This document provides instructions for a debate that will take place the next day. It tells students to organize their four reasons for their position and their partner's rebuttals for the opposing position for the four debate rounds. It provides the schedule for the day and outlines the structure of the debate, emphasizing the need to focus on one reason and rebuttal per round using thorough evidence from research sources. Students are expected to prepare notes, sources, and have their ideas mostly memorized for the debate.

1. Good Morning! Get out your SpringBoards (if necessary),
Chromebooks, and get with your debate partners.
Monday, February 12th, 2018
Agenda for the Day:
Today is the last day to get ready for
tomorrow’s debates in ELA. Get
right to it, and use your time
productively. Remember, organize
your four reasons, and your
partner’s four reasons into the
order of your four spar rounds—
which reason will you use against
your opponent in each round?
1st 8:50—10:30
3rd 10:35—11:05
‘A’ Lunch 11:05—11:35
3rd (continued) 11:40—12:45
6th 12:50—2:30

2. Tuesday’s Debate
The Debate:
• 4 Rounds
Opening statements (basically, an intro)
4 “spar” rounds
Closing statements (basically, a conclusion)
The Structure:
• Organize your reasons and evidence around your
primary arguments to support your position (claim)
• You will coordinate with your debate partner the
order and arguments for each spar round: For
example: You have two main reasons, and two main
rebuttals for your opponents main reasons, and
vice-versa!
• Each spar round is 1-2 minutes, and needs to be
focused around the primary reason and primary
rebuttal being debated—don’t jump around to
other reasons! Focus on the reason being presented
to support your position. This is why you’ll need lots
of evidence (facts, stats, details) and examples
(stories, implications, etc.)
• You are expected to have
done thorough research
from credible sources for
tons of specific evidence.
• You are expected to have
a properly formatted
bibliography (work’s
cited page) of your
sources in MLA format.
• I will collect your notes
and bibliographies after
the debate, as part of
your scoring criteria.
• Be prepared! Don’t read
at us. Have your ideas
mostly memorized. The
fewer notes, or cue
cards, the better! I
suggest a simple outline,
that you and your
partner have agreed
upon.
Rhetorical Appeals:
• Logos: logic: evidence,
facts, stats, etc.
• Pathos: emotional
appeals: think, specific
anecdotes
• Ethos: ethical appeals:
explaining why your
ideas arguments are
faulty and illogical
Rhetorical Devices:
• Parallelism
• Rhetorical Questions
• Repetition