WEEK 4 BE1-2 LIFE SKILLS- HOW TO DEBATE

B1 LIFE SKILLS:HOW TO DEBATE AND PRESENT

WEEK 4 3 lessons

WEEK'S AGENDA

LESSON 1: ALL ABOUT DEBATING

LESSON 2: GIVING YOUR OPINION

LESSON 3: PREPARING A DEBATE (USEFUL PHRASES)

LESSON 1:ALL ABOUT DEBATING

Discuss the following signs. To what extent do you agree? tell your partner.

• I agree/partially/totally agree with nº___ because...
• I think the message in picture ___ is true because...
• How about you?
• Do you agree?
• Personally, I (don't) think...
• I kind of disagree with...

1 2

03:00

What do these pictures show? What do they have in common?

Discuss the questions in pairs

1. What is debating?
2. Why is debating important?
3. What situations do people debate?
4. What are the most common topic debates nowadays?
5. Should schools teach students how to debate?
6. What skills are needed for a debate?

03:00

Work in pairs. Think of words to fill the gaps in the paragraph below.

Debating is a form___ argument. It is a formal way___ discuss an issue ___ a topic. There are normally ___ different sides ___ the debate contest, each side with opposing points of ____.

Debating is a form of argument. It is a formal way to discuss an issue or a topic. There are normally two different sides in the debate contest, each side with opposing points of view.

Work in pairs. Think of of motions for a debate and write them down in the paper stripes I will give you. For example: 'Schools should ban homework'

I will write down your ideas and then we can vote for the most interesting motion.

• The proposers are those who support (or agree with) the motion.
• The opposers do not support (or disagree) with the motion.

Both teams normally have 2 or 3 speakers, with a Captain on each team and then 1 or 2 other speakers.

PRE-LISTENING TASK

WORK IN PAIRS

Listening task

Listen and complete the worksheet.

Work in pairs

• Think of a topic which would be interesting for your classmates.
• The topic has to be something which people can both agree or disagree with.
• Why do you think it is a good debate topic?

Present your topic to the class:Our topic choice is...because...

LESSON 2:GIVING YOUR OPINION

Language of debate quiz

• Stating an opinion
• Sequencing
• Disagreeing
• Listening to the other side
• Agreeing

Watch and discuss: WHO SHOULD WIN THE DEBATE? WHY?

Planning our debate

If you are for/against the sentence think of 4 points why you agree or disagree with it.

• GROUP A 'FOR'
• GROUP B 'AGAINST'

I will show you a debate statement, in your teams write 4 statements to make your arguments convincing.

Online shopping is much better than shopping in physical shops.

1. ...
2. ...
3. ...
4. ...

Sequencing

Read the following statements. Are they convincing?

1. You can find cheaper things online.
2. You can buy things from all over the world.
3. Delivery is really fast.

• First and foremost
• Furthermore
• another great advantage is...

Which argument is better? Why?

A. Shopping online is the best because it is interesting.

B. One of the main reasons people prefer online shopping is that they can find cheaper products online. For example, websites like Amazon, AliExpress and Shein let you buy products at reduced prices, sometimes even 50 percent off. It is obvious that people like to save money and so shopping online instead of a physical shop allows them to do this.

02:30

Work in pairs

Think and write a convincing 'against' argument

Shopping online is not the best option...

• Firstly...
• Secondly...
• One of the main reasons...
• Because...
• So/consequently...
• Furthermore...
• not as... as...

45 SECONDS CONVINCE ME

LESSON 3:PREPARING A DEBATE (USEFUL PHRASES)

Who deserves the seat and why?

Work in pairs. Put the following steps in the right order.

• A. TOPIC
• B. RESEARCH
• C. TOPIC SENTENCE
• D. HOW TO PRESENT OUR ARGUMENTS/POINTS OF VIEW

How can we present our point of view?

02:00

Work in pairs and complete the task

Avoid repetition of "for example"

What phrases can we use instead of for example?

• For instance
• Such as
• Like
• In particular
• In other words...

Task What things can we do to help the environment? Don’t forget to use the phrases for giving examples!

• For instance
• Such as
• Like
• In particular
• In other words...

02:30

1 minute debate

Each time has a minute to debate on the given topic. You have to use at least 2 different example sentences to get the point.

First nominate pairs so they say their answers and then, check (eye icon).

Whole class Try to get them to say that these pictures show people debating.

When time finishes, use the wheeldecide to nominate people and ask some of the questions so they share what they've discussed.

Help them identifying useful phrases and language in option B.

Make two teams ('for' group) and 'against' group). Reveal the debate topic and give them 3- 4minutes to write their for-against arguments.

Explain that in this baamboozle each team has 45 seconds to convince the opposite team about the topic they have to talk about. Each team gets points if the opponent considers that their speech was convincing.

They work in pairs and write some ideas using the phases. Before setting the time, as a whole group, brainstorm words related to the topic. Then, ask for volunteers

Hand out the worksheets and send the pdf to TP students

Ask the class. Ask some clue questions to get them share their ideas (what does point of view mean?...) Write on the board their ideas.

The whole class reads the statements and give their opinion on how convincing they find them. Explain that when we are debating it is important to connect our statements. Click on the icon and show the list of connectors. Ask them to work in pairs to reorganise the statements using the discourse markers.

Remind them to make a list of ideas first and then they sequence their speech. At the end of the activity, they can vote for the most convincing arument.

Stop the video at 6:41. Allow them 2 minutes to discuss the question. Then play the video until the end so they check their answers.

Hand out paper stripes for each pair. Give them 2-3 minutes to come up with some ideas and write them down. TP students send you the ideas in the chatbox Collect the papers and write the topics on the board. Then, they can vote for the most interesting.

First, elicit from students the ideas/topics presented in the signs. Give them 3 minutes to discuss in pairs. Tell them they have to use the phrases from the list. When time is over, ask for volunteers who want to share their opinion with the class.

Hand out worksheets and send to TP students

Get them to mention some ideas and then click on the 'eye' to see answers. Click on the + icon to do the wordwall

Ask the class what's the role of the Chairperson and the audience/adjudicator

Before playing the baamboozle, check sts understanding of the states (elicit situations, examples...)