1. 7th Grade
Do not let me forget. You need field trip permission slips today!
Today:
Assign debate topics
Debate guided notes
Stretch
You need to have at least one printed article (or something available to show me and use in class) here Monday! You have Monday and Tuesday to prepare for your debate!

2. Constructive Speeches:
1st Constructive Speech
Begin by clearly stating and explaining the proposition as well as your team’s position.
Grab the audience’s attention and offer some reason as to why the audience should care about this proposition.
Begin to build your team’s case by offering several arguments as wll as explanation and support for each of these arguments. Think “Hamburger Model:” Each opinion statement (claim in your argument) should have several reasons with elaboration/evidence for each reason.
You must be prepared and rehearsed. Think persuasive speech!

3. 2nd constructive speech
Begin by addressing and rebutting against the opposing team’s first constructive speech. Note: This will take both advance preparation and good note-taking during their speech so you know what to address and how. Be preparing as they speak. You have one minute once they finish speaking to begin your speech. Continue to build your team’s case by offering several new arguments (reasons in the hamburger model) as well as explanation and support for each. Your second constructive speech will offer fewer reasons than the first speech simply due to time. For both constructive speeches it is wise to build your cases purposefully. Perhaps start with your weakest arguments and build to your strongest. Again you must be well prepared and rehearsed.

4. Beware logical fallacies
A logical fallacy is an incorrect conclusion that comes from faulty reasoning. Try to keep from doing this in your own speeches and try to spot it and call it out in your opponents speeches.
There are several types of logical fallacies:
The appeal to tradition
Sometimes speakers will justify their position in a debate by arguing that we should do something a certain way because we have always done it that way. This is flawed logic. Consider that plenty of bad behaviors (holding slaves, denying women the right to vote) were at one time traditions in this country, but that didn’t mean they were necessarily good ideas.
The appeal to authority
While it is often appropriate and even necessary to cite credible sources to prove a point, the appeal to authority becomes fallacious when it is a substitute for reasoning or when the cited authority isn’t actually an authority on your topic.

5. The fallacy of false cause
This occurs when the speaker says that something happened, and then something else happened, so therefore the first thing caused the second. But order in time does not imply causality. Consider this statement: The sun rises every time I get out of bed. Therefore, by getting out of bed, I make the sun rise.
The fallacy of composition
A speaker may state what is true of the part is also true of the whole. This is not necessarily true and is therefore flawed reasoning. Consider what you would say if a speaker said, “Atoms have no color. Humans are made up of atoms. Therefore, humans have no color.”
The fallacy of division
Just because something is true of the whole, it does not necessarily follow that this thing is true of the parts. You might read a story that says that the average American family has 2.3 children. Does this mean that the Jones family (an average American family) has 2.3 children?

6. The rebuttal speeches:
The rebuttal speech is your team’s final chance to persuade the judges/audience. In it you must do three things:
Address & refute the other team’s rebuttal part of the second constructive speech. In other words, explain why their rebuttals to your arguments were not as strong as your arguments.
Address & refute the other team’s arguments.
Clearly and persuasively summarize the main points of you team’s arguments.

7. Effective rebuttals
Both teams must engage the arguments made by the other side. In this way, debate is a little like playing ping-pong. You can always choose not to answer the argument make by the other side, but if you do not, you signal that you agree with the argument. Arguments that are not contested, or refuted, stand as points that both sides agree upon. While sometimes it is a good idea to agree with the other side, all debates must be able to refute points that they think are wrong or dangerous.
There are four steps to an effective rebuttal:
“They say. . .”
It is important to refer to the argument you are about to refute so that your audience and judges can easily follow your line of thought. Do this quickly by briefly summarizing their point.

8. 2. “But. . .”
In this part of your refutation, you can state the basics of you counter- argument. This can be, in the case above, simply the opposite of your opponent’s claim.
“Because. . .”
Having made your counter-argument, you need to proceed to offer reasoning and evidence.
“Therefore. . .”
Finally, you need to draw a conclusion that compares your refutation to your opponent’s argument and shows why yours effectively defeats theirs. What you need to do here is show that your argument is stronger than their argument because. . .

9. It’s better reasoned. Perhaps their argument makes some kind of error in logic or reasoning.
It has better evidence. Maybe your argument makes use of more or better evidence. Perhaps your sources are better qualified than theirs, or your evidence is more recent than theirs.
It has been true in the past. Maybe your ideas are supported by historical examples, or events that have happened in the past, while theirs are based on speculation without much support from the past.
It takes theirs into account. Sometime your argument can take theirs into account and go a step further. (Remember our standards of reasoning and taking into account consequences?) Try something like, “Even if they’re right about the recreational benefits of crossbows, they’re still too dangerous for elementary school physical education classes.”

10. It has greater significance
It has greater significance. You can state that your argument has more significance because, for example, it matters more to any given individual or applies more to a larger number of individuals, etc.
It’s consistent with experience. Perhaps your argument is consistent with experience over time, in a different place, or in different circumstances.

11. An effective example:
Speaker 1: Television is a good influence because it helps you learn valuable skills. For example, children learn to read and count by watching educational programs. Speaker 2: Speaker 1 says that television is a good influence, but I disagree. Television is a bad influence, because it causes obesity. For example, the average childe spends 4 hours every day watching television, which they could be engaged in physical activity such as sports. Therefore, television is more of a bad influence than a good influence, because children can always learn to read and count from other sources, like books or with their parents, but they can’t get back the time they’ve wasted in from of the television when they could have been exercising.