B. Foundations of Language · Listening, Speaking and Word Power

Speaking with a Purpose: Audience, Paraphrasing and Restating

B1.3 A1About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can name the purpose and the audience before I speak.
I can tell when a situation is formal or informal and speak to fit it.
I can paraphrase: say someone's idea in my own words.
I can restate my main idea so listeners remember it.
I can organize what I say so it is clear and easy to follow.

Words to know

purpose
The reason you are speaking: to inform, explain, persuade, entertain or describe.

audience
The people who are listening to you.

paraphrase
To say someone else's idea in your own words, keeping the same meaning.

restate
To say your main idea again, often in a slightly different way, to make it clear.

coherent
Clear and easy to follow, with ideas that are in a sensible order and connect to each other.

formal
A careful, more serious way of speaking, for things like presentations or speaking to a principal or guest.

Remember from Grade 3

In Grade 3 you planned talks for a purpose and audience, and used your voice, body and best words. In Grade 4 you will add two powerful tools: paraphrasing and restating. They help people understand you, and they show that you understood others.

Let's start with a story

Nadia went to a maple sugar bush with her family. She tells the story twice.

To her best friend at recess: "It was SO cool! We had taffy on the snow, and I ate like five!"
To her class, in a short presentation: "This weekend I visited a sugar bush. First, I saw how sap is collected from maple trees. Then, I watched the sap boil into syrup. Finally, we poured hot syrup onto clean snow to make maple taffy."

Same trip, different audience and different purpose. So Nadia chose different words and a different order.

Steam rises from a long pan of boiling maple sap over a wood fire inside a sugar shack. — Inside a sugar shack, sap boils into syrup. Nadia told this part of her trip differently to a friend and to her class. AI-generated image

Nadia tells the same trip two ways: relaxed and excited for her friend, formal and in order for her class.

Purpose	What you want listeners to do	Example
Inform	Learn facts	A talk about how beavers build dams
Explain	Understand how or why	Explaining the rules of a game
Persuade	Agree with you or act	Asking the class to vote for a new reading corner
Entertain	Enjoy it	Telling a funny story about your cat
Describe	Picture something	Describing your favourite place in your neighbourhood

Purposes for speaking

Ask two questions before you speak

Why am I speaking? (purpose)
Who is listening? (audience) Are they friends or adults you don't know well? Younger kids? Do they already know about my topic?

Then choose a formal or informal style. With a guest speaker or in a presentation, use full sentences, polite words and no slang. With friends at recess, a relaxed style is fine.

Paraphrasing: say it in your own words

When you paraphrase, you take someone's idea and say it in your own words, keeping the same meaning. Paraphrasing helps you:

check that you understood ("So you're saying...?")
share information you heard or read, without copying
explain a hard idea in simpler words for your audience

Worked example

Let's paraphrase together

Your teacher reads: "Beavers construct dams across streams, which creates ponds where they can build their lodges safely."

Paraphrase it.

Find the main idea: beavers build dams; the dams make ponds; the ponds keep their homes safe.
Change the hard words to your own: construct → build, lodges → homes.
Say it in your own sentence: "Beavers build dams on streams to make ponds, so they have a safe place for their homes."
Check: Is the meaning the same? Yes. Did I copy the sentence? No.

"Beavers build dams on streams to make ponds, so they have a safe place for their homes."

A paraphrase swaps in your own words (construct → build, lodges → homes) but keeps the same meaning.

Paraphrase starters

"In other words..."
"So what you're saying is..."
"This means that..."
"The speaker explained that..."

A paraphrase is not a copy, and it does not change the meaning or add new ideas.

Restating: say your main idea again

Listeners can't flip back a page the way readers can. Good speakers restate the main idea, often at the beginning and again at the end, so it sticks.

Beginning: "Today I'll tell you why our school needs more bike racks."
End: "So, more bike racks would help more students ride safely to school."

Making your talk coherent

A coherent talk is easy to follow. Use this simple plan:

Opening: tell your topic or main idea.
Middle: two or three points, in a sensible order, joined with linking words (first, next, also, because, for example, finally).
Closing: restate your main idea and thank your audience.

Worked example

Let's plan a short persuasive talk

Purpose: persuade. Audience: your principal. Topic: a buddy-reading program with Kindergarten.

Formal or informal? A principal is an adult in charge, so formal: polite words, full sentences, no slang.
Opening: "Good morning. I would like to suggest a buddy-reading program with the Kindergarten class."
Middle: "First, it would help younger students enjoy books. Also, it would help us practise reading with expression. For example, we could read picture books together every Friday."
Closing (restate): "In other words, buddy reading would help both classes become better readers. Thank you for listening."

The talk has a clear purpose, fits the audience, follows an order and restates the main idea at the end.

Just for fun

Parrots are great at repeating: Polly wants a cracker. Polly wants a cracker. But they never paraphrase. You'll never hear one say, In other words, I'd like a snack.

Hands-on activity

The news reporter game

You need: a grown-up or older sibling, a short news story or article for kids (a library book, a kids' magazine, or a short story a grown-up reads to you), and a spoon or brush for a pretend microphone.

A grown-up reads you one short paragraph from the article.
Paraphrase it: be the "news reporter" and tell the news in your own words, starting with "In other words...". Don't look at the page!
Your grown-up checks: same meaning? Your own words?
Now give a 1-minute report about the article for two different audiences: (a) a Kindergarten child, and (b) a TV news audience. Change your words and style for each.
End each report by restating the main idea: "So remember..."

Talk about it: What did you change for the younger audience?

Your turn

What is the purpose of a talk telling your class how to make a paper airplane?

Is talking to a visiting author in front of the school formal or informal?

Paraphrase: "Students must wear helmets when riding bicycles to school."

What is the difference between paraphrasing and copying?

Write an opening sentence for a talk to inform your class about owls.

Why do good speakers restate their main idea at the end?

Put these parts of a talk in order: closing, opening, middle.

More practice: warm-up

Name the five purposes for speaking from this lesson.

Who is the audience when you read a bedtime story to a younger cousin?

Finish the paraphrase starter: "In other ___..."

What does restate mean?

Give one linking word that helps a talk flow.

More practice: on your own

Paraphrase: "Snowshoes spread a person's weight over a larger area, which keeps them from sinking into deep snow."

Your friend tells you a long story about her weekend. Use a paraphrase to check that you understood.

Change this informal sentence for a formal audience (a guest speaker): "Hey, that was super cool, thanks a bunch!"

Your talk is to persuade the class to join the school choir. Write one middle point with a linking word and a reason.

A paraphrase of "The library will be closed on Monday" says "The library is open every day." What went wrong?

Challenge

Plan a 3-part talk (opening, two middle points, closing) to inform a Grade 1 class about how to stay warm in winter. Remember your audience!

Paraphrase this for a 6-year-old: "Precipitation is water that falls from clouds, such as rain, snow, sleet or hail."

Explain how paraphrasing can help both the speaker and the listener in a group discussion.

Check your understanding

Quiz

What is the purpose of a talk asking classmates to sign up for a park clean-up?

Which is the best paraphrase of "The museum opens at nine in the morning"?

Where do good speakers often restate their main idea?

Which situation is informal?

Which starter is used to paraphrase?

What makes a talk coherent?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 4 expectation B1.3 asks students to identify purpose and audience in formal and informal situations and to use strategies such as paraphrasing and restating to communicate clearly and coherently. Paraphrasing is also a key skill for research and note-taking later on (and for avoiding copying).

How to help at home:

After a show, a news item or a story, ask: "Can you tell me that in your own words?"
Before your child calls a relative, presents a project or orders at a restaurant, ask: "Who is your audience? What do you want to say first?"
Model restating: "So the main thing to remember is..."

Common difficulties:

Copying instead of paraphrasing. Have your child cover the text, then explain it.
Changing the meaning. Ask "Did the speaker really say that?"
Talks that wander. Use the opening-middle-closing plan on a sticky note.