Summer SAVY Session 1, Day 1 – The Great Debate
Day 1: Good afternoon families and great debaters!
Today was our introduction to the ancient philosophical tradition that brings us the art of debate! In the morning session, we learned a bit about each other and discussed what we already know and want to learn about how to debate well. We also brainstormed together about what successful and unsuccessful practices and strategies of debate might look like and learned about low-stake and high-stake debate topics. We created debate rules and then practiced applying them through discussion and short activities. We learned that debating well is much harder than it sounds. We then talked about the differences between arguing, negotiating, and formal debating. Surprise! Debating involves all of the above – plus research, strategy, role assignment, teamwork, creative writing, and even having to learn to be diplomatic within your own team. We also learned new vocabulary words such as rhetoric, cogent, and interlocuter and we discussed the differences between a claim and an opinion. Finally, we engaged in a team activity in which we had to engage all of these ideas and strategies in order to make team decisions, utilize new information, be flexible, build a three-point argument, present our reasons, and think about all the possible consequences. Ask your great debater about the mystical and ever-changing island we got stranded on and how we decided what combination of survival objects to gird our team lifeboats with!
Optional treasure hunt hint to share with your debater for prep and a trivia question tomorrow: look through this blog for a new vocabulary word that starts with the letter ‘g’, remember one from today that starts with ‘i’, and look up one encyclopedia fact about pets. Good luck!
Ms. Rho Townsley