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      Preparing for a debate

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can follow a guide to help prepare for a debate.

      Key learning points

      1. An important part of preparing for a debate is generating points for your side of the argument.
      2. The points that your team generates should be ordered from strongest to weakest to ensure your best points are included.
      3. The points generated should be assigned to different members of your team.
      4. A debate team should liaise with each other while writing their speeches to avoid repetition.

      Keywords

      • Generate - Generate means to produce or create something.

      • Order - To order is to arrange things a particular way.

      • Assign - To assign means to allocate or designate.

      • Liaise - Liaise means to communicate with someone else.

      Common misconception

      Children may think that all points are equally effective in a debate.

      Whilst it is good to generate lots of points when preparing for a debate, they will vary in how effective they are.

      Teacher tip

      This lesson will prepare your children to work in teams to independently prepare for a debate. However, they will likely need adult support while they get used to doing this.

      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.
      In a debate, what would an opposing team member use to interrupt a speaker while they are making their speech?

      rebuttal
      Correct answer: point of information
      summary

      Q2.
      What will a point of information often be phrased as?

      a statement
      Correct answer: a question
      a command

      Q3.
      Why should a point of information only be 10-15 seconds long?

      Correct answer: to not take up too much of the speaker's allotted time
      to make sure the audience do not lose interest
      to give the speaker just a short time to rest while they're not speaking

      Q4.
      Which of these would an opposing team member not do when making a point of information?

      stand up
      place one hand on their head
      Correct answer: raise one foot off the ground
      extend one hand out to the speaker

      Q5.
      How many points of information should be accepted during a speaker's speech?

      as many as possible
      none
      Correct answer: at least one

      Q6.
      Which of these are ways a speaker could decline a point of information?

      Correct answer: shake their head
      Correct answer: say "No, thank you"
      make a cross with their hands
      look away from the person making the POI

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      What is the acronym used to support a team in preparing for a debate?

      PEPS
      BRB
      Correct answer: GOAL

      Q2.
      What does GOAL stand for?

      generate, order, arrange, liaise
      generate, order, assign, look
      Correct answer: generate, order, assign, liaise
      generate, organise, assign, liaise

      Q3.
      What is a team generating when preparing for a debate?

      noise
      Correct answer: points
      questions

      Q4.
      How many points should a team try to generate?

      1 - 2
      2 - 3
      more than 5
      Correct answer: as many as possible

      Q5.
      What should the team do after they have generated all their points?

      assign them to the speakers
      Correct answer: order them
      liaise with each other

      Q6.
      Why is it important that a team liaises with each other whilst writing their speeches?

      Correct answer: to avoid repetition
      to help each other write their speeches
      to check each other's speeches have been written neatly

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