Encourage your students to take on issues facing them today and debate or discuss those issues with students at their school, in their communities, or across California.
Although CWP is launching this opportunity as a way to celebrate Digital Learning Day 2015, debating and discussing such issues is an important part of college, career, community, and civic readiness:
Although CWP is launching this opportunity as a way to celebrate Digital Learning Day 2015, debating and discussing such issues is an important part of college, career, community, and civic readiness:
To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must have ample opportunities to take part in a variety of rich, structured conversations—as part of a whole class, in small groups, and with a partner. Being productive members of these conversations requires that students contribute accurate, relevant information; respond to and develop what others have said; make comparisons and contrasts; and analyze and synthesize a multitude of ideas in various domains. New technologies have broadened and expanded the role that speaking and listening play in acquiring and sharing knowledge and have tightened their link to other forms of communication.
- (CCSS Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening) |
For a start, check out the topics below. For research resources and writing activities, ways to go digital, and options for CWP to showcase your debate and especially your students and school, link here to download all the information you’ll need: perm.ly/dld-debatestoolkit
CWP is curating and posting a collection of debate/discussion videos and podcasts and would love to add yours to the collection. See the Student Debates Toolkit for more details (perm.ly/dld-debatestoolkit) or email [email protected] for more info.
Topic #1
Kate Hicks’ students from Locke HS and Betsy Ritzman Weber’s students from Dinuba HS chose the Social Media topic, a Lincoln-Douglas debate format, and a Google Hangout on Air collaboration.
Link - http://youtu.be/zLh3pAkvXak
Cary Zierenberg’s eighth grade students from Natomas Charter School's Leading Edge Academy and Sean Young’s students from Pleasanton Middle School chose to debate Topic #1: Social Media— Is social media destroying our social skills? The students and teachers are considering developing their own debate topics and taking each other on again later in the semester.
Link - http://youtu.be/mpjZ0eM8Xeg
Topic #4
Marlene Carter’s students from Dorsey High School and Jason Rangel-Torres’ students from UCLA Community School decided to debate, discuss, and even role-play the pro and con perspectives of this racially- and equity-charged topic. In spite of the tech challenges they deal with everyday, they used a Google Hangout on Air to interrogate the issues and explore a wide range of perspectives and biases. Students at both schools are working on their writing, now focusing on their own beliefs, and their teachers are exploring options for follow-up discussions and collaborations.
Link - http://youtu.be/e43G1g5EqKs
Additional Resources
Evidence Sets:
(Thanks to Larry Jarocki’s AP Language and Composition students at El Diamante High School)
Topic #1
Download - Social Media
Topic #2
Download - Cyberbullying
Topic #3
Download - Digital Footprint
Topic #4
Download - Civic Participation
Extension Writing Assignments:
After discussing Topic #3/Digital Footprint, students could write to The Importance of ‘Societal Forgetting’, a UC Analytical Writing Placement Examination topic. (download)
Topics #1, #2, and #4 could all lead to a study of Upstanders, Not Bystanders. This writing lesson— Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis; Writing Arguments About Bystanders— addresses that issue. (download)
- Topic #1—Social Media: Is social media destroying our social skills?
- Topic #2—Cyberbullying: Should our democracy allow schools to punish students for off-campus cyberbullying?
- Topic #3—Digital Footprint: Should colleges be allowed to take your “digital footprint” (social media presence, Google results, etc.) into consideration when making their admissions decisions?
- Topic #4—Civic Participation: The public responses that are critical of the grand jury decision to not indict Darren Wilson are effective, justified, and/or productive.
- Topics of your choosing— Feel free to develop additional topics that connect with your students’ interests or your curriculum.
CWP is curating and posting a collection of debate/discussion videos and podcasts and would love to add yours to the collection. See the Student Debates Toolkit for more details (perm.ly/dld-debatestoolkit) or email [email protected] for more info.
Topic #1
Kate Hicks’ students from Locke HS and Betsy Ritzman Weber’s students from Dinuba HS chose the Social Media topic, a Lincoln-Douglas debate format, and a Google Hangout on Air collaboration.
Link - http://youtu.be/zLh3pAkvXak
Cary Zierenberg’s eighth grade students from Natomas Charter School's Leading Edge Academy and Sean Young’s students from Pleasanton Middle School chose to debate Topic #1: Social Media— Is social media destroying our social skills? The students and teachers are considering developing their own debate topics and taking each other on again later in the semester.
Link - http://youtu.be/mpjZ0eM8Xeg
Topic #4
Marlene Carter’s students from Dorsey High School and Jason Rangel-Torres’ students from UCLA Community School decided to debate, discuss, and even role-play the pro and con perspectives of this racially- and equity-charged topic. In spite of the tech challenges they deal with everyday, they used a Google Hangout on Air to interrogate the issues and explore a wide range of perspectives and biases. Students at both schools are working on their writing, now focusing on their own beliefs, and their teachers are exploring options for follow-up discussions and collaborations.
Link - http://youtu.be/e43G1g5EqKs
Additional Resources
Evidence Sets:
(Thanks to Larry Jarocki’s AP Language and Composition students at El Diamante High School)
Topic #1
Download - Social Media
Topic #2
Download - Cyberbullying
Topic #3
Download - Digital Footprint
Topic #4
Download - Civic Participation
Extension Writing Assignments:
After discussing Topic #3/Digital Footprint, students could write to The Importance of ‘Societal Forgetting’, a UC Analytical Writing Placement Examination topic. (download)
Topics #1, #2, and #4 could all lead to a study of Upstanders, Not Bystanders. This writing lesson— Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis; Writing Arguments About Bystanders— addresses that issue. (download)