By the end of class on Monday, students will know how the Supreme Court Tournament debates are being assessed, how the debates will work, and what they need to do to be prepared for their debate. By the end of class on Tuesday, students should be ready for their debate or know exactly what they need to do for homework in order to be prepared.
Agenda:
1) Go over debate rubric as a class.
2) Go over debate agenda as a class.
3) Begin preparing for debates:
- Write opening statement (~ 1 page): explain your case to the audience; lay out an overview of the arguments you're going to make (basically, your thesis)
- Write argument statement: a detailed, logical, and persuasive explanation of why your case has had a greater impact than your opponent's case AND logical and persuasive reasons why your opponent's case is weak or unimportant.
- Begin thinking about your closing statement: You can try to plan for this in advance, but you will mostly have to do it during the debate itself. The purpose of the closing statement is to address the arguments that your opponent made in his/her argument statement and to reinforce your thesis.
