Activity

The Debate Flow

This is the debate flow based on One World 3 Project 3 (page 91).

I had to test this out before uploading it here.

This is a team-teaching activity. I did this with a JTE that was thrilled about doing debate, so she helped the students make sense of the tips in the debate flow.

First, I went through the debate flow in the powerpoint. No need to check the meaning and such. If your JTE is game, it would be better if they help you in translating or explaining to the students. It would be helpful, too, if you can match the tips with the examples. I made sure to make the tips based on the example on the textbook and the general stuff I know about debate. The only flaw is that the textbook, while it said that there should be an attack speech in between, didn't provide any example of an attack speech. That's the only part I had to make up.

Afterwards, present the motion. For this part, you can check the meaning with the students.

Then, group the students. All students should be given a copy of the arguments so that they can all contribute (some by reading, at least). And each group should be given one copy of the worksheet **see image for how I did it. What they need to do is arrange the arguments to follow the debate flow.

Give them a lot of time to do this, maybe around 20 minutes will do. A good way to help them is to unlock certain tips, like "look for keywords" or "a constructive speech is usually the longest among all the speeches in the flow", along the way instead of all at once. I found that it helps in motivating them when they find themselves in a pickle. If it's fine, allow the students to use their tablet to look up words too.

Then, as a class, check the answers and ask them how they knew why this part is such and such. My students had great ideas.

Lastly, take note that I wrote the speeches myself ONLY to present the flow... I wasn't so particular about whether the arguments I made for both sides were great. I am uploading the Word file so you can edit it. As always, your kind and constructive criticism to improve this activity is welcomed.

I hope this works for you. My JTE really liked this activity as an introduction to debate. My students were also quite invested in the lesson - it may be because of this activity or it may be because it is entrance exam season and they're all in a ganbatteru mood. In any case, good luck!

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Submitted by dominiquednl February 1, 2023 Estimated time: 50 minutes
  1. wilheialt November 1, 2023

    I like this a lot! The pictures and diagram make this fairly easy to understand but I do think that some of the language should be simplified a bit.

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