Debate

These sites offer tips and activity ideas for sponsoring classroom debates at various grade levels. Learn how to prepare for a debate and how to improve your presentation skills. Includes transcripts and video clips of presidential debates from 1960-2008. There are links to eThemes Resources on Persuasive Speeches, Debate Topic: Year Round School, and Writing: Purpose.

Grades

• 4,
• 5,
• 6,
• 7,
• 8,
• 9,
• 10,
• 11,
• 12

Links

• Debate Resources and Tools

  Follow links on the left menu to learn about different types of debate formats and how to start a debate club. You can also find information about debate tournament and more. NOTE: This site contains a link to discussion forums.

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• Using Fairy Tales to Debate Ethics

  In this lesson, students can read three fairy tales and then debate issues related to the stories. NOTE: This site contains ads and has links to external sites.

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• Speak Up! Dynamic Student Debating

  This site has resources for students and teachers to conduct debates in classrooms. There are information about debating including types of debating, debating process, and debating topics. Also downloadable materials, examples, and templates on preparing effective arguments and debating.

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• Commission on Presidential Debates

  Learn about the U.S. presidential debates from 1858-2008. Includes basic candidate information and transcripts of most of the debates.

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• The History of Televised Presidential Debates

  Watch videos and read transcripts of televised presidential debates beginning with the first in 1960. Includes commentaries by historians on the impact of television on politics. Visit "Curriculum Resources" for debate activities.

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• Debate Student Handout

  A two-page pdf handout has a guide that prepares students for a debate.

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• Debate Lesson Plan

  This page offers instructions for having students engage in a debate. You can adapt this lesson and have students of all ages debate various topics.

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• Lesson Plan: The Great Energy Resources

  This lesson plan has activity ideas for engaging students in debating over energy issues. NOTE: There are couple broken links to external sites.

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• University of Illinois Extension: Strategies for Empowering Students

  The goal of this activity is to help elementary students understand other points of view.

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• Lesson Plan: The Great Debate: Internationalists vs. Isolationists

  Students will examine issues on President Roosevelt's proposal on foreign policy during 1921-1941 and they will participate in debates through the use of an interactive map and primary source documents. NOTE: This site contains links to external sites.

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• eThemes Resource: Persuasive Speeches

  These sites are about persuasive speeches and examples of famous persuasive speeches in history including speech rhetoric appealing to the emotions, logic, nonverbal cues for speeches, eye contact, and gestures.

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• eThemes Resource: Writing: Purpose

  These sites are about the three main types of writing: persuasive, narrative, and expository. Includes examples of how to write in these different styles and graphic organizers to help students arrange their thoughts.

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• eThemes Resource: Debate Topic: Year Round School

  These sites explore the advantages and disadvantages for following a year round school schedule versus a traditional schedule that features a summer break. The information on these sites can help students create their debate arguments for or against this type of schedule. There is a link to an eThemes Resource on debate.

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Education Standards

• AU
  • 7.7
  • TS3.1.4
  • TS3.3.2
  • TS3.4.2
• AL
  • 7.1
  • 7.2
  • 7.3
  • 7.4
  • 7.5
  • 8.1
  • 8.1
  • 8.2
  • 8.3
  • 8.4
  • 8.5
• ME
  • E1.a
  • E1.a
  • E1.a
  • E1.a
  • E1.b
  • E1.b
  • E1.b
  • E1.b
  • E1.c
  • E1.c
  • E1.c
  • E1.c
  • E2.a
  • E2.a
  • E2.a
  • E2.a
  • E2.b
  • E2.b
  • E2.b
  • E2.b
  • E2.c
  • E2.c
  • E2.c
  • E2.c
  • E2.d
  • E2.d
  • E2.d
  • E2.d
  • E2.e
  • E2.e
  • E2.e
• MO
  • 1
  • 1.1
  • 1.10
  • 1.2
  • 1.4
  • 1.5
  • 1.6
  • 1.7
  • 2.1
  • 2.2
  • 2.3
  • 2.4
  • 3
  • 3.1
  • 3.6
  • 3.7
  • 3.8
  • 4
  • 4.1
  • 4.3
  • 4.6
  • 5
  • 6
  • W.3.A.a
  • W.3.A.a
  • W.3.A.a
  • W.3.A.a
  • W.3.A.a
  • W.3.A.a
  • W.3.A.a
  • W.3.A.a
  • W.3.A.a
• NV
  • 4.12.2.5.a
  • 4.12.2.7
  • 4.4.2.6
  • 4.4.2.7.a
  • 4.5.2.5.a
  • 4.6.2.5.a
  • 4.6.2.7
  • 4.7.2.5.b
  • 4.7.2.7
  • 4.8.2.5.a
  • 4.8.2.7
  • 6.12.1.1.a
  • 6.12.1.1.b
  • 6.12.1.1.c
  • 6.12.1.1.d
  • 6.12.1.1.e
  • 6.12.1.1.f
  • 6.12.6.1.a
  • 6.12.6.1.b
  • 6.12.6.1.c
  • 6.12.6.1.d
  • 6.12.6.1.e
  • 6.12.6.1.f
  • 6.12.6.1.g
  • 6.12.6.2
  • 6.4.1.1.a
  • 6.4.1.1.b
  • 6.4.1.1.c
  • 6.4.1.1.d
  • 6.4.6.1
  • 6.4.6.2.a
  • 6.4.6.2.b
  • 6.4.6.2.c
  • 6.5.1.1.a
  • 6.5.1.1.b
  • 6.5.1.1.c
  • 6.5.1.1.d
  • 6.5.1.1.e
  • 6.5.1.1.f
  • 6.5.6.1.a
  • 6.5.6.1.b
  • 6.5.6.1.c
  • 6.6.1.1.a
  • 6.6.1.1.b
  • 6.6.1.1.c
  • 6.6.1.1.d
  • 6.6.1.1.e
  • 6.6.1.1.f
  • 6.6.6.1.a
  • 6.6.6.1.b
  • 6.6.6.1.c
  • 6.6.6.3
  • 6.7.1.1.a
  • 6.7.1.1.b
  • 6.7.1.1.c
  • 6.7.1.1.d
  • 6.7.1.1.e
  • 6.7.1.1.f
  • 6.7.6.1.a
  • 6.7.6.1.b
  • 6.7.6.1.c
  • 6.7.6.1.d
  • 6.7.6.2.a
  • 6.7.6.2.b
  • 6.7.6.2.c
  • 6.7.6.3
  • 6.8.1.1.a
  • 6.8.1.1.b
  • 6.8.1.1.c
  • 6.8.1.1.d
  • 6.8.1.1.e
  • 6.8.1.1.f
  • 6.8.6.1.a
  • 6.8.6.1.b
  • 6.8.6.1.c
  • 6.8.6.1.d
  • 6.8.6.1.e
  • 6.8.6.1.f
  • 6.8.6.1.g
  • 6.8.6.2
  • 7.4.1.5
  • 7.5.1.6
  • 7.6.1.2.f
  • 7.7.1.2.f
  • 7.8.1.2.f
• OK
  • A.2.4.a
• DE
  • 1.3.3.a.1.7
  • 1.3.3.a.1.7
  • 1.3.3.a.1.7
  • 1.3.3.a.1.7
  • 1.4.8
  • 1.4.8
• IL
  • 3.11.36
  • 3.6.14
  • 3.6.15
  • 3.6.16
  • 3.6.17
  • 3.6.18
  • 3.6.19
  • 3.6.20
  • 3.6.21
  • 3.6.22
  • 3.6.26
  • 3.6.27
  • 3.6.28
  • 3.6.29
  • 3.8.14
  • 3.8.15
  • 3.8.16
  • 3.8.17
  • 3.8.18
  • 3.8.19
  • 3.8.20
  • 3.8.21
  • 3.8.22
  • 3.8.24
  • 3.8.25
  • 3.8.26
  • 3.8.27
  • 3.8.28
  • 3.8.29

Request State Standards

Created: February 17, 2003 at 11:36 | Updated: January 16, 2013 at 16:38