Good advice from Charlie and others. I am just writing to mention 
that my 5th-grader team three years ago did a little drama play, 
reading all their lines from scripts, and still came away with a 
plaque in the research category. It's a question of costs and 
benefits:  The most important thing is that they did an effective 
project and completed all of its required steps. If the team can 
convey all their information in an effective and engaging way without 
using notes, that's terrific. If using cards is necessary lest they 
forget critical points (or freeze up with stage fright), then the 
benefit of the cards outweighs the cost of imperfect memorization.

Mike

>Laura,
>
>The judges will be evaluating your team based on the Project Rubric
>contained on pages 102 and 103 of the Coaches' Handbook.  The rubric
>contains 4 categories including Creative Presentation.  Reading from note
>cards is not disallowed but would likely be judged as "Needs Improvement" or
>perhaps, "Fair".  Imagine yourself as a judge and ask yourself which box you
>would check if you had to evaluate your own team.  It is subjective but I
>would be scrutinizing the text of the rubric for "Lacks excitement or
>creativity", "Many errors or not well rehearsed", "No visual aids or support
>material", and "Team members ideas were not integrated".  If your skit was
>performed as a TV news report you can imagine that using note cards might
>appear more natural.  If it is a quiz show format (Jeopardy is pretty
>popular) the host can read from note cards and the category prompts help the
>kids remember their lines.  Also, in the event the 'contestant responds
>incorrectly/forgets lines, etc., the text beneath the category cards makes
>it clear to the judges what information the 'contestant' was trying to
>convey.  I offer these examples to illustrate that teams enjoy great
>flexibility in how they conduct their presentation.
>
>Charlie Aldridge
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Laura Dysart" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "Charles Aldridge" <[log in to unmask]>
>Cc: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Friday, October 30, 2009 11:08 AM
>Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] Multiple Passenger Safety Test Question
>
>>Research Project Question:  Each member of our team focused on a  specific
>>area of the "solution" they will be presenting.  Primary  resources were
>>based on two interviews with experts and then internet  research for more
>>detail.
>>They have written up their "script"- as they are doing a skit.  Is it  ok
>>for them to bring note cards with them and read them?  The kids did  the
>>work- and wrote up their info- we are a first time team- one  doesn't want
>>anything written- some do.
>>Laura Dysart, Coach
>
>-- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit 
>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or 
>leave the list".
>
>-- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via 
>VADCFLL-ADMIN-L. Visit 
>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html to subscribe.

-- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list".

-- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ADMIN-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html to subscribe.