Time duration per class: 1 hour.     15 Lessons

Course Description: This class is designed to teach students the fundamentals of debate, argumentation, and public speaking that will enable them to build confidence, self-esteem, critical thinking skills, creativity, and leadership skills. Students will have a chance to improve their communication skills in a safe and secure environment.

How can you argue without becoming argumentative? With so many important issues facing students these days, learning how to advocate for your own position is becoming a vital academic and life skill! In Ustar’s Debate class, students can learn how to express an opinion or take a stance on an issue that is important to them while elevating their public speaking skills by practicing debating skills and making claims based on logical reasoning in a fun, yet challenging atmosphere of teamwork and friendship. Students will participate in training debates employing the fundamentals of constructing arguments and defending positions in both competitive debate formats including Public Forum Debate and Spontaneous Debates (SPAR) and in real-world classroom and social discussions.

All plans and objectives are based upon the teacher’s preliminary and ongoing assessments of the students’ abilities, previous knowledge, and skill sets. Therefore, these plans are tentatively generic, and subject to weekly monitoring and adjusting to make each class more meaningful.

Tentative Course Breakdown and Objectives based on the students’ interests and ability: 

Each class includes an overview of the day’s objectives and essential questions, warm-up activities, a summary activity and homework assignment, an impromptu speech, age and aptitude appropriate argument simulations, and various speaking exercises designed to promote and enhance the day’s skills and objectives.

Note:  Activities will vary pending the pace of the class. Each objective listed below is tentative – actual classes are based on the progress of the previous lesson while monitoring and adjusting for all students’ needs and abilities.

General outline of Ustar debate class topics include:

Lesson 1 – Pre-assessment and welcome lesson – Introduction to Ustar debate and public speaking

Lesson 2- Voice The importance of tone, pitch, volume, and pacing in debating. Students will learn the importance of articulation and correct pronunciation of words and appropriate volume when delivering speeches.

Lesson 3 – Effective listening, thinking, and speaking skills are critical to all walks of life – how do you prepare for persuasive argumentation?

Lesson 4 – Why learn debate: the pros and cons – an opportunity to practice debate skills whether or not students have access to a competitive league

Lesson 5- Refutation and the Debate Pyramid – constructing points and counterpoints into affirmative and negative stances

Lesson 6 – Introduction to the Public Forum Debate format and practice

Lesson 7- Formal Spontaneous Argumentation format and practice

Lesson 8 – Practice Speech Day: students deliver an extemporaneous speech with a topic of the student’s choice

Lesson 9 – The Informative Speech – Introduction to an informative speech used as a first affirmative

Lesson 10 – Informative Speech – Four types of informative speeches (definition speeches, demonstration speeches, explanatory speeches, and descriptive speeches) and their applications to building a debate case

Lesson 11 – Developing debate partner skills through chain stories

Lesson 12- Impromptu Speech – organizing thoughts and opinions in a short amount of time

Lesson 13 -Persuasive Speech – The three steps of persuasion – logos, pathos, and ethos

Lesson 14 -Persuasive Speech – combine rhetorical appeals and three steps of persuasion into a formal yet fun speech. Students will have the opportunity to work with a partner to create and sell a product to improve their ability to persuade as they debate who has the better product.

Lesson 15- Students will participate in a mock debate

Effective vocal techniques skills stressed through lessons:

Argumentation techniques both formal and informal

Proper eye contact

Effective Body Language

Holding an audience’s attention

Peer to Peer Evaluation

Impromptu speaking

Structure of a speech

Inspirational Speeches

Persuasive Speeches

Skills for Debating include:

Confidence

Self-esteem

Critical thinking skills

Creativity

Leadership