A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. Proverbs 25:11
I've taught a public speaking class for several homeschool families throughout the past eight years as each of my children reached high school. It's always been a fun class and I know the kids have learned a good bit about standing in front of their peers and sharing a peek into who they are. We've covered the basics of speech and learned how NOT to be a distraction when you have a captive audience, but now that I've had the opportunity to begin working through the
Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric (complete program) by
Roman Roads Media, there's SO MUCH MORE I want to teach. I'm happy that my "baby" still has this last year of school so that we could add classical rhetoric to her course load.
Rhetoric is defined as the art of effective verbal communication and
Fitting Words uses speeches from history and Scripture as the basis of instruction. Taught by author Jim Nance, students are continually reminded that GOD created us to use words to communicate and HE wants us to use them in such a way that we teach, move, and delight others through truth, goodness, and beauty. Our words need to be informative and powerful, but they also need to be elegant. We want to be able to Biblically persuade others as we conversate.
The goal of
Fitting Words is to create orators (our students) who are filtered -- not through the society in which they live, but who are filtered through the Bible. This curriculum offers a Christian perspective of rhetoric and seeks to redeem the pagan teachings of old. Students are reminded that GOD spoke the world into being and are directed to HIS WORD. There is weekly Scripture memory
(you know I love that!) and GOD's Word is the living, breathing textbook used in every lesson.
I was excited when my package arrived and couldn't wait to get the box opened up and the curriculum out of it. Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric arrived at my house packed safely in this handy bag and it is perfect for keeping all of the program's components safe and sound between lessons.
There is so much here to unpack.
Fitting Words is a video-based course and the complete curriculum consists of the following components:
- Textbook -- 394-page, hardcover, divided into 30 Lessons
- Workbook -- 171-page, coilbound, softcover includes exercises for each lesson. This is a consumable resource which means that students should be writing in its pages. You will need one workbook for each of your students. It is a necessary component of the class.
- Exam Packet -- shrinkwrapped, 3-hole-punched, loose-leaf pages which contain the Reviews for 9 Exams, the 9 Exams, and Judging Sheets for 6 Speeches (The actual giving of speeches begins in Lesson 13.)
- Video Course (DVD + Streaming) -- case of 4 DVDs. Each lesson has a main video that students watch before they read the lesson and an application video they watch following the reading of the lesson. There is also a Pre-Exam video to be watched as part of the Exam Reviews. Videos are 6 - 28 minutes in length.
- Answer Key -- softcover, bound book that contains all answers for Lesson Exercises and Exams with points suggestions for scoring Exams. This serves as your Teacher's Guide and gives suggested schedules for using Fitting Words as either a one- or two-year course as pictured below:
We are utilizing the one-year plan (on the right) with my daughter working four days a week and here's the deal -- Fitting Words had me from the moment we pushed play on the DVD. The very first thing in the very first lesson is an encouragement to read the Preface and the Introduction from the Textbook which explains the overall structure of the curriculum and the goals that Mr. Nance has for the student. He tells them to STOP THE VIDEO if they haven't read those pages and come back once they've read them. I just love that he makes sure that students understand that ALL parts of a text are important. I will go one step further and suggest that you make sure to read the Foreword, as well. Rhetoric in the Hands of an Angry Mob tells us that if we want to be faithful Christians, then studying rhetoric is not an option. It is a necessity for us all.
Mr. Nance really does want the very best from each student and this is evident in his teaching style. He reviews, he teaches, and he reviews again continually pointing out ways that the students can find success. Additionally, he intertwines Scripture through every lesson and explains that we will be studying the very best speeches so that we can deliver the very best speeches. I appreciate this approach to a class that can sometimes be very scary.
After explaining that the goals of rhetoric are found in truth, goodness, and beauty, students were directed to take out their very own copy of GOD's Word and read through Psalm 119. This is a Thinking Deeper discussion question. Mr. Nance shared that Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and a great place to find examples of the rhetoric goals. Do I even need to tell you how much I love this? I'm a firm believer in making the pages of a Bible your very own and I was thrilled to see my girl following through.
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Another HUGE part of the video lessons is the Application Lesson. After students watch the initial video and read in their text, they return to the video for a short lesson of one rhetorical figure. Students learn about Figures of Speech and Figures of Thought. They will revisit these figures at the end of the text, but are being introduced to them slowly throughout the year. This is also where students receive suggestions for how to complete the discussion questions found in the text (Thinking Deeper), work through the accompanying exercises in the workbook, and receive their Commonplace topics.
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The Commonplace assignment is one of my favorites. Commonplaces are written in a Commonplace book which is nicely bound and portable. Mr. Nance gives a specific theme for quotes to be written down and regularly read through. Students are encouraged to use the quotes in conversaion. I'm sharing a page from my daughter's Commonplace, but offer a little grace as you view it. She said that it was not written with intentions of anyone but her seeing it, but she allowed me to take a picture anyway. :)
I am more than happy with the fact that
Fitting Words takes a Christian approach to rhetoric. I am in love with the entire program and ecstatic that we have found
(or it found us) a curriculum that places GOD in the very center. With a world full of junk that can be committed to memory, it does our hearts good knowing that the speeches from the Bible are the ones being poured over and committed to memory.
The textbook consists of 30 Lessons divided into 7 Units. These Units begin with the foundations of rhetoric, and teach students HOW to write speeches that people will want to listen to using a Socratic method of instruction. Students will learn HOW to engage their audience through watching great speeches, listening to great speeches, reading great speeches, and giving great speeches. The text is phenomenal and the videos are beautifully produced. The speeches of famous orators are integrated right into the teaching segments. As delightful as it was to see and hear Neil Armstrong's small step, it was gut-wrenching to watch President George W. Bush deliver his speech to the nation after 9/11.
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Fitting Words is a fabulous course for high school students, but it's also a fabulous course for adults. I've enjoyed sitting down with my girl and watching the videos, reading through the pages of the textbook, and pouring over the speeches shared in the appendix just as much as she has -- and I love the way it makes us both THINK. I especially love that every speech found in the Bible that is spoken or written with a direct audience in mind is listed in the back of the textbook. These speeches are laid out by reference, speaker, and intended audience with a title of specific quote attributed to them. This alone is an incredible resource.
I think that every student should study Classical Rhetoric through the videos and pages of
Fitting Words. There is even a
live class option, if your high schooler migh be interested in taking that route. You absolutely cannot go wrong using this
Roman Roads Media curriculum. Check it out
! You can
watch one full lesson for FREE on the website to get a feel for how it works as well as find lots of great information through the following:
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