A point is an idea or reason to support your opinion.

An explanation means giving reasons to help someone understand an opinion.

Proof refers to the evidence used to support an opinion.

A summary will briefly recap the main points of an argument.

Notes are brief, concise and often abbreviated records of information.

Writing notes to support delivering a speech in a debate

English

Justifying an opinion

Making points and explanations in a debate

Giving proof and summarising an argument

Learning the roles in a debate and making a rebuttal

Making and responding to points of information

Preparing for a debate

Judging and scoring a debate

In ‘Introduction to Debate’, the pupils learn to justify their opinions with reasoning. In the Year 5 unit ‘Persuasive letter writing’, the pupils will build on this by using their justification skills to make a persuasive argument. 

In ‘Speeches’, pupils learned how to articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions, using a set structure to support them.  In this unit, they will build on that skill by learning how to prepare and participate in debates.

In this unit, pupils develop their understanding of debating conventions, including justifying, making points, giving proof, summarising, responding, judging and scoring a debate. Pupils learn how best to prepare for a debate and how to write notes to deliver a speech during a debate.

Introduction to debate

What of these elements of a debate that make it unpredictable?

Speakers should not be reading their speech word for word. Instead, what should they use to support them?

rehearse what they'll say using the notes to help

A speaker should try and finish writing their notes with time to spare before the debate starts so they can do what?

Which of these may feature in a speaker's notes?

Having clear notes means a speaker doesn't have to keep looking at them. What should they do with their eyes instead?

Which of these would be a helpful thing to use to make notes clearer to read?

What is the first thing a team should do when following the debate preparation guide GOAL?

What comes after 'generate' when following GOAL?

Who does a team assign points to when preparing for a debate? 

What must a team do to avoid repeating parts of each other's arguments?

What makes an effective 'point' in a debate?

Should points be fully formed and written in full sentences whilst the team is generating them?

Writing notes to support delivering a speech in a debate

Lesson outcome