5 tips on How to Host a Successful Debate Within the Classroom

Hosting a debate in class can be a very successful and engaging way to create a collaborative activity within your classroom. But, there are a few essential things a teacher must remember when trying to get students to engage within a debate topic in class.

1. Have a topic that is interesting, has a lot of conflict about, and that the students can relate to: This is one of the most important components to a successful classroom debate because this is how students will be able to engage. Trying to find a topic that is current and that the students have an opinion on is a way to make sure that the debate is lively. Make sure that the topic is something that is being argued on, such as Is Global Warming Real, or Should President Trump be impeached? There will be a lot of resources for the students to look at on topics like this.


2. Be unbiased when creating the affirmative and negative teams: While all of the students in the class may believe Global Warming is Real, you will need to still create a team that believes it is not. Therefore, it is best to create teams randomly and make sure to let them know that it may not be their personal opinion but they can research more about the topic. The point of a debate is to try to change the other team's opinion on the topic. Make sure that there are resources that the students can find on the internet or within books on the topic beforehand.


3. Presentation and Rebuttal: The teams will have a certain amount of time to first present their information and then create a rebuttal. It is important to teach the students what the difference is between these two, and it is a good way for a teacher to see who is paying attention to the debate!


4. Manners Matter: Make sure that the students understand that this is not an argument, but a debate. Therefore, students need to be polite to each other and use proper grammar when speaking. They cannot shout out information whenever they please, but only during their allotted time if it is their team's turn. They also need to work well within their group if they want to win the debate. A debate is a formal event and should be treated as such.


5. Set up the Classroom: This may require moving some furniture around, but setting up the classroom correctly is an important aspect to a debate. Make sure that there are two groups of desk, and that the groups are facing each other. This way, the students can maintain good eye contact during the debate while still working collaboratively within their teams.

Developing Searching, Skimming, and Scanning Skills within Social Studies

Since Social Studies is usually a class that involves a lot of heavy reading, it is important for students to understand how to actively scan while reading in order to get the important information. This is a skill that needs to be taught by the teacher within the classroom, it is not inherent within children.

The most important aspect is to teach the students what the difference is between skimming and scanning. Skimming is when you read quickly to get the main idea of the text, while scanning is rapidly viewing the text in search of key terms, phrases, and/or information. Students need to know how to learn both of these skills and the proper time to use them.


To lead into the topic, it is important to ask the students a few questions. Some of these questions include: "Why do you think it would be helpful to skim or scan an article, rather than read the entire text?" and "Do you think there are times that you would need to read the entire article instead of simply skimming or scanning it? When?". It is important to ask questions like this in order to activate their prior knowledge and get them to critically think about the skill.

It is also always important to model the skill before sending the students off. Pull up a short article on a topic that was previously covered in the class and demonstrate how to scan and skim. Mention that it is important to read the questions that are being asked first before scanning because you need to know what you are looking for. Differentiate important information from the article from other facts that are just given. Also show how important it is to underline, circle, or highlight information. Students need to understand that scanning or skimming is not about highlighting every word in the article, but knowing what is important and what is not.

After modeling the skills, group students together and have them work together on skimming and scanning different articles about the topic currently being covered. Allow students to discuss with each other so that they can ask each other questions and determine together what information is important and what is not.
A good amount of time needs to be put into this topic so that the students can have a firm grasp on these two skills!