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      Judging and scoring a debate

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can judge and score a debate.

      Key learning points

      1. A debate usually has a winning team.
      2. The winning team in a debate can be decided by an audience vote, or a judge, or a panel of judges.
      3. The judges award a score out of ten in four different areas: content, style, delivery and points of information.

      Keywords

      • Judging - Judging means evaluating and deciding something.

      • Delivery - Delivery is how a person presents something.

      • Style - Style refers to the way that a person presents something.

      • Content - Content is the substance, material and information that something is made of.

      Common misconception

      Children might think that judging a debate needs to be done by adults.

      Children can most definitely judge a debate themselves once they know what they're looking for.

      Teacher tip

      It might be a good idea to use the teacher as the example to be judged first of all, in case any pupils find it uncomfortable to be judged by their peers.

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
      except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
      (Collection 2).

      Lesson video

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      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Complete this sentence. 'Rebuttal and points of information make a debate...'

      long
      Correct answer: unpredictable
      predictable

      Q2.
      Which two things should a speaker's notes be?

      Correct answer: clear
      Correct answer: concise
      beautifully written
      in coloured ink

      Q3.
      What should a speaker spend their last few minutes before a debate doing?

      resting
      writing their notes
      Correct answer: rehearsing their speech
      speaking to the judges

      Q4.
      Why might abbreviations be found in a speaker's notes?

      because they're fun to use
      Correct answer: because they take up less room
      because the judges award extra points for using them

      Q5.
      Why is it easier to make eye-contact with the audience when a speaker has notes?

      notes distract the audience
      notes give the audience something to look at
      Correct answer: notes help a speaker to only look away from the audience briefly

      Q6.
      Which two of these may be found in notes to make them easier to read?

      pictures
      colours
      Correct answer: brackets
      Correct answer: dashes

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Which of these could describe a debate?

      a silent show
      Correct answer: a competitive event
      a scripted play

      Q2.
      What are the two ways a debate can be decided?

      playing rock, paper, scissors
      Correct answer: an audience vote
      one person from the audience is elected to decide
      Correct answer: a judge, or judging panel

      Q3.
      Which two of these are categories used to score a speaker?

      age
      Correct answer: style
      appearance
      Correct answer: delivery

      Q4.
      What is the maximum score a speaker can achieve in each category?

      5
      Correct answer: 10
      50
      100

      Q5.
      If a speaker responds well to challenges posed to them by the other team, they would achieve a strong score in which category?

      delivery
      content
      Correct answer: points of information
      style

      Q6.
      Which two of these are in the judging criteria for the category 'style'?

      good amount of eye-contact with the audience
      speaking clearly and at a good volume
      Correct answer: evidence of personality or persona
      Correct answer: efforts to provoke an emotional reaction

      To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Judging and scoring a debate, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...