Year 4 Speeches worksheet

“Speeches are for everyone” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 4 English unit “Speeches”, for children aged 8 to 9, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 35 to 36 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Speeches are for everyone

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 4 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain what a speech is and why people give them.

A Look back3 min

1.
Circle the word that joins the two ideas and gives the reason.
becausequicklytableunder
2.
Read: The tall dog is happy. It can run and jump over my bag. Write each word in the right column.
dogrunhappybagjumptall
Nouns Verbs Adjectives
3.
Number the steps 1, 2 and 3 to put the story in order.
1. She plants them in a pot.
2. The seeds grow into tall sunflowers.
3. Ola finds a tin of seeds.

B Watch me, then you4 min

A speech is a talk that shares an idea with listeners or asks for a change. Ruby thinks the bus should run later on Sundays. Here is her reason.

A quiet bus stop on a wet street with an empty bench and a timetable board

Watch me

Opinion: the bus should run later on Sundays.

Reason: families want to visit friends in the afternoon.

Together: the bus should run later on Sundays because families want to visit friends.

Now you

1.
Sam thinks the library should open on Saturdays. Write one reason with 'because'.
2.
Which sentence gives a reason for the opinion 'The bus should come more often'? Circle one.
The bus is red.The bus has two windows.People wait a long time in the rain.

C Your turn6 min

Read each row. Circle the answer. Each row changes one thing.

1.
Which sentence is an opinion? Circle one.
Oak trees lose their leaves in autumn.Autumn is the best season.
2.
Which sentence is a fact? Circle one.
Rain is the best weather.Rain falls from clouds.
3.
Which sentence gives a reason for 'Parks should have more benches'? Circle one.
Parks are green.Older people need somewhere to rest.
4.
A speaker wants to ___ the audience to agree. Circle the word that fits the gap.
persuadewhisperwandersleep

Say it out loud: What did each row ask you to notice? How was it different from the row before?

D Spot the mistake3 min

An empty school hall stage with a microphone stand and rows of chairs

Kit says: “Only grown-ups can make a speech, so I cannot make one.”

1.
Write one sentence to explain why Kit is wrong.

E Think deeper4 min

Think of one change you would like at home or at school.

1.
Write one opinion about your change and two reasons. Start with: I think...

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Speeches are for everyone · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. because If your child circles 'quickly', ask: does this word tell us why Ola wears a coat? We need a joining word that gives the reason.

2. Nouns: dog, bag · Verbs: run, jump · Adjectives: happy, tall If 'happy' lands in Verbs, ask your child: can you do happy, or can you be happy? A word that describes is an adjective.

3. 1 Ola finds a tin of seeds. · 2 She plants them in a pot. · 3 The seeds grow into tall sunflowers. If the sunflowers come first, ask your child: what has to happen before a seed can grow?

B

1. Look for: A reason that links to the library opening on Saturdays and uses because or another clear why. If your child writes only a fact, such as 'The library has books', ask: why would that make Saturday opening a good idea?

2. People wait a long time in the rain. If your child circles a sentence about colour or windows, ask: does this tell us why the bus should come more often?

C

1. Autumn is the best season. If your child circles the oak tree sentence, ask: could someone check this by looking? Then ask whether someone could disagree with the other one.

2. Rain falls from clouds.

3. Older people need somewhere to rest. If your child circles 'Parks are green', ask: does being green explain why parks need more benches? A reason must explain the opinion.

4. persuade

D

1. Look for: Explains that children can make speeches too, for example by asking for a rule to change. If your child says children are too young, ask whether a child could speak in assembly or at a club about a change they want. That is a speech.

E

1. Look for: An opinion about a change, with at least two reasons linked by because or so.

Words to use

Say“Who in our house has made a speech this week? What was the reason they gave?”

Instead of“Speeches are for famous people, so this is not for you.”

After the sheet

Hold a two-minute dinner speech about one change you want, with two reasons. Swap turns, and let the listener say which reason was the strongest.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Features that make speeches shine(with a plan)
Sorting a speech into PEPS(with a plan)
Why am I speaking?(with a plan)
Building a PEPS speech(with a plan)
Delivering My Speech(with a plan)

Every Year 4 English worksheet

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