Good afternoon, families and great debaters!

I can’t believe that this week has flown by so fast! I am so sad to see y’all go, but so proud of everyone and what you all have accomplished. I know we couldn’t get through everything we wanted to this week, but I hope y’all had a great time and learned some important rhetorical skills and persuasion strategies! For our final day, we continued our lesson on how to refute and make a relevant rebuttal, then had a lively extemporaneous debate in class about whether students should evaluate teachers or not. Everyone made excellent points, and we honed our rebuttal skills by thinking about relevancy, fact-checking, and counterexamples. We also began to realize that it is difficult not to give ad hominem arguments or give in to our biases, so we had to think about ways to keep our debates respectful and professional.

After our break, we learned about mock trials and the persuasive skills that are used in courtrooms and board meetings. We watched a middle school mock trial where the prosecution and defense argued and debated about whether Joe stole a candy bar or not, and we learned that, at least in the courtroom, the way your character and ethos come across to others can be just as important as having a strong and logical argument. Next, we watched a mock trial based on the story of the boy who cried wolf, in which Wolfcryer was being tried for disturbing the peace and putting the town in danger. We learned about the process of a trial and the importance of the jury and how lawyers construct arguments so that they are both logical and evidence-based based as well as being emotionally swaying and full of pathos and ethos. We then picked a fairy tale and began to prepare for two major trials in our teams. We had to create arguments and opening and closing statements, and use our recently sharpened rebuttal skills to prepare cross-examination questions and prepare our witnesses for the stand. We split the class into two teams – the case of the Town of Far Far Away vs. Lord Farquad (attempted murder and reckless endangerment) and the case of the Three Little Bears vs. Goldilocks (breaking in and destruction of property). Ask your student how the trials went and what they found to be easier than they expected, and what aspects were actually quite difficult! In the end, Farquad was actually found not guilty for lack of evidence, and Goldilocks went to the slammer, despite her Airbnb receipt and claim to have rented the house. It was quite an exciting afternoon, and I’m so proud of how everyone showcased their skills! I hope to see everyone from class next summer!

Ms. Rho