Debate

Below are all the materials for a unit on debate that I've used with my students.

Almost any of the activities will stand alone as a one-lesson speaking activity, but I like using the activities throughout an entire semester, and having them culminate in a formal debate final project (the format is spelled out in the powerpoint).

The

A couple notes:

A. I introduce the unit using the movie The Great Debaters, which also serves as an evocative introduction to many hugely important aspects of American history: The Great Depression, Jim Crow Laws, insidious racism, sharecropping, union activism, etc.  Before showing the movie I have students perform a tea party--They portray one of the roles from the movie based on a role sheet, and have to walk around meeting other characters and completing a scavenger hunt (the materials, "Tea Party GDs role sheets" and "tea party the great debaters" are below).  I show the movie with English subtitles and have stopped it at strategic times to ask comprehension questions and discuss some of the history, but without requiring a worksheet.  I find that students are inspired by the story, get a sense of the format they will use for their final debates, and take in some English by osmosis.
The one thing I do require is that they keep a list of new words and phrases, and we review some of what they've taken down at the end of class.

B. For the final debates, I take responsibility for the grading, but using student judging sheets to determine the winners of each debate (having to pick a loser between groups of hard-working students has always been difficult for me).

C.  I have students generate a long list of potential topics for the final debate in groups, and then give them a handout in which they have the opportunity to select which topics and positions (either affirmative or negative) would interest them the most, and which they absolutely don't want to do.  This allows me to match students as closely as possible with topics that interest them, without the danger of forcing students into defending positions that may run very counter to their deeply-held beliefs.  I've included the worksheet "Topics" below to give an idea of how I did that, though I would strongly recommend letting your students come up with their own list of potential topics.