A program of speech for the seventh grade of Deer Park schools

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a speech program for the seventh grade of the Deer Park Junior High Schools, Deer Park, Texas. A study of the records of the 1967 graduating class of Deer Park High School led to the conclusion that a large majority of the students in Deer Park secondary schools need to have a course available in the seventh grade. Otherwise they may not get a course at all. The writer believes that speech training is necessary to accomplish the aims of education, and offers the thesis for this paper: speech in the seventh grade is valuable to the social and educational adjustment of the junior high school child; therefore a course should be designed especially for that grade. The history and facilities of the speech departments of the Deer Park junior high schools are favorable for a program of seventh grade speech. A course of study for seventh grade speech was developed within the limits of the philosophy of speech education and with consideration for the administration’s attitude, the community, and the students. The program, as developed, includes units in orientation, story telling, oral reading, self-expression by means of the short talk, pantomime and dramatics. While this study pertains specifically to the seventh grade speech program in the Deer Park schools, many aspects of the study are applicable to other communities with similar characteristics.