LETS GET STARTED….  On a piece of paper….use complete sentences to answer these 3 questions.  Why do we debate?  What is the purpose of debating?  What are you trying to prove?

COMPETITIVE DEBATE

What Debate is NOT… The Argument Clinic

What is a debate?  The Art of Debate: Never Lose An Argument Again The Art of Debate: Never Lose An Argument Again

What is a debate?  CONVINCING A “NEUTRAL” THIRD-PARTY THAT YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT SOMETHING.  CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE ANCIENT GREEKS – PUBLIC ARGUMENT  DEBATING TO WIN IS A “BRITISH” INVENTION OF THE 19 TH CENTURY  POLICY DEBATE, LINCOLN-DOUGLASS DEBATE, PUBLIC FORUM, PARLIMENTARY, CONGRESSIONAL AND IMPROMPTU

What is a debate?  CLAIM  What you are trying to prove  WARRANT  The evidence for why your claim is true  IMPACT  Why it matters

FOUR CORNER DEBATE  Four signs placed around the room:  Strongly Agree  Agree  Disagree  Strongly Disagree  I will pose a proposition, then you move quietly towards the sign that shows what you believe about the topic!

DEBATE TOPICS  All students should have an after school job.  Every student should be required to take a performing arts course.  Teachers should never give homework.  The minimum wage should be $15 per hour.

DEBATE TOPICS  School should be year round.  PE should be required of all students throughout high school.  All students should be required to perform one year of community service.  Schools should block all Internet access.

DEBATE TOPICS  Students should be able to leave school for lunch.  All parents should be required to attend parenting classes before having a child.  Cyber bullying that occurs outside of school, should be punished by the school.  Public prayer should not be allowed in schools.  End of the year state testing should be abolished.

DEBATE TOPICS  All people should be vegetarians.  Renewable forms of energy should be subsidized by the government.  Should America provide foreign aid to countries that kill and sell items from endangered animals.  It is never appropriate for the government to restrict freedom of speech.  Human cloning should be banned.

DEBATE TOPICS  Art classes should be removed from the curriculum.  Macs are better than PCs.  Androids are better than iPhones.  The US Government should fund a space mission to Mars.  All citizens who do not vote should pay a fine.

DEBATE TOPICS  The death penalty should be abolished.  The voting age should be lowered to 16.  Sharing music online should not be allowed.  The driving age should be raised to 21.  College should be free to anyone who wants to attend..

DEBATE TOPICS  History is an important subject in school.  Students should be required to pass Algebra to graduate.  Students should not be graded on their handwriting.  America should not give foreign aid to other countries.

DEBATE TOPICS  The government should provide free wireless service for everyone.  Smoking should be banned everywhere.  People should be fined for not recycling.  US representatives and senators should have term limits.  All students should be required to take an online course.

GROUP WORK  I will place you into groups  Spend the next few minutes discussing which topics were the most interesting and which ones were not interesting.  Why do you think some were more interesting than others?  Be ready to discuss!