Summer SAVY 2018: Session 4, Day 4 – The Great Debate, Mrs. Kraft (Rising 3rd/4th)
Dear Parents,
What a fun and productive Thursday we had! We added to our debating knowledge, formed closer bonds with our classmates, and delved into research about our two debate topics (either one could be picked for our debate on Friday!)
This morning we started off with our focus games again. The students have gotten into the routine and know the rules and expectations of these games. We always take time to pause after the end of one game and reflect on what we learned and how it will help us as a debate team. Today, the students especially enjoyed “Zip, Zap, Boing”. It’s a high energy game that requires concentration and clear communication. We talked about how important this communication is as a team and how we need to have less distractions – less distracting body movements and less talking and side conversations. This will make us successful as a debate team as well! We also added a new word to our vocabulary list today – “non-sequitur”. Parents, see if your child remembers and if they can use it in a sentence!
After a fun and hot ORA, we dissected our two debate topics as a class. The possible topics are “should kids be allowed to work?” and “should kids have more and longer recess”. We really looked closely at what these questions are asking – what is work and what is recess? We went around the room and shared personal stories about what our recesses look like in school. And if we do chores or run small businesses at home. In our dissection, we made sure to look at both the pros and the cons since we do not know what side we will argue on yet. The students did a great job thinking of the pros and cons of each argument even if they felt strongly about one side. We have also gotten much better at having discussions with students raising their hands when they have an idea and not blurting out– a lot of growth from Monday!
After lunch, we went straight to the computer lab to do some research on our debate topics. The students looked at different articles, mostly from the New York Times, to find evidence and examples to support the pros and cons of each argument. Tomorrow, we will go back and do even more specific research. The students learned how to find reputable articles and websites, that we want to look at articles from recent years, and that we want research included (no opinions). Parents, you can ask your students about what specific examples they learned in their research.
Later on, we learned two new fallacies – black and white fallacy and authority fallacy. We spent the last part of the day organizing our notes and thoughts about the debate topics. We pooled our research and thought up new things to look up tomorrow. We created a flowchart on the board to organize our ideas and the students generated great conversation on what our strong points should be in the debate.
We are looking forward to seeing everyone at 3:15 for our debate! The students are so excited.
Nettie Kraft
Brainstorming For Our Final Debate
