeches- Please note, you'd have to filter for speeches given by African-American figures
- The History Place: Great Speeches Collection
- Poems, articles, and podcasts
- 34 Powerful Black History Month Poems for Kids of All Ages
Collection of Oratorical Videos (You can view them to find a text you like).
About Effective Performances
- Effective Qualities of Oratorical Performance: Our event is not a competition. Instead, it's a showcase, however, this is a useful link to think about ways to pactice your performance: MLK Oratorical score sheet
- TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design)- a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less) www.ted.com