This document provides guidance for using "Who Was" books to give presentations in Classical Conversations. It recommends starting with telling favorite parts from the book without reading. More advanced presentations can incorporate props, actions, humor, and a presentation chant. Sample presentation outlines are provided matching books to the Classical Conversations Cycle 1 list. The overall message is that these books provide interesting topics and details to engage an audience in a history presentation.

1. Colby’s Scalable
Presentation Plan:
How to Use
“Who Was” Books for
Classical Conversations
Presentations
To order the bookset:
www.Colbybooks.com

2. How to use “Who was” books for presentation time.
After 5 years of Foundations, I wanted to start doing better presentations. I had
run out of Lego sets to show and mom said I had to pick a topic before we got in
the car on Tuesdays. I had fallen into the habit of grabbing whatever was
between the seats in the car.

3. Why I like these books.
I thought I would not like the “Who Was” series
when I first picked up “Who Was Paul Revere?”
Now, I will read one whenever I can get my hands
on one and we do 2 chapters every night. We just
finished Mother Teresa last night.
Last year I realized that there was a book for
every history sentence in Classical Conversations
(Cycle 3). We made a list and shared it.
My favorite books from last year were Neil
Armstrong, George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson, Lewis & Clark Expedition and Robert E
Lee, not to mention Thomas Alva Edison.

4. Why I chose to
present on books.
I love to read and
sometimes I read 2 or 3
books a day so I was already
talking about my favorite
books at dinner or with
Grandma.
Mom keeps yelling at me to
stop reading and start doing
school which we both think
is funny.
I decided to keep reading,
but start using “Who was”
books for presentation
prep.

5. The first book I presented on was “Where is
Mount Rushmore?” I started out by bringing the
book and just telling everyone my favorite parts.
Because we only had 2 minutes, I put the book
behind my back and had them guess which book
it was. I gave them hints. I asked if anyone had
any questions. That was my first presentation
with a book! Easy.
PROP: One of the easiest ways to
make a presentation better is to bring a
PROP. A prop is anything that you can
use to hold up or point to that helps you
tell your story. A book is a great prop.
Asking your audience to
guess or participate is a good
way to get them involved.

6. What if you are ready for more?
Babe Ruth
One of my favorite historic people is Babe
Ruth. Did you know that every time he
missed the ball, he would spin completely
around?
If I wanted to add interest to my
presentation on Babe Ruth, I would bring
a plastic bat and show my class how he
would spin while I was saying the words
“spin around”.
Once you can bring in your
favorite book and show it
and tell something about it,
you are ready to step-up
your presentation.
ACTION: Another fun way to engage
your audience is to move and
demonstrate your words. You can even
have the people in your audience
demonstrate with you, as long as you do
not lose control and run out of time.

7. Did you know that Ronald Reagan
always had jelly beans available at
his Cabinet meetings?
Teddy Roosevelt had the West
Wing added to the White House
so he could have some privacy
from his 6 kids.
President Taft had the reputation
for falling asleep anywhere. He
even fell asleep during an
important funeral.
Want an even better presentation? It’s time for humor.
Tell something weird or funny
about your book or person.

8. Want an even better presentation?
It’s time for the CC Presentation Chant.
3-Second Rule
1-2-3 (Raise 1, 2 & 3 fingers). Okay!
Projection
Inflection
Don’t give us a frown.
Smile
Speak clearly,
And never look down.
Don’t Wiggle.
Don’t Giggle.
And always be prepared.
Speak in your
Allotted time
And try not to look scared.
3-Second Rule
1-2-3 (clap, clap, clap). Oh yeah!
Beginning Public Speaking Cheer.
Adapted from CFC Conference in MN 2010

9. Here are all the things this chant is reminding
you to do when you present.
Beginning & Ending with Confidence
Appropriate Gestures
Projection
Inflection
Expression
Expression
Articulation
Eye Contact
Body language
Body language
Organization
Audience Consideration
Audience Consideration
Poise
Beginning & Ending Confidence
Appropriate Gestures
Beginning Public Speaking Cheer.
Adapted from CFC Conference in MN 2010

10. And here they are together.
3-Second Rule (Beginning & Ending with Confidence)
1-2-3 (Raise 1, 2 & 3 fingers). Okay! (Appropriate Gestures)
Projection (Making your voice heard)
Inflection (Varying your voice pitch and tone)
Don’t give us a frown (Facial expressions)
Smile (Facial expressions)
Speak clearly, (Articulation)
And never look down. (Eye contact)
Don’t Wiggle. (Body language)
Don’t Giggle. (Body language)
And always be prepared. (Organization)
Speak in your (Audience consideration)
Allotted time (Audience consideration)
And try not to look scared. (Poise)
3-Second Rule (Beginning & Ending with Confidence)
1-2-3 (clap, clap, clap). Oh yeah! (Appropriate Gestures)
Beginning Public Speaking Cheer.
Adapted from CFC Conference in MN 2010

11. The end is in sight! It’s time
for you to put this into
practice.
Give your first presentation
using your favorite “Who Was”
book. You can sync it to the
Cycle 1 list in the next slide.

13. Here is a sample of a presentation that could
be done by a 9 year old.

14. I was able to use my “Who Was” books for both an
Essentials essay and a presentation.

15. Although this could be read during presentation, it is
never as interesting as giving a speech without reading.

16. You can even use parts of your Essentials essay or add a
quote from your favorite book (see bottom rt corner)

17. Thanks for watching my presentation….
You can see my
Cycle 1 and Cycle 3
MASHUPs at:
www.colbybooks.com