Debate Topics and Process

We will debate three topics:

Vegetarianism - Should people become vegetarian?

Team 1 opposes vegetarianism.

Team 2 supports vegetarianism.

Video games and youth violence - Do video games contribute to youth violence?

Team 3 opposes video games.

Team 4 opposes video games.

Standardized testing - Is the use of standardized testing improving education in America?

Team 5 opposes standardized testing.

Team 6 supports standardized testing,

Each team will have 3 or 4 members. Each team will decide on how the speeches will be presented - that is, who takes what argument and in what order the arguments will be presented. Each member will follow Monroe's Motivated Sequence when writing her speech. Each group will receive the top ten arguments supporting its position, taken from http://www.procon.org.

Member 1 will begin by introducing the topic and stating her team's position. She will then present the first argument.

Member 2 will present the second argument. At the beginning of her speech she will be given an opportunity to rebut the preceding opposing argument.

Member 3 will present the third argument. Again, at the beginning of her speech she will be given an opportunity to rebut the preceding opposing argument.

Member 4 will rebut the preceding opposing argument and reiterate her team's position by summarizing her team's arguments.

There are three objectives for this lesson.

1. You will get practice reading for information and organizing the information you have read in another format.

2. You will get practice writing a speech according to a specific format - in this case, Monroe's Motivated Sequence.

3. You will get practice in public speaking, focusing on the six categories outlined in Preston's Oral Presentation Rubric.