Boston Debate League
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-Created by Paul E. Madden
Table of Contents
|Debate Practice Objectives for Winter Season Novices |1 |
|What a Novice Debate Looks Like |2 |
|Weekly Practice Structure |3 |
|Example Debate Practice Plan |4 |
|Practice Plan Templates |5 |
|Community Building Activities |6-10 |
|Menu of Activities for Practices 1-2 |11-15 |
|Menu of Debate Activities for Practices 3-6 |16-23 |
| | |
|A) Mars Colonization Affirmative |16-18 |
| | |
|B) Mars Colonization Negative |19-21 |
| | |
|C) Skills Based Activities |22-23 |
|Practice Schedule |24 |
|Appendix |25 |
| | |
|A) Counterarguments Table Debates Worksheet |26 |
| | |
|B) Choosing the Best Warrant Mini Debates Worksheet | |
| |27 |
|C) Evidence Scavenger Hunt Worksheet | |
| | |
|D) Mars Colonization Matching Arguments for Clash Worksheet |28 |
| | |
|E) Speech Order, Times and Basic Responsibilities | |
| |29 |
| | |
| | |
| |30 |
Debate Practice Objectives for Winter Season Novices
Overall Objectives
• Winter Season novices will form a sense of community
• Winter Season novices will find practices engaging
• 90% of Winter Season novices who attend the first practice go to the first tournament.
Content Objectives
• Students will be comfortable arguing the Mars Colonization Affirmative
• Students will be comfortable arguing the Mars Colonization Negative
Skill Objectives
• Student Students will learn to make arguments (claim + warrant) and rebuttals.
• Students will use evidence to support their arguments
• Students will develop basic public speaking skills
• Students will be able to use the novice evidence packet
• Students will understand the basic structure of a debate round.
What Novice Debate Should Look Like
Available Arguments
Mars Colonization Affirmative and Negative
Overview
The Affirmative team will present a plan, argue the plan is a good idea, and that the government should pass it. The negative will argue that it is a bad idea and the government should not.
Both teams will make many arguments why the plan is a good or bad idea, and should use evidence to back up their arguments.
Judging
If the judge decides the plan is a good idea, the affirmative wins. If the judge decides the plan is a bad idea, the negative wins. The judge will assign more weight to arguments that are backed up by evidence than those that are not
Speech by Speech
The 1AC (first affirmative speech): The Affirmative will present a plan that is outlined in four sections; a) inherency- what is happening now, b) harms- why that is bad, c) a plan, and d) solvency - why that plan solves the problem. This speech is pre-written.
The 1NC (first negative speech): The negative will make three to four arguments answering a) inherency, b) harms, and c) and d) the plan and its solvency. They should be a combination of evidence and analytic arguments (arguments the debaters thought of that have no evidence). The negative should try to number each argument. For example, “On inherency- my first argument is ……, Second…., Third….. Fourth….. On harms, my first argument is ……, Second….., Third…..” etc.
Later speeches- The debate will continue with each team answering, hopefully by number, the arguments their opponents made in the speech before. They should analyze evidence, both theirs and their opponents, as much as possible to support their arguments.
Rebuttal speeches will need to bring the individual arguments back to the larger question: Is the plan a good idea? The judge will ask him/herself at the end of the debate: Is the plan a good idea? If the answer is yes, then the affirmative wins. If the answer is no, then the negative wins.
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Example Debate Practice Plan – 3rd Practice
|Coaches |
|This practice will focus on introducing the Mars Colonization Case’s main themes and key arguments in the case. |
|Lesson Objectives |
|Content Objectives |Students will internalize the themes of the Mars Colonization Case and be able to explain the main argument of the Mars |
| |Colonization Case. |
|Skill Objectives |Students will be able to make an argument using a claim and warrant structure and respond to counterarguments. |
|Procedure/Activities |
|1) [20 minutes] Community Building Activity – Student will get into groups of 4, read the NASA Exercise: Survival on the Moon*, rank the salvageable items |
|alone, and then rank them as a group. During this time circulate around the room to answer student’s questions about outer space, the moon, or vocabulary |
|and integrate as much of the case’s vocabulary into your conversations with students (even check off the words in your case’s glossary). Debrief the |
|activity to see if people did better individually or when they conferred as a group (usually as a group). |
|2) [20 min] Four corners activity on themes of the case displayed below, followed by Table Debates about the bold themes below (EBA Manual, pages 28 and |
|34). Here are the themes stated as prompts: |
|The United States of America is not interested in space exploration |
|Human beings will destroy the planet. |
|Human beings will become extinct. |
|Landing a person on the moon was one of humanity’s greatest achievements. |
|People should do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of the human species. |
|Building space colonies is the best way to ensure the survival of the species. |
|Humans should work on space exploration even though there are still problems on Earth. |
|Now is the time to seriously work on building space colonies. |
|A 6 month trip to Mars would be exciting. |
|A collection of Earth nationalities could establish a multicultural and multinational human society on Mars. |
|This society on Mars would result in major political and social benefits felt on earth and improve human relations on Earth. |
|3) [20 min] Round Robin Debates (EBA Manual, page 35) with 2, 1-minute rounds using the outline (just taglines, no evidence) of the affirmative case as a |
|text. During these debates two students will argue for and against the case, while one student judges the other students. After the first round, students|
|will switch their positions 2 more times until everyone has had an experience as for, against, and judging the affirmative case. |
|Notes |
|Not all of the prompts for the second activity need to be used for this to be a successful activity. As long as students were engaged in the major themes |
|of the case, the activity was a success. |
|Materials |
|Print |
|Modifications |
|-Word wall of terms students find difficult. |
Practice Plan Templates
For Practice Plan Templates go to:
after-school/resources/for-coaches
Or Click on the Links Below:
Whole Group Practice Plan Template
Combined Novice and JV Practice and Separate Varsity Practice Plan Template
Novice Practice and Combined JV and Varsity Practice Plan Template
Separate Novice and JV Practices Plan Template
separate Novice, JV, and Varsity Practices Plan Template
Community Building Activities
Inner Circle, Outer circle
|Skills |Students will get to know their fellow debate team members. |
|Prompts |“What is your favorite ice cream flavor?” |
| |“What is the first question you would ask an alien?” |
| |“Would you travel to the Mars? For how much?” |
| |Etcetera … |
|Notes |Half of students will stand in a circle facing outwards. Then a looser outer circle will form with students facing inwards |
| |towards their peers. The teacher will then read off 20 questions, one-at-a-time. After each questions is read and |
| |answered, students in the outer circle will rotate clockwise to meet a new teammate, until the questions are all read or |
| |until everyone in the outer circle talked to everyone in the inner circle. |
|Materials |List of interesting questions. |
Get to Know You Bingo
|Skills |Students will get to know their fellow debate team members. |
|Prompts |Inside the bingo boxes: |
| |“I like to play video games” |
| |“I joined debate because a teacher recommended me” |
| |“I am the youngest in my family” |
| |“I think we should spend more money to explore space” |
| |Etcetera… |
|Notes |Create a bingo sheet style sheet and fill in the boxes with short statements. During the activity students will try to find|
| |other students to initial a box for whom the statement is true. Each student can be used at most once. Once a student has |
| |initials across a row, column, or diagonal of bingo boxes they will have their bingo sheet verified and a winner may be |
| |declared. |
|Materials |-Bingo style sheet |
| |-Bingo Prize! |
Community Building Activities (Continued)
NASA Exercise: Survival on the Moon
|Skills |Students will improve their ability to work in a team. |
|Prompts |Read activity directions in PDF. |
|Notes |Students will get into groups of 4, read the NASA Exercise: Survival on the Moon*, rank the salvageable items alone, and |
| |then rank them as a group. During this time circulate around the room to answer student’s questions about outer space, the |
| |moon, or vocabulary and integrate as much of the case’s vocabulary into your conversations with students (even check off the|
| |words in your case’s glossary). Debrief the activity to see if people did better individually or when they conferred as a |
| |group (usually as a group). |
|Materials |For this activity you will need to print out the following document: |
| | |
| |Also, below is the link to the PowerPoint that you can use to review the answers: |
| | |
All My Friends and Neighbors
|Skills |Students will get to know their fellow debate team members and lessen their fears of speaking in front of a group. |
|Prompts |Read notes. |
|Notes |All My Friends and Neighbors is a fun getting-to-know-you game that can inspire a lot of excitement with the right group. |
| |Players sit in a circle with one person in the middle who announces "All my friends and neighbors..." finishing with a |
| |common trait such as "have red shirts on" or "like ice cream." The players who identify with that trait must run to a new |
| |spot that is not next to their current spot and switch places as the player in the middle tries to find a seat for herself. |
| |Whoever does not find a place in the circle becomes the middle person. |
|Materials |None. |
Community Building Activities (Continued)
Who am I?
|Skills |Students will get to know their fellow debate team members. |
|Prompts |You should write on many index cards an identifiable famous person, living or not. |
|Notes |In this exercise, debaters will be asked to identify the names of the famous person taped to their back (e.g. Lil Wayne, |
| |Barack Obama) by asking questions of their teammates who cannot tell them explicitly who they are but who can answer their |
| |questions in a yes/no format. If the member receives a “yes” answer, they can continue to ask that individual questions |
| |until they receive a “no” answer. Then they must continue on to ask someone else. When a group member figures out who they |
| |are, they take off the tag, put it on the front of their shirt, and write their own name on it. The member then can help |
| |other members find out who they are. The exercise concludes when all members have discovered who they are. |
|Materials |-Index Cards |
| |-Tape |
Machinery
|Skills |Students will improve their ability to work in a team and their problem solving. |
|Prompts |Various machines: toaster, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, television, etc |
|Notes |Divide the group into teams (3 or more teams). Assign each group to build a certain machine with their own bodies such as a |
| |toaster, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, television, etc. Give them time to work it out. Then they build the |
| |machine and the other teams guess what it is. |
|Materials |None |
Community Building Activities (Continued)
All Aboard
|Skills |Students will improve their ability to work in a team and their problem solving. |
|Prompts |Read notes |
|Notes |Take a large sheet and spread it on the floor. Have all the students stand on the sheet together. Once they have done this |
| |fold the sheet to make it smaller. Again, have all the students get on the sheet. Continue this process. Eventually, the |
| |sheet will be so small that the students will need to use a great deal of cooperation, teamwork, and ingenuity to get the |
| |whole class on the sheet without anyone falling out/off the sheet. |
|Materials |Large Sheet of Paper |
Toxic River
|Skills |Students will improve their ability to work in a team and their problem solving. |
|Prompts |Read notes |
|Notes |Everyone is on one side. You measure a space about 5 feet and call it a toxic river. You want the whole squad to cross as |
| |fast as they can. They aren't allowed to cross the toxic river without special pair of boots and there is only one pair of |
| |boots. Each person can use the boots only once. The boots cannot be tossed over the river. Each person has to personally |
| |give the boots to the next person and if they touch the toxic waste without the boots, the team must start over. Hint: |
| |Carrying people over is the key. |
|Materials |Masking tape for the toxic river boundaries. |
Community Building Activities (Continued)
Fear In A Hat
|Skills |Students will improve their ability to individualize problem solving and to be empathetic team members. |
|Prompts |Read notes |
|Notes |Group members write personal fears about the first tournament anonymously on pieces of paper which are collected. Then each|
| |person randomly selects and reads someone else's fear to the group and explains how the person might feel. Fosters |
| |interpersonal empathy. You can do this in pairs or groups of three to speed the game up. |
|Materials |Scrap paper for students to write on. |
Menu of Activities for Practices 1-2
Fun Prompts for Argument 4-Corners (EBA Manual, page 28)
|Skills |Students will be able to make an argument using the format, argument = claim + warrant. |
|Prompts |-Medical Marijuana should be legal |
| |-Abortion should be legal |
| |-Jacob, from the Twilight series, would defeat Edward in a fight. |
| |-Violent video games contribute to youth violence |
| |-Social networking sites like Facebook are good for our society. |
| |-The United States government should provide comprehensive health care for its citizens/residents (pick one) |
|Notes |Explain that an argument = claim + warrant, where a claim is a statement that can be argued and a warrant is a reason |
| |why the claim is true. Have the four corners of a room are labeled with “strongly agree,” “agree,” “disagree,” and |
| |“strongly disagree.” Students are presented with a prompt and asked to walk to the corner of the room that is aligned |
| |with their position. Once students have arranged themselves based on their perspectives, they then volunteer or are |
| |called upon to defend their choice and respond to others’ choices. When defending their choice, students are required to|
| |make one explicit claim supported by an explicit warrant. (Students can be required to say “My claim is… My warrant for |
| |this claim is...”). Repeat the activity using as many prompts as desired. |
|Materials |Sheets labeled “strongly agree,” “agree,” “disagree,” and “strongly disagree.” |
Menu of Activities for Practices 1-2 (Continued)
Space Related Prompts for Argument 4-Corners (EBA Manual, page 28)
|Skills |Students will be able to make an argument using the format, argument = claim + warrant. |
|Prompts |-An asteroid collision with Earth is the most likely way that humanity will be terminated. |
| |-Human’s should build a colony on Mars. |
| |-Human’s should build a colony on Mars to avoid total extinction after a catastrophic event on Earth. |
| |-Alien’s exist. |
| |-The government should be searching for extraterrestrial/extradimensional beings. |
| |-The US should revive its personed-space program. |
|Notes |Explain that an argument = claim + warrant, where a claim is a statement that can be argued and a warrant is a reason why |
| |the claim is true. Have the four corners of a room are labeled with “strongly agree,” “agree,” “disagree,” and “strongly |
| |disagree.” Students are presented with a prompt and asked to walk to the corner of the room that is aligned with their |
| |position. Once students have arranged themselves based on their perspectives, they then volunteer or are called upon to |
| |defend their choice and respond to others’ choices. When defending their choice, students are required to make one explicit |
| |claim supported by an explicit warrant. (Students can be required to say “My claim is… My warrant for this claim is...”). |
| |Repeat the activity using as many prompts as desired. |
|Materials |Sheets labeled “strongly agree,” “agree,” “disagree,” and “strongly disagree.” |
Menu of Activities for Practices 1-2 (Continued)
Exploring the Topic with Choosing the Best Warrant Mini Debate (EBA Manual, page 30)
|Skills |Students will be able to weigh warrants and respond to arguments and rebuttals. |
|Prompts |Claim: The US should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space. |
| |Warrants: |
| |1) Colonizing Mars will ensure that people will survive a catastrophe on Earth. |
| |2) We could find Aliens whose technology could solve all our problems. |
| |3) We need to locate and deflect asteroids that could kill us all. |
|Notes |Have students get into groups of 3. Each student in the group will be assigned to defend a different warrant as being the |
| |most persuasive. Once these assignments have been established, the students should take turns in their group speaking for |
| |thirty seconds about why their warrant is superior. Then students will be given one minute of prep time before the go around|
| |again and deliver a 30 second rebuttal that attacks opposing warrants while building up their original warrant. If time |
| |permits you may include a 30 second closing round. Groups can then report back and discuss who “won” each debate, and what |
| |the strongest warrant is. |
|Materials |Choosing the Best Warrant Mini Debates Worksheet, see page 26 |
Menu of Activities for Practices 1-2 (Continued)
Fun Prompts for Table Debates (EBA Manual, page 34)
|Skills |Students will be able to respond to rebuttals |
|Prompts |-Medical Marijuana should be legal |
| |-Abortion should be legal |
| |-Edward, from the Twilight series, would defeat Jacob in a fight. |
| |-Violent video games contribute to youth violence |
| |-Social networking sites like Facebook are good for our society. |
| |-The United States government should provide comprehensive health care. |
|Notes |First, demonstrate how to rebut and argument using the responding to counterarguments class challenge (EBA Manual, page 34) |
| |and a prompt. For this activity explicitly state the progression towards a proper rebuttal by introducing a pro claim, then |
| |a con argument, and then a pro rebuttal. For example, a pro claim is “Edward, from the Twilight series, would defeat Jacob |
| |in a fight”; a con argument is that “Jacob would defeat Edward in a fight because werewolves were born to kill vampires”; a |
| |pro rebuttal is that “my opponent said… Jacob would defeat Edward in a fight because werewolves were born to kill vampires, |
| |but that’s not true because… werewolves can only kill vampires when fighting in a pack, but are no match for a Vampire, |
| |especially one of Edward’s caliber, one-on-one.” |
| |Now for the Table debates have students pair up and begin reading the prompts and have each student defend their assigned |
| |position for 1 minute. Give them 1 minute of prep time and then give them an opportunity to rebut the arguments their |
| |opponents made, which is the focus of this activity. They are required to use the phrase “my opponent said…, but that’s not |
| |true because…” This speech should last thirty seconds. Have the students alternate from affirmative to negative often. |
|Materials |Counterarguments Table Debates Worksheet, See page 25 |
Menu of Activities for Practices 1-2 (Continued)
Space Related Prompts for Table Debates (EBA Manual, page 34)
|Skills |Students will be able to respond to rebuttals |
|Prompts |-An asteroid collision with Earth is the most likely way that humanity will be terminated. |
| |-Human’s should build a colony on Mars. |
| |-Human’s should build a colony on Mars to avoid total extinction after a catastrophic event on Earth. |
| |-Alien’s exist. |
| |-The government should be searching for extraterrestrial/extradimensional beings. |
| |-The US should revive its personed-space program. |
|Notes |First, demonstrate how to make a proper rebuttal using the responding to counterarguments class challenge (EBA Manual, page |
| |34) and a prompt. For this activity explicitly state the progression towards a proper rebuttal by introducing a pro claim, |
| |then a con argument, and then a pro. For example, a pro claim is “Edward, from the Twilight series, would defeat Jacob in a|
| |fight”; a con argument is that “Jacob would defeat Edward in a fight because werewolves were born to kill vampires”; a pro |
| |rebuttal is that “my opponent said… Jacob would defeat Edward in a fight because werewolves were born to kill vampires, but |
| |that’s not true because… werewolves can only kill vampires when fighting in a pack, but are no match for a Vampire, |
| |especially one of Edward’s caliber, one-on-one.” |
| |Now for the Table debates have students pair up and begin reading the prompts and have each student defend their assigned |
| |position for 1 minute. Give them 1 minute of prep time and then give them an opportunity to rebut the arguments their |
| |opponents made, which is the focus of this activity. They are required to use the phrase “my opponent said…, but that’s not |
| |true because…” This speech should last thirty seconds. Have the students alternate from affirmative to negative often. |
| |Once the activity has ended you may choose to do a quick group share by asking questions like the following: a) “Did anyone |
| |really like one of their opponents arguments?”, b) “Did anyone think they won after the first round, but believe they lost |
| |the rebuttal round?” |
|Materials |Counterarguments Table Debates Worksheet, see page 25 |
Menu of Debate Activities for Practices 3-6
A) Mars Colonization Affirmative
Argument 4 Corners and Table Debates (EBA Manual, pages 28 and 34 respectively)
|Skills |Students will make an argument (claim + warrant) and respond to rebuttals. |
|Prompts |The United States of America is not interested in space exploration |
| |Human beings will destroy the planet. |
| |Human beings will become extinct. |
| |Landing a person on the moon was one of humanity’s greatest achievements. |
| |We should do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of the human species. |
| |Building space colonies is the best way to ensure the survival of the species. |
| |Humans should explore/develop space even though there are problems on Earth. |
| |Now is the time to seriously work on building space colonies. |
| |A 6 month trip to Mars would be exciting. |
| |If many nations helped colonize Mars it could promote a sense of unity and World peace. |
|Notes |Feel free to use all or only a few of the prompts. Their aim is to help students internalize the themes of the Mars |
| |Colonization Case. The amount of time the activity will take is largely dictated by the number of prompts you use in each |
| |activity. For Argument 4 Corners use for as long as students are engaged in the activity and then switch to table debates |
| |when ready. Argument 4-corners is meant to prepare students by giving them processing time and by exposing them to |
| |different perspectives on the same topic. |
| | |
| |Now for the Table debates have students pair up and begin reading the prompts and have each student defend their assigned |
| |position for 1 minute seconds. Give them 1 minute of prep time and then give them an opportunity to rebut the arguments |
| |their opponents made, which is the focus of this activity. They are required to use the phrase “my opponent said…, but |
| |that’s not true because…” This speech should last thirty seconds. Have the students alternate from affirmative to negative |
| |often. |
|Materials |-Sheets labeled “strongly agree,” “agree,” “disagree,” and “strongly disagree.” |
| |-Counterarguments Table Debates Worksheet, see page 25 |
| |-Mars Colonization Affirmative |
A) Mars Colonization Affirmative (Continued)
Learning the Evidence by Choosing the Best Warrant Mini Debate (EBA Manual, page 30)
|Skills |Students will be able to weigh warrants and respond to arguments and rebuttals. |
|Prompts |Claim: American interest in space has ended. [1 AC 1/5, page3] |
| |Warrants: |
| |The International Space Station (ISS) is due to be de-orbited |
| |There is no appetite to return to the moon |
| |Public interest will only increase if life turns up on Mars |
| | |
| |Claim: Humans will become extinct. [1 AC 2/5, page 4] |
| |Warrants: |
| |Warfare / nuclear destruction |
| |Asteroid impact |
| |Global warming |
| | |
| |Claim: Colonizing Mars will provide the best “life insurance policy” against disasters on earth that could cause extinction.|
| |[1 AC 3/5, page 5] |
| |Warrants: |
| |Fossils of extinct species on Earth prove that catastrophes do occur. |
| |We may not be smart enough to save ourselves. |
| |Mars is the best place in the solar system for humans outside of Earth. |
| | |
| |Claim: Colonizing Mars is possible. [1 AC 4/5, page 6] |
| |Warrants: |
| |Mars has a very similar length of day and axial tilt. |
| |Earth plants could be grown on Mars soil. |
| |Mars has vast reserves of resources. |
| | |
| |Claim: Establishing a permanent Mars colony is a good idea [1 AC 5/5, page 7] |
| |Warrants (select 3): |
| |Better than colonizing the moon or asteroids. |
| |Mars probably had life at one point and we could study it to advance science. |
| |Mars could be a base for human/robotic exploration of space. |
| |Establishing a multinational community on Mars would unify humanity. |
|Notes |See EBA Manual, page 33 for a full description. Also, make it clear to students that for this activity they are not |
| |debating which one of the warrants is true, as we are assuming that they are all true, but instead they are debating about |
| |which warrant best supports the given claim. In arguing which warrant best supports the given claim students should be |
| |creative and use the card related to the claim as evidence. |
|Materials |-Choosing the Best Warrant Mini Debates Worksheet, see page 26 |
| |-Mars Colonization Affirmative |
A) Mars Colonization Affirmative (Continued)
Evidence Scavenger Hunt (EBA Manual, page 33)
|Skills |Students will be able to provide a warrant for a given claim using evidence from the Novice Mars Colonization Affirmative. |
|Prompts |-Excitement about exploring space is high. |
| |-The moon is the best place to start building space colonies. |
| |-Humans will become extinct. |
| |-Mars offers many of the resources needed for human survival. |
| |-The Earth is likely to face a major catastrophe sometime soon. |
| |-Colonizing Mars will provide the best “life insurance policy” against disasters on earth that could cause extinction. |
| |-We should only spend our money on Earth-based problems. |
| |-Establishing a permanent Mars colony is a good idea |
|Notes |See EBA Manual, page 33. Students can agree or disagree with the prompt as long as they provide a warrant for their claim. |
|Materials |-Evidence Scavenger Hunt Worksheet, see page 27 |
| |-Mars Colonization Affirmative |
B) Mars Colonization Negative
Evidence Scavenger Hunt (EBA Manual, page 33)
|Skills |Students will be able to provide a warrant for a given claim using evidence from the Novice Mars Colonization Negative. |
|Prompts |-We are close to having the necessary technology to build successful space colonies. |
| |-Space colonization is safe. |
| |-Colonizing Mars will have a positive impact on international relationships. |
| |-Exploring space would make us less likely to focus on problems here on Earth. |
| |-A colony in space would save humans from extinction. |
|Notes |See EBA Manual, page 33. Students can agree or disagree with the prompt as long as they provide a warrant for their claim. |
|Materials |-Evidence Scavenger Hunt Worksheet, see page 27 |
| |-Mars Colonization Negative |
Round Robin Debates (EBA Manual, page 35)
|Skills |Students will learn how particular pieces of negative evidence can be used to attack the affirmative. They will also learn |
| |to defend against those attacks. |
|Prompts |Choose three pieces of evidence from the negative arguments. Each of the round robin debates will be based on a different |
| |piece of evidence. |
|Notes |This activity follows the basic structure of the evidence-based round robin debates (page 35 of the EBA manual), though with|
| |some variation. Person “A” is assigned a particular piece of negative evidence. In her first speech, all she does is read |
| |this card. Then person “B” makes affirmative responses to that piece of evidence. (This speech is 45 seconds long.) Prep |
| |time is given, after which the first speaker goes again. In this speech, she should answer the person “B”s points against |
| |the piece of evidence, using as much information from the original piece of text as possible. This speech can last up to 90 |
| |seconds. Finally, person “B” gets a 30 second rebuttal. Person “C” acts as a judge and gives feedback after all speeches. |
| |Then the roles rotate and a new piece of evidence becomes the focus of the debate. |
|Materials |-Three pieces of evidence (chosen by the coach) from the Mars Colonization negative case. |
| |-Mars Colonization Negative |
B) Mars Colonization Negative (Continued)
Learning the Evidence by Choosing the Best Warrant Mini Debate (EBA Manual, page 30)
|Skills |Students will be able to weigh warrants and respond to arguments and rebuttals. |
|Prompts |Claim: We should focus on our problems on Earth than trying to colonize Mars to run away from our problems [1 NC, pages |
| |2-3,7] |
| |Warrants: |
| |We are closer to creating a safe haven on earth than on Mars. |
| |If we focus on going to Mars then we will be unable to solve Earth problems. |
| |Colonizing Mars will increase our problems on Earth. |
| | |
| |Claim: Another planet would be a poor life insurance policy [1 NC, page 4] |
| |Warrants: |
| |Colonizing another planet will not be possible for a few hundred years. |
| |Only a handful of human could be on Mars |
| |Costs too much money. |
| | |
| |Claim: There are immense health risks to traveling in outer space [1 NC, page 5] |
| |Warrants: |
| |Muscles, bones, and the heart will get weaker. |
| |Once we leave the Earth’s atmostphere we would be exposed to dangerous radiation. |
| |Not enough fuel to turn around to deal with emergency situations on-board. |
| | |
| |Claim: We do not have the technology to travel to another planet [1 NC, page 2] |
| |Warrants: |
| |Colonizing Mars cannot be accomplished quickly enough without a lot of deaths |
| |Space is very dangerous and our current technology is like a canoe when we need a modern freighter (huge cargo ship). |
| |Even though we landed on the moon, we do not know how to navigate the great expanse of outer space. |
|Notes |See EBA Manual, page 33 for a full description. Also, make it clear to students that for this activity they are not |
| |debating which one of the warrants is true, as we are assuming that they are all true, but instead they are debating about |
| |which warrant best supports the given claim. In arguing which warrant best supports the given claim students should be |
| |creative and use the card related to the claim as evidence. |
|Materials |-Choosing the Best Warrant Mini Debates Worksheet, see page 26 |
| |-Mars Colonization Negative |
B) Mars Colonization Negative (Continued)
Arguing Mars Colonization Table Debates (EBA Manual, page 34)
|Skills |Students will be able to respond to Rebuttals. |
|Prompts |Case Outlines |
|Notes |This activity follows the basic structure of a table debate though with some variation. |
| |a) Before the debate begins give them prep time to read the taglines for the affirmative and negative, check off which |
| |negative arguments they want to use, place the number of the affirmative tagline their negative evidence will attack, and |
| |write their own arguments until all of the affirmatives taglines have a corresponding negative attack. Note: As the |
| |negative arguments are not in order, selecting the correct arguments to use and which affirmative argument it corresponds |
| |with is challenging. |
| |b) In a student A’s first speech, all they will do is slowly read the affirmative case outline (1 minute). |
| |c) Student B should stand and attack the affirmative arguments (2 minutes). |
| |d) The affirmative will respond to the negatives arguments and vice versa (1 minute each). |
| |e) Finally, you may wish to end with a round for closing arguments (1 minute), prefaced by a 2 minute prep period. |
|Materials |-Mars Colonization Case Outline, See page 28-29 |
| |-Mars Colonization Case |
C) Skills Based Activities
|Skills |Students will know the structure, parts, and timing of a debate round. |
|Prompts |See notes. |
|Notes |Provide students with a copy of Speech Order, Times and Basic Responsibilities on page 28. Then select 4 student volunteers|
| |to perform a simplified version of a mock debate. During this activity students will be standing and the teacher will |
| |explain the purpose of each speech, prompt the student who should be speaking to step forward, and prompt that student to |
| |provide a reason why the plan is a good/bad idea. |
| |The point of the activity is not to have students develop full cases but rather to allow the audience to get the big picture|
| |and general flow of the round. Once you go through a quick version of a round, which should take about 5 minutes, field |
| |student questions and repeat the activity with the whole group. Have all of your students get into groups of 4 and repeat |
| |the activity. |
|Materials |-Speech Order, Times and Basic Responsibilities, See page 28 |
Favorite Drink Note Taking Exercise
|Skills |Students will become better at taking short hand notes. |
|Prompts |What is your favorite drink? |
|Notes |For this activity ask students to write down their favorite drink on a piece of scrap paper. Then write down 10 unique |
| |favorite drinks. Challenge your students to see how many drinks they can remember without writing them down. After you |
| |read off the drinks fairly fast, test the students to see who can remember the most drinks. Then have the students take |
| |notes on the list. Ask how many can remember 10, 9, 8, etcetera. Test a student and then have them take out another slip. |
| |This time show them how they could write in short hand (e.g. apple juice = aj). Now repeat the activity until everyone can |
| |get all 10 or until your point is clearly made. |
|Materials |-Scrap paper |
C) Skills Based Activities (Continued)
Impromptu Speaking
|Skills |Students will feel comfortable Public Speaking. |
|Prompts |Have students develop interesting debate topics and filter out the ones you want to use. |
|Notes |Students are invited to come to the front of the class one at a time to draw three topics from an envelope/hat. The topics |
| |can be course related or be general interest issues that will allow students to easily come up with material for a speech. |
| |The student chooses a topic, has thirty seconds to think, and then delivers a one minute speech either agreeing or |
| |disagreeing with the prompt. The class can provide feedback on the speech, identifying what the speaker did well and areas |
| |that could be improved. |
| |For big teams, it would be good to break into smaller groups (10ish people) with one coach in each group. |
|Materials |-Envelope/hat |
| |-Slips of scrap paper for students to write down interesting debate topics. |
Winter Season Novice Practice Schedule for Tournament 4
|January |
|Monday |Tuesday |Wednesday |Thursday |Friday |
|9 |
| |Student Recruitment Activities |
| |Winter Season Novice Practices Begin |
Appendix
|A) Counterarguments Table Debates Worksheet |24 |
|B) Choosing the Best Warrant Mini Debates Worksheet |25 |
|C) Evidence Scavenger Hunt Worksheet |26 |
|D) Mars Colonization Case Outline |27 |
|E) Speech Order, Times and Basic Responsibilities |28 |
A) Counterarguments Table Debate Worksheet
Instructions:
You and your opponent will be given opposing claims and will have 2 minutes to prepare 2 arguments in support of your claim. After 2 minutes of prep-time you will be given one minute each to present your 2 arguments in favor of your claim. Then, you both are then given 1 minute of prep time to prepare your responses to the arguments your opponent made, which is the focus of this activity. You should use the phrase “my opponent said…, but that’s not true because…”. Remember, anything you do not respond to you accept as true. Don’t drop any arguments!
|Claim |Round 1 |Round 2 |
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B) Choosing the Best WarrantMini Debates Worksheet
Instructions:
Each student in the group should be assigned to defend a different warrant as being the most persuasive. Once these assignments have been established, students should be given 2 minutes of prep-time before they take turns in their group speaking for thirty seconds about why their warrant is the superior one. If there’s time after these initial opening statements, students can go around and deliver a 30 second rebuttal that attacks opposing warrants while building up their original warrant. Prep-time can be given in-between round 1 and 2 if desired.
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C) Evidence Scavenger Hunt Worksheet
Students will race in pairs to both find textual evidence and to explain how the text supports their claim. Every team that correctly answers that statement will receive 1 point, the first group to answer in each round will receive 2 points, and the group with the best response will receive 3 points.
|Claim |Warrant |
| |Textual Evidence |Analysis – How does the text support the claim |
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|Mars Colonization Affirmative Argument | |Negative Arguments for Mars Colonization (Matching Exercise) |
|[Will not be attacked] | |[____] We would be better off creating a safe haven on Earth than trying to colonize Mars. We are much closer to |
|1) The problem: | |creating an underground facility on Earth that would be able to survive a nuclear war or other catastrophic event than |
|The end of the space shuttle program is a symbol of the end of American interest| |we are to colonizing another planet. The sooner we have a haven, the better, because it will allow us to ensure |
|in space exploration. There are currently no plans to colonize Mars, or any | |survival in the case of one of the |
|other planet. | | |
|2) The consequences: | |[____] Using NASA to explore space is on balance harmful to colonization. NASA prevents engineers from being creative |
|Humans have a limited amount of time left on Earth. Global warming, deadly | |and finding the most effective solution to reaching Mars. |
|diseases, and nuclear weapons are just a few of many catastrophes that will | | |
|eventually endanger all life on Earth. | | |
|3) The plan: The United States federal government should direct the National | |[____] Focusing on going to space means we ignore the problems on Earth. We need to keep focusing on our own planet |
|Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop and implement a strategy to send| |until technology becomes advanced enough for us to leave. |
|humans to Mars, in order to establish a permanent human presence in space. | | |
|4) The solution: Colonizing another planet, specifically Mars, will provide a | |[____] History proves that attempts at colonization lead to wars and other conflicts over new territory. Colonization |
|“life insurance policy” against these disasters on Earth, ensuring that human | |of space would not be any different. |
|kind will survive even after one of these catastrophic events. | | |
|5) Colonizing Mars is possible – the planet has many characteristics similar to | |[____] We do not have the technology to travel to another planet in the status quo. Many would die in the attempt. |
|Earth. | | |
|6) Finally, colonizing Mars is a steppingstone for colonizing deeper into solar | |[____] A push for space exploration as a result of the plan causes cuts in the budget of NASA’s Earth science program |
|system | |that focuses on eliminating global warming. |
| | |[____] Another planet would be a poor life insurance policy. We could not get people to Mars fast enough if extinction |
| | |were to occur on Earth. |
| | |[____] There are immense health risks to traveling in outer space include muscle degeneration and cosmic radiation. |
| | |[____] |
| | |[____] |
D) Mars Colonization Matching Arguments for Clash Worksheet
E) Speech Order, Times* and Basic Responsibilities
* Middle school speech times are shorter than high school times. They’re noted after the slash in the right column.
|Speech |Explanation |Time (HS/MS) |
|1AC |Read the pre-written 1AC. This speech introduces a problem and the affirmative’s plan for fixing it. |8/4 min. |
|CX |2N crosses 1A |3/2 min. |
|1NC |This speech presents several arguments against the affirmative’s case. Ideally they are attacks from several different |8/4 min. |
| |angles using evidence from the packet. | |
|CX |1A crosses 1N |3/2 min. |
|2AC |Respond every argument that the 1NC made against the affirmative case. Don’t forget to talk about all the good arguments |8/4 min. |
| |and evidence that were in the 1AC! | |
|CX |1N crosses 2A |3/2 min. |
|2NC |Choose some (but not all) of the arguments from the 1NC that you want to focus on. You’re going to spend your speech time |8/4 min. |
| |digging deeper into these arguments, making sure to remind the judge of any evidence you’ve already read and answering any| |
| |affirmative responses to your arguments. | |
|CX |2A crosses 2N |3/2 min. |
|1NR |Do exactly what the 2NC is supposed to do, except talk about the arguments from the 1NC that your partner did not focus on|5/2 min. |
| |in the 2NC. | |
|1AR |Respond to all of the arguments made against your case during the 2NC and 1NR. Using some of the language and evidence |5/2 min. |
| |from the 1AC and 2AC can save a lot of time. | |
|2NR |Summarize the arguments that you think matter the most in the debate and tell the judge why you think they mean you win |5/2 min. |
| |the round. A good story about why the plan is a bad idea will go a long way. | |
|2AR |Summarize the arguments that you think matter the most in the debate and tell the judge why you think they mean you win |5/2 min. |
| |the round. A good story about why the plan is a good idea will go a long way. | |
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Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s mesosphere.
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