Lesson 45: Discovering Hidden Innovators, Presentations

Have students sit with a shoulder partner and keep their presentation materials in front of them.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: Turn and talk to discuss your response to the question.

• Ask: What should your audience understand by the end of your presentation?

  • My audience should understand who my innovator was, what key contribution the person made, and why that contribution mattered. They should also understand why this innovator deserves recognition, even if the story is not widely known.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: Now that you know the goal of the presentation, you are ready to rehearse. In Part 3 of the Performance Task, you are expected to clearly present your claim, evidence, and explanation, and explain how your visual supports your ideas. Keep these expectations in mind as you rehearse and present today.

This mini-lesson helps students find a public academic voice for presentation day. Students will hear a short model connected to Hidden Figures, echo important lines for pacing and emphasis, and then rehearse three connected sentences from their own presentation so they sound like presenters, not slide readers.

Fluency Practice

• Say: A public academic voice is the voice you use when you are leading an audience through your thinking. It sounds clear, connected, and prepared. It does not sound like you are reading every word from a slide.

• Say: Listen to my model first. Notice how I use transitions to connect ideas and how I explain the visual instead of staring at it.

Read aloud this short line from Hidden Figures that shows how much John Glenn trusted Katherine Johnson’s work:

• "If she says the numbers are good, I'm ready to go."

Teach: Finding Your Public Academic Voice

• Say: When I only read the words in front of me, my voice sounds flat, and the audience has to do the work of figuring out what matters. A presenter does something different: they lead the audience from idea to idea. I might say, “Today, my research focuses on Katherine Johnson and the role she played at NASA. Moreover, in Hidden Figures, John Glenn says, ‘If she says the numbers are good, I'm ready to go,’ and that quote shows how deeply he trusted her calculations.” If I am showing a chart of the flight path, I should not just say, “This is a chart.” I should say, “This chart helps us understand the path Johnson checked so carefully, which makes her contribution easier to see.” Ultimately, my job is to connect the evidence, the visual, and the big idea so the audience can follow my thinking without me reading off the screen.

Instruct students to listen again and echo each sentence after you.

• Say: As you repeat, pay attention to where I pause after transition words like moreover.

Display these Presentation Transitions and Explanation Frames:

• First

• For example

• Moreover

• This chart shows . . .

• This image helps us understand . . .

• Ultimately

Say these Directions: On your note card or in your journal, jot three connected sentences for your presentation: one opening sentence, one evidence sentence, and one visual explanation sentence. Use at least one of these stronger transitions: moreover or ultimately.

Practice the three sentences quietly to yourself once. Then rehearse them with a partner without looking at the screen. You may glance at your note card, but your goal is to explain the idea in your own words.

• Ask: What makes a presenter sound like they know the topic instead of just reading it?

  • A strong presenter connects the ideas out loud instead of just reading sentences. The presenter uses transitions, explains the evidence, and tells the audience what the visual helps them understand.

• Ask: Why is saying “This chart helps us understand” stronger than saying “This is my chart”?

  • It is stronger because it tells the audience what to notice and why the visual matters. It connects the chart to the research claim instead of only naming the visual.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: You now have a short rehearsal model for sounding like a presenter who leads the audience through the research, evidence, and visuals.

Part A: Rehearse the Opening and the Visual (SL.6.4) (10 minutes)

This section prepares students to transition from written work to oral presentation by rehearsing how to clearly communicate a claim, evidence, and visual explanation. Students focus on organizing their ideas into a concise, audience-friendly structure rather than reading from their drafts. The rehearsal emphasizes clarity, academic tone, and purposeful use of transitions so students can guide listeners through their thinking. By practicing with a partner, students begin to refine how they explain not just what their innovator did, but why that contribution matters. This work builds confidence and ensures students are ready to present with clarity and intention.

Say: You will now rehearse the most important part of your presentation before you share it with the class. Your goal is not to memorize your essay. Your goal is to clearly communicate your claim, one key piece of evidence, and how your visual supports your idea.

Say: Begin by introducing your innovator and stating your claim. Then, include one piece of evidence that supports your claim using an evidence frame. Finally, explain your visual by telling the audience what it shows and why it matters.

Display Presentation Structure:

• My innovator is ___.

• My claim is that ___.

• One key piece of evidence is ___.

• This evidence shows ___.

• My visual helps the audience understand ___ because ___.

Say: When I present, I might say: “My innovator is Katherine Johnson. My claim is that her work was essential to NASA’s space missions. One key piece of evidence is that she calculated critical flight paths for John Glenn’s mission. This evidence shows the level of trust NASA placed in her work. My visual helps the audience understand her calculations because it shows the trajectory she helped design.”

Say these Directions: Now practice your three-part presentation with a partner:

1. Opening and claim

2. Evidence with explanation

3. Visual explanation

Say: You have now rehearsed the core parts of your presentation. Next, you will move on to presenting your work to an audience and responding to questions in formal academic language.

By the end of this section, students should be able to clearly state a claim, support it with one relevant piece of evidence, and explain how a visual strengthens audience understanding. Students should demonstrate increased confidence in speaking using an academic register and organizing ideas into a logical sequence. This rehearsal ensures that students are prepared to communicate their ideas effectively during the formal presentation and to engage their audience with clear, purposeful explanations.

Part B: Present and Respond (SL.6.4) (20 minutes)

This section moves students from rehearsal into formal presentation, where they apply speaking and listening skills to communicate their research clearly to an audience. Students present a focused claim supported by evidence and explain how their visual strengthens understanding of the innovator’s contribution. The emphasis is on clarity, organization, and academic register, as well as responding thoughtfully to audience questions. At the same time, students practice active listening by identifying strengths in peers’ presentations and offering specific, standards-based feedback. This work reinforces that presenting is both a speaking and a listening task.

Review the Performance Task Handout

Audience expectations:

• Listen actively

• Note one strong claim

• Note one strong use of evidence or visual explanation

• Write specific feedback for at least two classmates

• Ask follow-up questions respectfully

Question frames:

• A follow-up detail is . . .

• To clarify . . .

• Another way to understand this contribution is . . .

• How well does the evidence support this claim?

• Ask: As an audience member, what are you listening for in a strong presentation?

I am listening for a clear claim, strong evidence, and an explanation of the visual. I am also listening for formal tone, transitions, and whether the presenter explains why the contribution mattered.

Say these Directions: We are now moving into the full presentation part of the performance task. Presenters should use formal tone, clear transitions, and evidence-based explanations. Audience members will evaluate how effectively the presenter’s evidence supports their claim. Feedback must include one strength and one specific suggestion related to claim clarity, evidence strength, or explanation of the visual.

After each rehearsal, partners should give one piece of feedback:

• Was the claim clear?

• Was the evidence explained, or was it just stated?

• Did the visual explanation help the audience understand the idea?

By the end of this section, students should be able to present a clear claim with relevant evidence and explain how their visuals support their ideas using formal academic language. Students should also demonstrate active listening by providing specific feedback and asking or responding to follow-up questions. Presentations should reflect clear organization and purposeful transitions that guide the audience through the speaker’s thinking. This work prepares students to complete the performance task by communicating their research effectively and engaging with others’ ideas in a structured, academic setting.

Reflection

This section supports students in reflecting on their presentation performance and connecting their speaking work back to the goals of the unit performance task. Students consider how effectively they communicated their claim, evidence, and visual explanation, and how they used academic language and transitions. Reflection helps students identify both strengths and areas for growth in presenting research to an audience. This moment reinforces that strong communication includes not only preparation and delivery, but also thoughtful self-assessment.

Have students submit their final drafts and complete the Self-Reflection graphic organizer. If needed, students may finish the reflection for homework.

Say these Directions: Complete your Self-Reflection graphic organizer based on your presentation. Use the Performance Task rubric to reflect on how clearly you presented your claim, evidence, explanation, and visual support.

Instruct students to complete their Self-Reflection graphic organizer.