TOPIC 1: BE KIND

A Hot Dog for Kindness | Paz Parel-Sewell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUlehTS_ezQ

Useful vocabulary
1. depend on (anyone): phụ thuộc, trông chờ, dựa dẫm vào (ai đó)
2. a dystopia: phản địa đàng (thế giới không hoàn hảo, đầy tuyệt vọng)
3. look for as many chances as possible: tìm kiến, tận dụng nhiều cơ hội nhất có thể
4. a real utopia: địa đàng (thế giới tươi đẹp, yên lành)
5. discrimination: phân biệt đối xử
6. the foundation and the key to peace: nền tảng và chìa khóa xây dựng hòa bình
7. the food pantry: ngân hàng thực phẩm (nơi phát đồ ăn miễn phí cho người nghèo)
8. a mortal enemy: kẻ thù truyền kiếp
9. you’re frustrated with (someone): bạn thất vọng, khó chịu với (ai đó)
10. brighten up: làm tốt đẹp hơn

Script
What if there was no kindness in the world? Would you feel sad, lonely or scared? Could you
depend on anyone? Maybe you wouldn't feel safe because there's no one you could trust.
Arguments would most likely happen all the time. More wars would break out and the world
would be a dystopia. There's already a problem with lack of kindness in the world. Wars are
forcing people out of their homes and sadly in other countries, people are fighting wars,
urging wars, and also trying to keep other kinds of people away from them, like banning
certain races and religions who come to the country. What's up with that? You only get one
life so you should look for as many chances as possible to be kind in your life.

What if kindness spreads all over the world and there's no hate? Instead of a dystopia the
world would be a real utopia. Now when it happens, people have the chance to speak up and
share their ideas and feelings. There’d have been no discrimination, insults or negativity.
How could we help kindness spread across the world? We can make videos on kindness and
spread our knowledge on kindness, making TED talks about kindness.

But, why is kindness important? Kindness is important because being kind is the foundation
and the key to peace. Being kind is how you build peace and we need to build peace because
if we don't, all the world will spiral into chaos. Our world is really one big family and our
family will collapse. The famous author Mark Twain said “Kindness is the language which
the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” I think this quote means that kindness is such an
important virtue that sparks your heart. Aesop, the famous Greek philosopher, said “No act of
kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted” which means even if it was a small act of
kindness, it will never be forgotten. A random act of kindness is that you act kind, with no
thought of getting anything in return or anyone noticing. You do this because your heart
sparks to it. Here are some ways to be kind. Smiling at someone as they walk by, or waving at
Ms. Dung Le Eso
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someone. You might know someone, never got a chance to be kind to them and end up
forgetting it.

You can buy someone who's hungry a hot dog. But if you have the time, it's even better to do
a service project. That service project can be doing beach cleanups, working in the food
pantry, helping the elderly homeless in your community. Sometimes being kind isn’t easy.
Sometimes you have to be kind to a mortal enemy such as a little brother or sister. I'm
kidding. I know that can be hard, I know that can be hard sometimes. Even I have trouble
with it when Flitz, my brother, is ignoring me and shutting me out. I know I get on my
brother's nerves a lot. I mean a lot. But do you know what he does for every single morning?
He makes my lunch. Every single morning.

Even if you’re frustrated with someone, you should still be kind. You might be the light they
need in their dark day. Say the person was in a bad mood because they got in a fight with
their best friend, or maybe they're really hungry and you just bought the last hot dog. But if
you give up the hot dog to him or her, you get rid of the rain cloud, you brighten up their day.
Well it also brightens up your day too.

How do you know what you're doing is kind? All religions talk about the Golden Rule which
is a rule that talks about kindness. Christianity says “In everything, do to others as you would
have them do to you.” Islam says “Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others
what you wish for yourself.” The Baháʼí Faith says “Lay not, on any soul, a load that you
would not wish to be laid upon you and desire not for anyone things you do not desire for
yourself.” The other cool thing about kindness, often it comes back to you. Would be not all
the time, we should act kind because it’s a great thing to do, not because you want something
returned. No matter what, you'd always got a good feeling inside.

So would you rather have a world full of kindness or a world full of hate and despair? I hope
this TED talk has inspired you to choose kindness and find ways to be nice, helpful and even
encouraging because you'll never regret being kind. You never regret being a light in
someone's dark day.

Ms. Dung Le Eso

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 TOPIC 2: The Effects of Lying | Georgia Haukom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbftlDzIALA

Useful vocabulary
1. intensive care (unit): (phòng) săn sóc tích cực
2. told a lie: nói dối = TELL A LIE
3. keep doing it over and over and over: cứ làm đi làm lại; over and over and over
again
4. becomes a habit: trở thành thói quen
5. damaged mental health: sức khỏe tinh thần bị tổn hại
6. prevent this from happening: ngăn chặn điều này diễn ra
7. think about the bright side: nghĩ theo hướng tích cực
8. psychology: tâm lý học
9. performed a 10-week project: tiến hành một dự án 10 tuần

Script
Let's play a game, “two truths and a lie”. Let's start. I've been on the airplane before. I love
art and after I was born I was sent to intensive care. Think about which one do you think was
a lie. Got it? The lie was that we're not playing “two truths and a lie”.

But have you ever told a lie? Everyone has. But have you ever thought what it could do to
you? What if not lying would give you a better job? What if that job pays more? Would you
still do it?

You've probably thought, “huh this one lie won't hurt” but then you keep doing it over and
over and over until it becomes a habit. Once it becomes a habit, people start avoiding you. I
know from experience, it will happen. My sister drew a red dot on her face, claiming it was a
bug bite. I don't trust her too much anymore and she's my own sister. This is only one of the
things lying can do to you. Stress, unhappiness and damaged mental health are all things that
can happen when you lie.

Why did these things happen? Let me tell you the truth. Like I should. I don't know, but here's
what I do know. To prevent this from happening, practice telling the truth and if it feels like
you're about to lie just think how you’d feel if you knew someone was lying to you. You
walked up to 20 best friends and asked if they’d go to the movies. They say they can't, no
time. And you're alright with that. But you don't know what's coming. About 30 minutes
later, the movie still wouldn't going but you see your friend shopping at the mall, with
someone else. Has this ever happened to you? Where you can prevent it from happening to
someone else just by telling the truth. It's hard, right? But think about the bright side! Maybe
you'll like it.

Now, the big question is how would lying affect your health? Anita Kelly, a psychology
professor at Notre Dame, Indiana performed a 10-week project on 110 adults. She has half
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the adults to stop lying for the 10 weeks and the other half to record the lies they do each day.
After 10 weeks, the data showed the half that didn't lie, their health improved. But the half
that did lie, their health decreased.

You now know what lying can do to you. You know what it can do to relationships. Lying
isn't good and I hope you remember that the next time you think you're about to lie.

Ms. Dung Le Eso

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 TOPIC 3
I Thought Plastic Pollution Wasn't My Problem | Archie Wallyn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdxEG-3GRVs

Useful vocabulary
1. damage and harm to the environment: thiệt hại và tác hại đối với môi trường
2. the ever so famous plastic beaches: những bãi nhựa nổi (tai) tiếng
3. massive gyres: những dòng hải lưu lớn
4. the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Đảo rác Thái Bình Dương
5. if I threw him on the street it would be like this: nếu tôi vứt nó ra đường bây giờ thì
chuyện sẽ như vậy (câu điều kiện loại II về điều không có thật trong hiện tại)
6. a revolutionary item: một công cụ đột phá
7. keeps on getting worse: càng ngày càng trở nên tồi tệ hơn
8. recycle: tái chế
9. ban microplastics: cấm các loại hạt vi nhựa
10. reuse: tái sử dụng

Script
I thought that when I threw a plastic bottle away it was fine, and that something so small
can’t cause so much damage and harm to the environment. However, plastic turns out to be
incredibly bad for the environment. Even things that seem so small and insignificant like
stickers on apples, you know the ones with FairTrade logo on that show us that farms got a
better deal or more money. Well this sticker, attempting to do good, often gets ripped off as
they're not particularly tasty. It gets rolled up into a neat ball and flicked on the street. Then
this sticks on the street, gets blown by the wind into the drain and the drain leads to the river
and the river leads to the sea. This journey now becomes terrifyingly interesting as this
sticker joins all of the other washed-out sea plastics.

Now, this sticker, let's call him Jerry. He has a number of places he can now go. First is in the
stomach of sea creatures, like let's say a cute sea turtle. Sea creatures often mistake plastic as
food such as a yummy jellyfish and eat them which inevitably kills them. There are so many
bits of pieces of plastic in the ocean, millions in fact. Now every eight out of ten seabirds
have plastic in their stomachs, fish as well. This affects our food chain because we eat the
plastic in the way that they ate from earlier. YUM.

Next, our little sticker can go to the ever so famous plastic beaches. This is a result of us
dumping that eight million tons of plastic every year and by 2050 there will be more plastic
in the ocean than fish.

Or Jerry can float past these plastic beaches to one of the five massive gyres. Sadly Jerry gets
pulled along to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - the biggest of them all. Now the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch consists of around 2.4 million tons and covers about 1.6 million square

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kilometers which is 2 times bigger than Texas. So this apple sticker Jerry, if I threw him away
it would be, if I threw him on the street it would be like this. Now, if the front-row of you
threw your stickers away it would be like this. And if all of you threw your stickers on the
ground it would be like this.

So sadly I am NOT here to present a revolutionary item that can help save this massive
problem that keeps on getting worse. But I am here to tell you a few small steps that can help
save our future. Firstly, recycle. This will avoid us adding to the millions of tons of plastic
that's floating around on our oceans. Now there's equivalent to 700 pieces of plastic per
person. So recycle.
Secondly, we can ban microplastics. The microplastics are normally found in products such
as toothpaste, body scrubs and face wash. You can personally avoid buying these items.
Thirdly, you don't buy plastic bags. France is banning them and Rwanda has completely
banned them. Why can't we?
Fourth, say no to straws. Do you really have to sip your drink through a plastic straw?
And finally, reuse cups, containers and plastic bottles.

It takes all of us to do these small steps to help save our future to create a better world.
Thank you.

Ms. Dung Le Eso

0983289195Page 6
 TOPIC 4
Being an Introvert is a Good Thing | Crystal Robello
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L009vp_vXYk

Useful vocabulary
1. an introvert: người hướng nội
2. an outgoing person: người hòa đồng
3. the main thing I want to address in this talk is…: qua bài nói này, điều tôi muốn
nhấn mạnh là...
4. extroverted: hướng ngoại
5. No big deal.: Chẳng có gì to tát cả./Chẳng khó khăn gì.
6. my peers: bạn bè đồng trang lứa
7. Statistics say that…: Thống kê cho thấy...
8. versatile: linh hoạt
9. as long as you see it in the right lighting: miễn là bạn nhìn nhận sự việc một cách
đúng đắn
10. to conform to society: để phù hợp với xã hội

Script
I'm here today trying to be something I'm not. Which is something I've been trying to do for
two years now: write a TED Talk, share my ideas, talk in front of such a large group of
people.
Now I know a lot of you are probably thinking, "She sounds a bit shy." Or maybe, "She
probably gets nervous easily." Yeah, all those things are 100% true, but why?
To answer simply, I am an introvert.

So what is an introvert? An introvert is a quiet person that doesn't like to talk very much and
likes to keep their thoughts mostly to themselves. They're the kind of person that goes home
just to relax and have time to think. But that's not to say that an outgoing person can't be an
introvert. Just as long as they enjoy the quiet time to get to themselves, they're most likely an
introvert to a certain extent.

So the main thing I want to address in this talk is that there's nothing wrong with being an
introvert. However society doesn't see it in the same lighting. Society has taught us that being
an introvert is the worst thing you can be and that everyone should want to be extroverted.
We're told that being outgoing is good and being shy and quiet is bad. We're told in
elementary school we have to raise our hands, participate in class or we lose marks. Every
year at parent-teacher interviews, my parents would hear the same thing, "Your daughter is
very shy, she needs to learn to speak up more."
I was told to share my voice whenever possible. As an introvert, those are some very hard
standards to achieve. This is why I joined the TED Ed Club two years ago - to prove to not
only myself but to everyone that I wasn't shy. I could write a talk just like everyone else is

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doing it. No big deal. Slight problem, I never wrote a talk. I couldn't come up with a topic I
was truly passionate about that I felt like I wanted to share with the world. I would show up
to every meeting and watch my peers continue to develop their talks and I would get
frustrated with myself. Why could they share their ideas so easily and I couldn't even come
up with a topic?

Now, looking back, I realize I have passions, I have views on the world and I have opinions. I
just didn't want to share any of them because I'm an introvert. But is there anything wrong
with that? Statistics say that 50% of the American population is made up of introverts. So
society is telling 50% of Americans - about 160 million people - that they need to change
who they are to be accepted, to be successful and to be happy. Keep in mind, within this large
group of introverts are people such as: Elton John, Emma Watson, Michael Jordan, Audrey
Hepburn, Albert Einstein, and so many more incredible, inspiring people.

Do you think being an introvert has ever stopped any of them from achieving their goals or
being happy?
No.

A lot of you have probably been told something along the lines of why be a follower when
you can be a leader. But what about every leader needs a follower? Let's look at Mr Justin
Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. Do you think he'd be where he is today without the
support of the people? If everyone was trying to be a leader no one would truly succeed as it's
the followers that define a true leader.

But that's not to say that an introvert can't be a leader. Let's look at Abraham Lincoln, Rosa
Parks and Gandhi. All incredible inspirational leaders and all introverts.

In a business setting, the CEO of a company will look at an introvert and say, "If they're not
going to share their ideas, they are useless to me." Well, guess what? These companies are
missing out.

Introverts are known to be versatile, responsible, work well in small groups and individually.
So being an introvert has no effect on how happy or how successful you are going to be as
long as you see it in the right lighting. If you see yourself as an introvert and think it's the
worst thing in the world, you're never going to be truly happy with yourself and you're going
to constantly try to change to conform to society. But if you accept yourself as an introvert
and you're happy, there's nothing in the way of you achieving your goals and getting what
you want. All in all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being an introvert. No matter
what society may say, you don't need to change who you are because being an introvert is
great.

Ms. Dung Le Eso

0983289195Page 8
 TOPIC 5
What's wrong with our food system | Birke Baehr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Id9caYw-Y

Useful vocabulary
1. the industrialized food system: hệ thống thực phẩm công nghiệp hóa
2. they've stripped the soil of all nutrients: họ đã làm mất hết chất dinh dưỡng có
trong đất
3. pesticides: thuốc trừ sâu
4. herbicides: thuốc diệt cỏ
5. irradiate our food: chiếu xạ thực phẩm
6. have a greater impact on the world: có tác động lớn hơn đến thế giới
7. against the system: chống lại hệ thống chung
8. home-schooled: học tại gia
9. make a difference: tạo nên sự khác biệt
10. see up close and personal: tiếp cận trực tiếp và cụ thể

Script
Hello. My name is Birke Baehr and I'm 11 years old. I came here today to talk about what's
wrong with our food system.

First of all, I would like to say that I'm really amazed how easily kids are led to believe all the
marketing and advertising on TV, at public schools, and pretty much everywhere else you
look. It seems to me like corporations are always trying to get kids, like me, to get their
parents to buy stuff that really isn't good for us or the planet. Little kids, especially, are
attracted by colorful packaging and plastic toys. I must admit, I used to be one of them. I also
used to think that all of our food came from these happy little farms where pigs rolled in mud
and cows grazed on grass all day.

What I discovered was this is not true. I began to look into the stuff on the Internet, in books,
and in documentary films, in my travels with my family. I discovered the dark side of the
industrialized food system. First, there's genetically engineered seeds and organisms. That is
when a seed is manipulated in a laboratory to do something not intended by nature. Like
taking the DNA of a fish and putting it into the DNA of a tomato. Yuck! Don't get me wrong,
I like fish and tomatoes, but this is just creepy. The seeds are then planted, then grown. The
food they produced has been proven to cause cancer and other problems in lab animals. And
people have been eating food produced this way since the 1990's. Most folks don't even know
they exist. Did you know that rats fed genetically engineered corn have developed signs of
liver and kidney toxicity? These include kidney inflammations, and lesions and increased
kidney weight. Yet almost all the corn we eat has been altered genetically in some way. And
let me tell you, corn is in everything.

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0983289195Page 9
And don't even get me started on the confined animal feeding operations called CAFO's.
Conventional farmers use chemical fertilizers made from fossil fuels that they mix with the
dirt to make plants grow. They do this because they've stripped the soil of all nutrients from
growing the same crop over and over again. Next, more harmful chemicals are sprayed on
fruits and vegetables like pesticides and herbicides to kill weeds and bugs. When it rains,
these chemicals seep into the ground or run off into our waterways poisoning our water too.
Then they irradiate our food trying to make it last longer, so it can travel thousands of miles
from where it's grown to the supermarkets. So I ask myself, "How can I change? How can I
change these things?" This is what I found out. I discovered that there's a movement for a
better way. Now, a while back, I wanted to be an NFL football player. I decided that I'd rather
be an organic farmer instead.

Thank you.

And that way I could have a greater impact on the world. I learned from this guy named Joel
Salatin. They call him a lunatic farmer because he grows against the system. Since I'm
home-schooled, I want to go hear him speak one day. This man, this lunatic farmer, doesn't
use any pesticides, herbicides, or genetically modified seeds. And so for that he's called crazy
by the system.

I want you to know that we can all make a difference. By making different choices. By
buying our food directly from local farmers or neighbors we know in real life. Some people
say organic or local food is more expensive. But is it really? With all these things I've been
learning about the food system it seems to me that we can either pay the farmer or we can pay
the hospital. I know definitely which one I would choose.
I want you to know that there are farmers out there like Bill Keener in Sequatchie Cove Farm
in Tennessee whose cows do eat grass, and whose pigs do roll in the mud just like I thought.
Sometimes I go to Bill's farm and volunteer, so I can see up close and personal where the
meat I eat comes from.
I want you to know that I believe kids will eat fresh vegetables and good food if they knew
more about it and where it really comes from.
I want you to know that there are farmer's markets in every community popping up.
I want you to know that me, my brother and sister actually like eating baked kale chips.

I try to share this everywhere I go. Not too long ago my uncle said he offered my six-year old
cousin cereal. He asked if he wanted organic toasted oats or the sugar coated flakes. You
know, the one with the big striped cartoon character on the front? My little cousin told his dad
that he would rather have the organic toasted O's cereal, because Birke said he shouldn't eat
sparkly cereal.

And that my friends, is how we can make a difference. One kid at a time. So next time you're
at the grocery store, think local, choose organic, know your farmer and know your food.

Thank you.

Ms. Dung Le Eso

0983289195Page 10
 TOPIC 6
POSITIVE MINDSET
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KoVNQz2BaM&t=54s

Useful Vocabulary:

1. a harder negative situation: một tình huống cực kỳ tiêu cực

2. doing insane flips: làm lộn xộn
3. consequence: hậu quả
4. have trouble walking up the stairs: gặp khó khăn khi đi lên cầu thang
5. keep it positive: giữ suy nghĩ tích cực
6. That doesn't just go for gymnastics, it goes for anything that's harder negative: điều
đó không chỉ áp dụng với mỗi thể dục dụng cụ, nó áp dụng với tất cả tình huống cực
kỳ tiêu cực.
7. participating in activities sports: tham gia vào các hoạt động thể thao
8. have a growth mindset: có tư duy, suy nghĩ trưởng thành
9. succeed in school: thành công ở trường
10. meditating, having a gratitude journal and diary can really help: thiền, ghi chép lại
những điều mình biết ơn hàng ngày thực sự tốt
11. impact in your life: tác động đến cuộc sống của bạn

I'm using a show of hands how many of you have ever been in a hard or negative
situation. Wow that's a lot of you. Well I certainly have and I'm here to tell you what I've
learned from my negative situation. First let me tell you about my experience. One day I was
at gymnastics and there was no one there except for my team and I , the whole gym to
ourselves so we thought we could be a little silly. Actually let me be honest here we were
being really silly like doing insane flips, talking when the teacher was talking, running
around chasing each other. It was bad. Completely unacceptable. My coach seemed really
mad because it was basically all the things that she had previously told us not to do. So as you
might expect we got a consequence, that consequence was to run the stairs. You may think
that's not hard but think about it this way. Some people have trouble walking up the
stairs let alone running the stairs without stopping and there are 17 steps in the staircase and
we had to run up the stairs five times that's 85 steps. And it all seems hard, right ? Well it was
until I told myself to keep it positive at least it wasn't a hundred stairs. When I started
keeping positive everything stopped being so hard, it became easier. So I do that every time
now. That doesn't just go for gymnastics, it goes for anything that's hard or negative. So
think that you should definitely try it. I wanted to do some more research about keeping it
positive and I did. The first article I read says that people are most likely participating in
activities, sports and more if they have a growth mindset and if they're positive. The
second article I read says that kids are most likely to succeed in school if they have a growth
mindset and if they're positive. The last but certainly not least article I read says that if you
don't have a growth mindset, meditating, having a gratitude journal and diary can really

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help. If you don't know what advice your journal is or diary a gratitude journal is something
that you write what you're grateful for in it and a diary is something that you write your
feelings in. So I think you should definitely try having it. If you make a mistake that doesn't
mean you failed. It just means you learned so get back up try again and tell yourself you can
do it. It doesn't take two minutes to learn, it takes more than that. As you can see, having a
growth mindset and being positive can really impact your life, so you should definitely try
having it. Thank you
.

Ms. Dung Le Eso

0983289195Page 12
 TOPIC 7: FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzu3ira61k8&t=213s..

Useful vocabulary

1. unify: thống nhất
2. stop fighting over our differences: ngừng đấu tranh về sự khác biệt của chúng ta
3. focus more on our similarities: tập trung nhiều hơn vào những điểm tương đồng của
chúng ta
4. enemies: những kẻ thù (enemy)
5. I am the richest of rich and the poorest of poor : tớ là người giàu nhất trong những
người giàu và nghèo nhất trong những người nghèo.
6. orphaned by war: mồ côi vì chiến tranh
7. humanity: nhân loại
8. a better chance of life: một cơ hội sống tốt hơn
9. adjust to my new school: thích nghi với trường học mới
10. fighting ignorance with knowledge: chống lại sự ngu dốt bằng kiến thức
11. Stop picking on each other, overcome our differences: ngừng trêu chọc nhau và
vượt qua sự khác biệt của chúng ta
12. we should all be judged by our actions and characters: chúng ta nên được đánh giá
bởi hành động và tính cách của chúng ta

INTRODUCTION - PHẦN GIỚI THIỆU

Hi, my name is Maryam Elassar. This is my fourth year in Amana Academy School, and this
is my first time giving a Ted Talk. I'll be talking about my idea how to unify the people of
this world together, so we can all live peacefully and stop fighting over our differences,
and focus more on our similarities.

BODY - THÂN BÀI

Story-telling: S-T-O-R-Y Structure
SITUATION: It all started one day when I went to the park after school. I didn't have anyone
to play with. And then this girl came. She was so quiet and shy. My mom saw her and said,
"Why won't you go and talk to that girl? Then you can play together." I thought it was a good
idea. Once I went to the girl, asking her if she would like to play with me, she looked at me
with her eyes wide open. Suddenly, she seemed confused and stared at me like I was an alien.
I stared at her back. Then she said with a foreign accent, "Why are you dressed that way? You
look weird."
THOUGHTS & FEELINGS: I felt sad because she was judging me based on what I was
wearing.
ACTION: So I said to her, "And why are you talking in a weird way?" To pay her back for
what she said.
RESULTS: The girl now seemed embarrassed by what I said and I didn't want her to be
sad. LEARNING: Maybe I wasn't supposed to pay her back that way, so I got an idea. I told

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the girl, "I will tell you why I dress this way and tell you a little about myself, and in return,
you will tell me why you talk differently and tell me a little about yourself too. Maybe after
we understand each other we can become friends instead of enemies. Then we can play
together and have fun."
I started explaining that wearing a head cover and long skirts is just good for my religion for
girls, and I'm a Muslim child. The girl still looked puzzled. Then she said, "What's a Muslim
child?" Right away I had a splendid idea. I remembered the poem I always recited when I felt
the need to explain myself to others. I read it in my favourite book which is called "Muslim
Child" when I was five, and decided to use it in situations like this, so it could become handy.
I stood in front of the girl and told her, "Listen to this, and hopefully, you'll accept me as a
friend afterwards." Please, for all of you who want to know what a Muslim child is. Allow
me to share this with you as well: "Muslim child, child of peace, child of war from a far off
distant shore; what do your black eyes see? My eyes are not only black, sometimes they are
blue as the sky, or green as a tropical sea, or brown as a trunk of a palm tree, and every shade
in-between. My skin can be black as molasses, or as pink as the blush on a rose, as golden as
freshly made honey, or dark copper brown as a penny, and every shade in-between. I am the
richest of rich and the poorest of poor. As famous as famous can be, a general's child,
pampered and bored, a soldier's child, orphaned by war. And every rank in between. I come
from many countries, speaking many languages, but in one set of beliefs; I believe in Noah,
Jesus, Abraham, Muhammad, and Moses. And in God who sent them. And in every
messenger in between. So then, Muslim child, child of peace; what do your bright eyes see? I
see that we're each a piece in the puzzle of humanity. I'll try to understand you, if you try to
understand me." Now back to my story, guess what the girl did? She gave me the biggest
smile ever, clapped for me, and told me, "I would love to be your friend." Isn't that amazing?
How just a sincere couple of words, full of knowledge, can change the whole situation? I told
the girl, "Now it's your turn to tell me about yourself. I have to understand you like you
understand me now." The girl started to tell her story. I am from Mexico; we came here for a
better chance of life. My dad is a farmer. He tries to support my family by moving from
place to place, finding new jobs. We moved to this area last month. I'm still trying to adjust
to my new school. It's just so hard for me to improve my foreign accent that fast. I
understand better than I speak. And I don't have a lot of friends to practice speaking with.
"Maybe if we become friends you can help me", she said. I felt sad and asked her to forgive
me for my ignorance when I made a comment about the way she speaks. And told the girl, "I
would love to be your friend. Now let's go play." I had so much fun playing with her and I
gained a new friend.

CONCLUSION - A CALL TO ACTION (Đây là phần kết bài)

Please, now, for everyone listening to me, I hope you got the idea: we all have to
start fighting ignorance with knowledge. Stop picking on each other, overcome our
differences. If each one of us starts to pass a good book, or a nice quote, give a beautiful
speech, or write an inspiring story, hopefully, my generation can live in a more peaceful
world. We all come from different cultures and backgrounds. The way I dress shouldn't
matter how people view me in the world. Instead, we should all be judged by our actions
and characters. Thank you for listening.

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 TOPIC 8: THE MINDSET OF CHAMPION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px9CzSZsa0Y

Useful Vocabulary:

1. had the mindset to continue and get better: có suy nghĩ tiếp tục cố gắng và hoàn
thiện bản thân
2. champion: nhà vô địch
3. growth mindset: tư duy phát triển
4. fixed mindset: tư duy cố định
5. not afraid of challenges: không sợ thử thách, khó khăn
6. have put effort in to learn: nỗ lực để học hỏi
7. are also inspired by people who do well: được truyền cảm hứng bởi những người
làm tốt
8. faced many challenges: đã đối mặt với nhiều thử thách
9. coachable: có thể kết nối
10. they're born good or born not so good: họ sinh ra đã tốt sẵn hoặc không tốt
11. get defensive easily: phòng thủ dễ dàng
12. feel criticized when given feedback: cảm thấy bị chỉ trích khi nhận những lời nhận
xét
13. they're threatened by people who do well: họ bị đe dọa bởi những người làm tốt
14. lose control of my emotions: không kiểm soát được cảm xúc
15. I'm learning how to change my fixed mindset into a growth mindset and have a
mindset of a champion: Tôi đang học cách thay đổi tư duy cố định của mình thành
tư duy phát triển và có tư duy của một nhà vô địch
16. struggle with: vật lộn với
17. get frustrated and upset: bực bội và khó chịu
18. But every day, I've gotten a little better than the day before.: nhưng mỗi ngày tôi
đã tốt hơn một chút so với hôm qua

INTRODUCTION
Đây là kỹ thuật mở bài nâng cao, trích dẫn câu nói của người nổi tiếng để dẫn vào chủ
đề, ở đây bạn trích dẫn câu nói của Michael Jordan.

Michael Jordan said, "I've missed more than 9,000 shots, lost almost 300 games, and 26
times, I've been trusted to make the game-winning shot and missed. I fail over and over and
over again. And that is why I succeed." Michael Jordan is one of the most famous basketball
players in the world though he wasn't always a star. He didn't make his high school basketball
team because he was too short and wasn't good enough. He could’ve quit, but, instead,
he had the mindset to continue and get better. He was out practicing each day before most
people were even out of bed. And because of this, he not only made the team the following
year, but he went on to become the greatest player of all time and a true champion. The
question that comes to our minds is: can we all learn to have the mindset of a champion?

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BODY

1. Main idea 1: Definitions of mindset: a fix mindset and a growth mindset

A "mindset" is a word describing how we think. There are two types of mindsets: one,
a growth mindset, and two, a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is when somebody believes
they can learn to be good and they can learn to be better. They are not afraid of challenges.
They continue when things get hard. They know that they have put effort in to learn, and
they learn from criticism. They are also inspired by people who do well. Michael Jordan
has this trait though another person with a growth mindset is the Rock, Dwayne Johnson. He
was cut from the Canadian Football League early on in his career. He could've quit, but
instead he worked very hard, faced many challenges, and is now a super, super famous
movie star - one of my favorites. Did you know that coaches and professional scouts look for
athletes who don't just have skill. They want someone who wants to learn, who's coachable,
and will give a 100% effort in practices. They want someone with a growth mindset. What
they don't want is someone who thinks they are already good enough, they don't need to
learn, and are not coachable. These people have a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset is the
opposite of a growth. These people either think they're born good or born not so good.
They cannot learn. They're afraid of challenges. They give up and get defensive easily.
They feel criticized when given feedback, and they're threatened by people who do well.
2. Main point 2: A story
Which mindset do you think I have? Well, let me tell you a story. Reading has always been
hard for me, and even now I still find it challenging. From kindergarten to fourth grade, I was
always a bit below grade level in reading. So each night, I read aloud to my parents to try to
get better. This was always the worst part of my day. Whenever I was reading, I would, of
course, make mistakes: misread words, say words that were not there, miss words that were
there, and miss punctuation - normal. But whenever my mom or dad tried to correct me, I'd
get upset. I told them that they were wrong and sometimes even had a meltdown. This
happened for my friends and teachers and with other subjects and activities too. I thought that
I should know how to do everything already, and if I didn't, I would get upset. I thought that
what my teachers were teaching should come to me easy. Well, guess what? Some of the
things I was learning or reading were not easy. I would get upset. Negative thoughts came
into my mind, "You suck. You can't do anything. This should be soooo easy." Suddenly, I felt
tears coming down my face in front of my friends and teachers too. In my head, I was saying,
"No, no, no, no, no, please no." I could no longer control my emotions. This is where the real
problem begins. You see, I lose control of my emotions, I stop listening, and I stop thinking.
I become difficult to those around me. And when I finally get through it, I am very tired. This
is not healthy, and it's not the person I want to be. I want to know why I'm feeling this way
and why my emotions were so strong. Well, this year in fifth grade is the first year I was able
to answer these questions. I learned what a growth and fixed mindset are. I'm learning how
to change my fixed mindset into a growth mindset and have a mindset of a champion. I
believe we can have both of these mindsets: a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. I believe
this because I have both. I have a growth mindset with things like soccer, basketball, change,
and learning new languages. I also believe we can change our fixed mindset into a growth

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mindset and have a mindset of a champion. Well, maybe not a champion like Michael Jordan,
but a champion in our own way. We may just need a little help to do this. My dad and I read
this book called "Mindsets," written by Carol Dweck. Carol Dweck is a professor and
professional psychologist who researched and came up with the idea of a growth and fixed
mindset. Her book told me that I was not the only one who has a fixed mindset from time to
time. However, the best advice I ever got was from my teacher and school counselor. Their
advice was one little three-letter word. This word was "yet." They told me to always put the
word "yet" at the end of my sentence. "I can't do it." "I can't do it ... yet." "I don't understand."
"I don't understand ... yet." The word "yet" makes me feel I just need to put a little more
effort in before I understand it. I still struggle with the fixed mindset from time to time.
However, I now know why I get frustrated and upset.

CONCLUSION
(A CALL TO ACTION) For any of you out there who may have a fixed mindset from time
to time, please know that I'm proof that you can beat it. Writing this talk, I struggled the
whole time. But every day, I've gotten a little better than the day before. This is why I can
say I'm winning - because I'm here in front of you now today. Thank you.

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