Summer Debate Camp - Two Week Intensive for Beginners
What's included
10 live meetings
10 in-class hoursHomework
1 hour per week. There will be some lessons where students will be encouraged to redo their speeches from prior days so we ask them to keep their notes from day to day and reflect back on what they learned between class.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.Class Experience
US Grade 4 - 7
Beginner Level
During this two week long debate camp students will learn the basics of speech and debate through a hands on approach where kids participate everyday right from the start. At the end of the two weeks students will participate in a mini-tournament and leave with increased self-confidence and the skills they need to better express themselves in the world. No prior debate experience is required to participate but students should come ready and excited to jump into learning right away. Each class will include both a short lecture followed by an activity to help students learn the skill being taught during the lecture portion of class. 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. This will allow students to 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. Students will also learn how to fairly listen to and judge others without bias. By the end of the two weeks students will have increased their public speaking skills, logical reasoning, as well as their ability to listen to and understand others. A breakdown of the course is as follows... Week One Monday: Introductions and Mini-Debates Tuesday: Learning to Take Notes and Mini-Debates 2 Wednesday: Learning to Judge, Ask Questions, and Speech Redos Thursday: Learning Audience Adaptation and Debate Games Friday: Conclusion of Thursday's Debate Games Week Two Monday: Learning to Give Impact Analysis and Debate Games Tuesday: Learning the Impact Turn and Conclusion to Monday's Debate Games Wednesday: Leaning How to Answer Questions, Listen, and Speech Redos Thursday: Mini-Tournament, Day One Friday: Mini-Tournament, Day Two Once classes have more than six students we add a second instructor to always maintain at least a 1:6 ratio. Larger class sizes allow us to even better group students by age and skill, give students the ability to interact with a larger diversity of peers, as well as receive feedback from multiple people while still forming a close relationship with our instructors.
Learning Goals
Students will learn how to to become a better public speaker, critical thinker, and improve their skills in listening and notetaking.
Syllabus
10 Lessons
over 2 WeeksLesson 1:
Introductions and Mini-Debates
Students will get to know one another, learn the fundamentals of debate, and get a chance to try out a mini-debate for some immediate experience.
60 mins online live lesson
Lesson 2:
Note Taking and Mini-Debates
Students will learn how to more effectively take notes while debating and will get a second chance at participating in a mini-debate. Students who won their first mini-debate will be paired against other students who won, and students who lost will be paired against other students who lost.
60 mins online live lesson
Lesson 3:
Learning to Judge and Ask Questions
Students will learn how to adjudicate a debate round, which will help them better learn what it takes to win. Afterwards they will learn how to participate in effective cross-examination and have the opportunity to give practice speeches.
60 mins online live lesson
Lesson 4:
Audience Adaptation
Students will learn how to adapt to audiences and be better at convincing people. Afterwards they will participate in a debate game that's designed to help them internalize the lesson.
60 mins online live lesson
Other Details
Parental Guidance
We only use age appropriate topics and teach students to be sensitive to others. If there are any topics you don't want to have covered please message us upon enrolling for the course.
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.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
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 Course
$85
weekly or $170 for 10 classes5x per week, 2 weeks
60 min
Completed by 1122 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 9-14
4-12 learners per class