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Argument & Debate


Connecting to the Topic/Issue

Consider:
  • What do I already know about this issue?
  • What do I not know about this issue?
  • Why is this issue important?
  • Who is affected by this issue? 
  • How are they affected?​
  • If you could find it, what evidence would best support your argument?

Topics, Text Sets & Prompts

401 Prompts for Argument Writing from the NY Times
AllSides: Issues
C-Span Classroom Deliberations
Issue Lab Research
Middle Ground on Youtube
The New York Times Room for Debate
The New York Times Four Decades of Argument and Illustration: Op Ed
The Perspective
Pew Research Center: Topics
ProCon.org
ThinkAlong from CT Public Media
Stossel in the Classroom Both sides of the Issue
​​Youth Voices Discussions
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Video debates about topical issues
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Multimedia news stories that provide the facts with rich context from diverse viewpoints

Tools

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Debate/discussion platform.
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Tool for breaking down claikms.

Instruction

  • Debate Team Carousels: Developing Support for Different Sides of a Controversial Issue (Scroll down for activity) via Educational Leadership
  • Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project "Nonfiction Research Across Text Sets Unit of Study"
  • They Say, I Say Sentence Templates and Transitions
  • Engage NY: Building Evidence Based Arguments​
  • ARE Intro Fill In: from Middle School Debates​
  • UNC Chapel Hill Argument Handout ​
  • UNC Chapel Hill Evidence Handout Clearly defines different types of evidence and how to determine what makes good evidence
  • UNC Chapel Hill Statistical Evidence Evaluation Handout 
  • Urban Debate Washington DC
  • National Association fo Urban Debates: Teach Debate
  • The 300 Word Guide to Pop Up Debate Dave Stuart
  • How to Heal a Divided World: Argumentative Writing that Actually Listens to the Other Side Dave Stuart
  • 6 Step Process for Teaching Argument Analysis Terry Heick
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Resources designed to help teachers understand and teach scientific argumentation.
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From ICivics.
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Heterodox Academy

Civil Discourse Tools & Learning Experiences

Graphic Organizers

Central Question Diagram & Youtube Tutorial
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Argument Essay Structure
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Argument Writing Rubric
Debate Guide To Speaking and Listenting: from Middle School Debates
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Costs Benefits Organizer: from Middle School Debates
reasongraphicorganizer.pdf
File Size: 23 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

rebuttalgraphicorganizer.pdf
File Size: 23 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

argument_writing-_helpful_terms.pdf
File Size: 140 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


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Argument Diagramming Open Ed Course from Carnegie Melon

Logic & Rhetoric
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​Persuasion
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​A playlist of debates in the movies.
  • Persuasive elements are there to get us to believe the argument
  • Rhetorical elements say,  "I'm an expert and I don't need to unpack that for you"

Analyzing Tone

Persuasive Tone Descriptors: confident, authoritative, exaggerated, hyberbolic, mitigated (cautious), judgmental, emotional investment, assumptive (not informed), false authority (cocky/arrogant), internal contradiction, shift in tone, more objective or more subjective.

General Thoughts

  • Debate is a method for teaching and practicing argument.
  • Trivial topics can't be argued well.
  • Argument requires both creating evidence based claims and a supported opposition
  • Students will naturally realize when they need information to back up a reason; if info is made up, it will be opposed by other side.
  • Present argument to convince a particular authentic audience.
  • Learn history through argument by analyzing history's real court cases.
  • Release text strategically; lead kids down a path of critical thinking. "I think because" For ex: 1st text what did you see? 2nd text did you see anything else? Go back to 1st text any similarities? 3rd text anything that you saw in others? Read again: What do you see now that you didn't see the first time?
  • Introduce technical terms. Define and have students look for evidence of term in text.
  • Have students identify which clues of reliability are explicit vs. implicit
  • Have students test assumptions using probing questions
  • Have students compare/contrast texts for reliability
  • When you can't find the perfect text, you may have to write it!
  • Give students the opportunity to share an argument that they're having before teaching argument within content area.
  • Students need to be aware of False Logic: makes assumptions, oversimplifies or reason doesn't match outcome
  • Students often see nonfiction text as factual, difficult to see point of view and bias.

Professional Texts

  • Birkenstein, Cathy. They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.
  • Fletcher, Jennifer. Teaching Argument
  • Gladwell, Blink. Section on Mitigated Language
  • Gladwell, Tipping Point. Sections on Blues Clues, Sesame St and Dora
  • Hicks, Troy. Argument in the Real World Teaching Adolescents to Read and Write Digital Texts 
  • Kuhn, Deanna. Argue with Me 
  • Lunsford, Andrea A. and  Ruszkiewicz, John J. Everything's an Argument
  • Tatum, Alfred. Why Teach Argument
  • Tufts, Paul. Grit​​
  • Willhelm, Jeff. Oh, yeah. Discusses making curricula culturally relevant; includes many logic exercises 
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