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Full 12 Week English Curriculum - Public Speaking Through Debate for Beginners

In this 12 week ELA course students will build confidence by learning to become better public speakers, increasing their vocabulary and critical thinking skills, while improving their ability to take notes, listen, and respond to others.
Broome County Debate Alliance
Average rating:
4.7
Number of reviews:
(2,092)
Class

What's included

24 live meetings
24 in-class hours
Homework
1-2 hours per week. The second day of each week will require students to come prepared for the topic and the activity they were assigned at the end of class from the first day of each week. Students may put in as little or as much work as they decide into preparing. We would suggest on average thirty minutes researching, preparing notes, or talking through arguments with parents or siblings each week. In no situation--other than the learner's pure enthusiasm for a topic--should it take more than an hour or two at the most advanced levels, and even then it would be because the student enjoyed talking about the topic, rehearsing and thinking through what they want to say, and learning more independently. Students who didn't have any time to prepare will still be able to participate in the second day's activities but they will be participating against other students who have taken the time to research and prepare. In these cases, students will learn to utilize their impromptu skills more as they figure out how to critically engage even without sources to back them up. Ultimately, no topic will be so complex that a student who didn't prepare would have no idea what to say. However, every topic for the second day of each week will be advanced enough where preparing ahead of time is both encouraged and expected.
Assessment
Students will be assessed on whether or not they won their debate rounds based upon how well they argued their side and answered their opponents. We will also use kahoot quizzes for recap days to ensure students are learning the material. At the conclusion of the curriculum, students will be given a certificate of completion, and the top 25% of the class will be given an award testifying to their accomplishments. At the end of each week, parents will be sent a note by the teacher informing them of their child's strengths and weakness so they can improve. Students will be given oral feedback after each debate and will learn to give their peers constructive feedback as well.

Class Experience

US Grade 4 - 7
Beginner Level
During this twelve week long curriculum, which will meet twice per week, students will learn to become better readers, public speakers, critical thinkers, while improving their ability to respond to others, take notes, and research. This first day of each week will consist of a short lesson plan immediately followed by an activity to help the students internalize the lesson of the day. The design of this activity will help with the impromptu public speaking skills necessary to be effective at communicating with others. The second day of each week will repeat the activity but with a preassigned topic, giving students the opportunity to prepare ahead of time. This helps with improving research skills while giving students the ability to take the feedback from the first day and then improve upon that performance. Over the course of the curriculum students will learn how to form arguments, listen to their opponents, develop critical thinking skills, and discern the difference between reliable and unreliable sources for evidence. In the process of debating, and interacting with their peers and the instructor, students will learn to speak to a diversity of different people in order to learn how to adapt their arguments to the audience they're speaking to while improving their logical reasoning, as well as their ability to listen and understand others. Students will also participate in reading and speaking drills outside of debates to help become better at reading comprehension and self-confidence. A breakdown of the course is as follows...

Week 1, Day 1: The Basics of Debate and Mini-Debates.
Week 1, Day 2: Mini-Debates with Topics Assigned Ahead of Time
Week 2, Day 1: Learning How to Impact and Weigh Arguments
Week 2, Day 2: Repeat the Activity with Topic Assigned Ahead of Time
Week 3, Day 1: Audience Adaptation and Persuasive Speaking Skills
Week 3, Day 2: Repeat the Activity with Topic Assigned Ahead of Time
Week 4, Day 1: Asking and Answering Questions to Win
Week 4, Day 2: Reading Drills, Mini-Debates with Questions and Topics Assigned Ahead of Time
Week 5, Day 1: Impromptu Mini-Tournament Combining All the Skills
Week 5, Day 2: Researched Mini-Tournament Combing All the Skills
Week 6, Day 1: Recap of Basics of Debate, Speaking Drills, Debate Format
Week 6, Day 2: Working With Partners and Debating Topics
Week 7, Day 1: Disadvantages and Opportunity Costs, and Research
Week 7, Day 2: Repeat the Activity with Topic Assigned Ahead of Time
Week 8, Day 1: Procedural Argumentation and Philosophy
Week 8, Day 2: Repeat the Activity with Topic Assigned Ahead of Time
Week 9, Day 1: Recap on Intermediate Argumentation, A Lesson on Disadvantages, and a Return to Adventuring
Week 9, Day 2: Repeat the Activity with Topic Assigned Ahead of Time 
Week 10, Day 1: A Lesson on Opportunity Costs, and Role Playing the Options
Week 10, Day 2: Repeat the Activity with Topic Assigned Ahead of Time
Week 11, Day 1: Class Tournament, Partners, Format, Speaking Drills, and Prep Time
Week 11, Day 2: Class Tournament, Day One
Week 12, Day 1: Class Tournament, Day Two
Week 12, Day 2: Awards Ceremony and Goodbyes

At the conclusion of the curriculum, students will be given a certificate of completion, and the top 25% of the class will be given an award testifying to their accomplishments. At the end of each week, parents will be sent a note by the teacher informing them of their child's strengths and weakness so they can improve. Students will be given oral feedback after each debate and will learn to give their peers constructive feedback as well.
Learning Goals
Students will learn the basics on how to construct arguments, how to adapt and persuade different audiences, how compare impacts, as as well as how to ask and answer questions. Each week will focus on one of those skills. After having a short lesson, students will then participate in an activity where students debate and will be given feedback based upon their performance. The second day of each week will repeat the activity of the previous day but with a topic assigned ahead of time. This will enable students to become better in both their impromptu and preparation skills. Students will be taught tricks on how to take notes and listen to their opponents as well as how to think strategically about argument through debate. By the end of each class, students should feel more confident about their abilities as a public speaker and express a greater interest in critical thinking about increasingly advanced topics. As the weeks advance, students will also learn how to work in teams, take both sides of an argument, and engage in both philosophical and policy conversations.
learning goal

Other Details

Parental Guidance
We use topics that are age appropriate and culturally sensitive. If there are any topics or areas you would like us not to include please reach out ahead of time. In most cases, there is a list of topics students can pick from so they can self-select for topics they don't want to debate.
Supply List
Students should come with paper and something to write with. Taking notes on a computer is also entirely fine. A timer is suggested, but not required. On the second day of each week students should also come with any prepared speeches, notes, or evidence they intend to use when participating.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
  • Kahoot
Joined March, 2020
4.7
2092reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
The BCDA's founder has been run a competitive college debate team for twenty years. He has also run elementary and middle school debate workshops for the past four years both in the US and internationally. We have now taught well over a thousand kids from countries around the world digitally through this platform with great reviews. If for whatever reason you feel the class didn't live up to what you were looking for, please contact us for a refund. We are offering these courses as a way for students to get the benefits of debate and peer-directed education while schools are shutdown. Debate is not necessarily for everyone, but we are confident that if your kid is excited about it they will enjoy this class, and don't want you paying if that's not the case.

Reviews

Live Group Class
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$38

weekly or $450 for 24 classes
2x per week, 12 weeks
60 min

Completed by 6 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 9-14
4-6 learners per class

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