Activity
Often in high school we ask students to express their ideas
through writing. This lesson asks them to improve their ability to verbally
express their ideas clearly, concisely, and accurately. What situations require
a person to be able to verbally state his or her ideas with authority? Which
professions require individuals to be able to argue their points verbally with
strength and compelling evidence? Are there instances in a high school student’s
life when being able to argue his or her point calmly with supporting evidence
would come in handy?
1.
To the students, “In science you have been learning
about the very controversial topics of genetically modified
foods and pesticides and in 9th grade you also looked
at changing land use such as grazing in the southwest.
This agriculture practices have both advocates and critics.
Their potential is to both benefit and harm human health,
the environment and economic stability of both individual
farmers and nations as a whole is currently being hotly
debated in the media, in the decision making bodies of
nations, and in the halls of academia. Now you are part
of this debate”
2. Introduce the debate format, “A debate has a structured format. For
this introduction to debate we are going to use a modified format based upon
Karen Reynosa’s Debate Rules http://www.laep.org/uclasp/ISSUES/bringing_water/debate.htm
3. Share with the students the format, noting that they will be fitting their
research into this structure.
Karen
Reynosa has developed a format for a classroom
debate, which she has refined over the years while
teaching Chemistry at Venice High School. An Invitation
To Virtually Debate The ISSUES has borrowed extensively
from Karen's development of this very interesting
tool. Debate facilitates a person's displaying
the progress in understanding issues related to
important controversies with which our society
is presently engaged, and to which this website
is focused.
TOPIC:
_________________________________________________________
Opposition: _____________________ Proponents:______________________
You are now a member of your selected team. Your team will be graded
as a whole. This means that you will be as strong as your weakest
link. Be sure that you work together so that all members of your
team have an adequate background of the positions and arguments
thatyou will be proposing.
1.
There will be an opening statement made by your
team. This should be 3-5 minutes long and should
state your team's position and the arguments/solutions
you will be proposing.
Responsible Members: ____________________________
2. You should have at least 15 questions that can be asked of each of
your 3 opponents. These should be on separate sheets of paper or on notecards
for easy reference. The questions should be specifically directed to
your opponents and should be concise and clear.
Responsible Members: ____________________________
3. You should have answers prepared which will be used to respond to
your opponents questions. Imagine that you are from the other teams and
determine what questions may be asked of your team.
Responsible Members: ____________________________
4. You should have a final conclusive argument/statement drawn up which
will be written at the end of your debate. This should be no longer than
7 minutes. You should take notes during the entire debate so that you
may refer to these in your final presentation of your team's views.
Responsible Members: ____________________________
When
you have determined who will be responsible for
each portion of your team's debate, it is up
to ou to prepare yourself for the challenge that
lies ahead. Only one team will win this debate.
The winning team will:
-have a solid background regarding all material
-have plenty of evidence to back up claims
-use teamwork to teach all in group the important concepts behind specific
positions
-be creative/psyche out opponents
-outclass opponents/never give an answer of "uh...."
Good
luck! This assignment is worth ________ points
and wil be graded based upon your ability to
debate this issue and convince the judges that
you are indeed deserved of your claim.
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4. Divide the students into 3 groups, one for each topic and split each group
in half, assigning one side the pro position and the other the con position
so that there will be an equal number on each side of each issue. When
students get into their small groups they need to first assess how much
usable information they have from their other classes on their topic.
5. The next step is to go to your school’s library or computer lab to
do additional research to find more information to reinforce the strength of
the arguments they will make. Remember to stress the critical analysis of material.
Quality of material is more important than quantity! This is also a time to
be adding to the annotated bibliography. Allow multiple days for research.
Then multiple days will spent in the classroom arranging the information and
preparing for the practice debates.
6. Finally, multiple days will be spent putting on the practice debates. What
are these practice for? In the final weeks of this unit student teams will
be involved in a United Nations style forum in which they will be formally
discussing various international issues. The three different topics allow students
to observe two different debates while participating in a third one.
7. Often when we think of “arguments” we picture angry people shouting
over each other’s words and interrupting their opponent. Yet, in the
international forum of the United Nations decorum must be preserved. Ask the
students what they see as the value of having to use a highly structured debate
format when peoples of different cultural backgrounds are trying to find common
ground.
8. Before the practice debates begin introduce the formal language of debate
provided in the “Rules of Procedure.” Explain to the students that
these allow a freedom of expression rather than constraining the participants.
Share these Rules of Procedure with the students, model use by having students
use them as they discuss a timely concern (such as taking soda machines out
of school lunch rooms). Use the Order of Debate sheet at the end of the lesson
plan to set this up. This exercise illustrates the specific order and terminology
that is used in the United Nations to preserve order and civility while issues
of grave consequence are being discussed.
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Embedded
Assessment
This
is an assignment which lends itself well
to self-evaluation by the students with
a component of peer evaluation based on
the perceived “winner” of the
in-class debates. You may wish to have
a short discussion after each debate where
the whole class gives input as to which
group was most successful in each debate
match, was best prepared, argued their
points most effectively, etc.
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