Fourth Grade 4-H Speech Topics

4-H is the youth development organization that educates, motivates and empowers young people to reach their full potential, through programs relating to science, citizenship and healthy living. It promotes communication and public speaking through speaking activities and speech contests for 5 to 19 year olds. Fourth graders will usually be in the novice category if aged nine, and the junior category if aged ten. Fourth graders are expected to present a speech of two to three minutes in length.

In his speech entitled "What's That?" the fourth grader can talk about items that he hears adults talk about that are fast becoming obsolete and that he has never heard of, much less seen. From Concorde to vinyl records, and the watch that is rapidly being replaced by cell phones with built-in clocks, there are plenty of items that adults take for granted that kids will know as antiques.

The fourth grader can speculate on what she would do if she was President of the United States. She can talk about the laws she would change or make, and what she would do differently to the current president. She can also speculate on being the first female president.

The child can talk about his career aspirations. He can discuss what has inspired him to think about choosing that specific career, what he imagines his working day will look like in 15 or 20 years time and how much he thinks he will be paid.

Researching a local natural feature such as a river or nature reserve and discussing it in relation to the environment will make for a good local interest speech. It will also show-off the student's understanding of environmental issues and how they affect her local area. This could be particularly interesting if the feature has been threatened or impacted by industry, construction and other negative forces.

Researching the family tree can uncover some fascinating information and a fourth grader can share what he has uncovered about his ancestors. They may have had interesting professions, be linked to famous people in history, or even played a role in founding the local community.

Kids with a comedic presence can highlight this by producing a speech which is funny in content. He could speculate about the aliens that live locally and give evidence he has gathered that supports his claims. He can also drop in the names of well-known teachers and locals as suspected aliens. For example; "I saw Mr Matthews running for the bus last week, when he overtook the bus and three cars in the fast lane of the freeway, I knew he'd had more than a healthy breakfast that morning."