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Year 6

How to debate

I can understand what a debate is and deliver a speech.

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New
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Year 6

How to debate

I can understand what a debate is and deliver a speech.

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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A debate is a structured argument between two teams who either agree or disagree with a motion.
  2. The motion is the name for the belief or proposal that is being debated.
  3. An opinion is a view or belief that a person has and robust reasoning supports an opinion.
  4. The PEPS structure stands for: point, explanation, proof, summary.

Keywords

  • Debate - a structured argument between two teams

  • Opinion - a view or belief that a person has

  • Reasoning - explaining why a person has a certain opinion

  • Motion - the name for the belief or proposal that is being debated

Common misconception

Pupils may think that a speech in a debate can be improvised on the spot and not follow a structure.

Teach pupils that following a structure will help to make their speech flow better and be easier for an audience to follow.


To help you plan your year 6 english lesson on: How to debate, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

This unit builds on the Year 5 unit 'Introduction to debate'. If your pupils, haven't completed that unit previously, it would be beneficial to teach them it first.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the name for a group of people gathered to watch a performance or listen to a speech?
a judge
Correct answer: an audience
a team
Q2.
How many teams take part in a debate?
1
Correct answer: 2
3
4
5 or more
Q3.
What is the name for the topic that is being debated?
the emotion
Correct answer: the motion
the emotional
Q4.
What is the name for the team that agrees with the motion?
Correct answer: proposition
opposition
audience
Q5.
True or false? When making a speech in a debate, it is important to speak in a loud, clear voice.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q6.
True or false? A debate will involve a summary speaker summarising what their teammates have said.
Correct Answer: true, True

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
True or false? We should all have the same opinions.
Correct Answer: false, False
Q2.
Match the keywords to the correct definitions.
Correct Answer:debate,a structured argument between two teams
tick

a structured argument between two teams

Correct Answer:reasoning,explaining why a person has a certain opinion
tick

explaining why a person has a certain opinion

Correct Answer:motion,the name for the belief or proposal that is being debated
tick

the name for the belief or proposal that is being debated

Q3.
Who is a debate led by?
Correct answer: the chairperson
the audience
the speakers
Q4.
Which of these are ways that a winning team is decided upon in a debate?
Correct answer: voting by an audience
Correct answer: scoring by judges
tossing a coin
Q5.
Put the four parts of the structure that can be used when making a speech in a debate in the correct order.
1 - point
2 - explanation
3 - proof
4 - summary
Q6.
What persuasive techniques might a speaker use when explaining the reasoning for an opinion in the explanation section?
Correct answer: flattery
statistics
Correct answer: emotion
Correct answer: rhetorical questions
anecdotes