Debate Lesson Plan: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Debate, and supports the standard of presenting information, findings, and supporting evidence to convey a clear and distinct perspective. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.
Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Ask students: What makes an argument strong?
Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE
- Read the description on the Debate topic page.
- Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
- Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “Language,” “Way Back When,” or “Politics.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS
Assign Debate Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.
Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND
Students express what they learned about debate while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.
- Make-a-Movie: Produce a newscast that reports on a debate between two mayoral over a specific issue. Explain who won the debate, and why.
- Make-a-Map: Watch a televised debate. Create a concept map identifying the strategies one debater used, and describe their effectiveness.
- Creative Coding: Code a game challenging players to sort arguments based on the rhetorical device they use.
More to Explore
Argument Wars: Students argue a real Supreme Court case in this interactive game.
Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of debate skills and strategies with these topics: Public Speaking and Critical Reasoning.
Teacher Support Resources:
- Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas.
- Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
- Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.
