Activity 5 Evaluating - Debate

Level: 9th-grade L2 learners - Higher level.

Time: 1 session (60 minutes)

Norwegian curriculum:

• uttrykke seg med flyt og sammenheng tilpasset formål og situasjon.
• uttrykke og begrunne egen mening om forskjellige emner.
• lese, forstå og vurdere ulike typer tekster av varierende omfang om forskjellige emner.

Goals:

• You should be able to express yourself and make your statement heard.
• You should be able to argue your point.
• You should be able to read, understand and be able to debate the text/blog you have chosen. 

Technologies:

• Computer
• Blogs -Since they do not have that much time to prepare for this debate, I want the students to be able to debate something that they already have knowledge about and that interest them. That is why I chose blogs. They can choose any case they want, as long as they are interested and that there is something to debate. 

Into: 10 minutes. 

In this session, the students are going to debate each other. To start this off, the teacher should ask the students what a debate is and how it should be done. When it is clear that everybody knows what a debate is, the teacher should, together with the class, come up with some rules for the debate. That way everybody knows what is allowed and expected of them. The rules should be written down on the chalkboard, that way everyone can see them throughout the session.

Through: 20 minutes. 

They will now be divided into groups of 5. In a class of 30 students, it is 6 groups. Two and two groups will at the end of the class debate each other. The two groups have to find out together what topic they want to debate, It should be something that has been blogged about the last week. When they have come to an agreement, they should decide which sides they will take (for, against). When they have decided, the group should meet and do a lot of research. Since they do not have a lot of time, they need to be quick and take keynotes.

Beyond: 30 minutes.

Each debate will take 5 minutes each. They will do the debate in front of the rest of the class. it is important that they follow the rules that were set at the beginning of the class. The teacher will lead the debate, that way it will be easier to control the setting. Everyone should say something and use the information they have gathered to make their case.

Goals:

• You should be able to express yourself and make your statement heard.
• You should be able to argue your point.
• You should be able to read, understand and be able to debate the text/blog you have chosen.

All these goals will be shown in the debate. The teacher should also be walking around when they are preparing. That way the teacher can see how much work they are putting into it and how they choose to prepare. Some of the groups might need some help. When the debate starts, the teacher will hear if the students have reached the goals set for this class.

Reflections:

Five students in one group can have both ups- and downsides. This exercise could use more time. That way it could be smaller groups. Groups of 2-3. That way it is easier for everyone to say something. But when there are 5 students in one group it will feel safer for some of the students. Standing in front of the rest of the class debating can be terrifying for some of the students. It will feel safer for them to have 4 students on their side when they talk, and that is on their side in the debate.
Another thing is the subject. The subject could be something they have been working on before. It could be The Civil Rights Movement, History, literature. There are a lot of possibilities with these types of activity. It would be better if they had more time. That way the students can take more time to prepare and more time to debate. Small groups are better for this activity.

Literature:

Utdanningsforbundet, (2019), Læreplan i Engelsk (ENG1-03), Retrievede from: https://www.udir.no/kl06/ENG1-03/Hele/Kompetansemaal/kompetansemal-etter-10.-arstrinn