What's happening in...Lower School Debate?

Often, when folks hear that our curriculum features Debate starting in Kindergarten, we get a few questioning looks. How do you teach debate to five-year-olds? Well, first you have to have an amazing Debate teacher like Speyer's Ms. MacKay…and then just sit back and watch it unfold!

We thought we would check in with her to get the scoop on what is happening in Debate in the Lower School these days…and this is what she shared:

Kindergarten

In Kindergarten, we are enjoying activities that involve strengthening focus, practicing listening, and using imagination – all of which helps to build skills they will use as the Debate curriculum progresses, especially in Middle School. One of our favorites is “Categories”, when we go around our circle as quickly as possible as each student names something within the given category - such as things in the classroom, types of fruit, things that are green, and so on without repeating another student’s choice. The trick is to listen the whole time, and be ready to think of another choice if necessary. Our youngest students are also engaging in the “Question Olympics” where the students form teams of Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How and were asked to construct questions based on interesting scenes and scenarios. The potential answers were even more interesting! “Why was a robot grocery shopping?” and “What would a robot buy at a grocery store?” were a few of the questions we wondered. 

Grade 1

In debate class this term, we have built on our Grade 1 students’ current Humanities studies about transportation, specifically the subway. On our “Super Subway Adventure", we are debating numerous twists and turns including whether we would be taking the subway to a park or a museum (and which one?), as well as other considerations including what we would eat and if we would finish up our day with a movie or show or just shopping! We had small group and full class debates over the Pros and Cons of each activity option and the students shared their preferences and experiences. To introduce the element of being able to debate a topic from a certain perspective, our students are enjoying an activity called “Flip It!”. “Flip It” involves looking at a scene, such as a picture of a child sitting up in a tree, considering one perspective and supporting it with reasons (“They should get down from that tree! They may hurt themselves!”), and then “flipping it” and then coming up with a totally different point of view (“They look happy in the tree- why should they get down? They aren’t hurting anyone!). It has been exciting to hear the different perspectives and arguments the students use to support the different sides. 

Grade 2

In Grade 2, we have been practicing the expression of different emotive tones when speaking by having conversations with a partner in which each speaker can only use a single word (the students know that mine is always “banana”). To further practice public speaking and presenting, the students created a “commercial” for an object in the classroom. Using the skills that the students developed in their recent writing and literacy unit on writing reviews, students were encouraged to promote their chosen product and explain to the class why it was worth buying! We also tied our debate activities to their current Humanities unit on the Mayan culture by debating who we would have a Maya stelae in honor of at Speyer as well as where it would be placed (stelae are large stone commemorative statues). The students had some great ideas of who should be represented - Mr Donovan was the most frequent suggestion! 

Grade 3

Our Grade 3 students have been recently demonstrating their debating skills with a number of impromptu debates. Students selected a topic from a hat and then had the option to choose to argue for or against the motion. Volunteers from the class then took the other side – and some excellent full class debates ensued! The topics covered such a wide variety such as whether extinct creatures should be brought back to life (probably too dangerous for a number of reasons), whether books should be replaced with tablets (NEVER!! said all the readers!), if all students should be required to play sports (split decision on this one!), and many more. The students were able to draw on their knowledge and experience to put forward their opinions on these subjects with great passion. It was thrilling to see advanced and comprehensive arguments on both sides of the motions. After much anticipation — and numerous student requests — we will soon be starting our comedy unit. Humor is one of the most powerful tools in public speaking and I will be inviting the students to write or research some jokes and deliver them in a “stand up comedian” fashion!

Grade 4

Our oldest Lower School students have continued to show great passion and skill in debating. We have practiced some specific rebuttal techniques including minimizing (when you seek to depict your opponent’s argument or impact as insignificant), turning (when you take an impact or result your opponent says is bad and argue it is good or vice versa), and de-linking (when you break apart the cause and effect of your opponent’s arguments). The students were able to put these techniques to good use while debating topics such as if cell phones should be allowed in school, if all students should be required to play sports, if school should run year round, and more. We have also been practicing the skill of note-taking during a debate, also known as “flowing.” Recording and organizing the arguments and rebuttals in a debate is crucial and practicing this will be very helpful for the students in their future debate careers both when debating and adjudicating.

Stay tuned for more updates from our Debate program and a HUGE thanks to Ms. MacKay for contributing to this update!