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Year 8

Time to debate: planning, evaluating and participating

I can effectively plan and confidently participate in a debate, and use a success criteria to evaluate my contribution.

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Year 8

Time to debate: planning, evaluating and participating

I can effectively plan and confidently participate in a debate, and use a success criteria to evaluate my contribution.

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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. Planning is an important part of the debating process.
  2. Being prepared will mean you can confidently deliver your arguments and rebuttals.
  3. Positive body language can help if you feel nervous.
  4. It’s important to reflect after a debate so you can understand what to improve next time.

Keywords

  • Initial - at the beginning; first

  • Anticipate - to expect something to happen and prepare for it in advance

  • Efficient - in note-taking, this means quickly capturing key information in a clear and organised way without wasting time or writing too much

Common misconception

I do not need to plan for a debate.

To participate effectively in debate you will need to have clear arguments and rebuttals, that are backed up with evidence. Planning will ensure you can do this confidently.


To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Time to debate: planning, evaluating and participating, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

If you are planning this lesson in advance, you may wish to set the pupils a research task to gather information on the motion before the lesson or set independent reasearch as part of Task A. You may also wish to change the motion depending on the interests or curriuclum focuses of your class.
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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.
When we research a topic, what are we doing?
Correct answer: gathering information and evidence from various sources
making up information to support our arguments
writing out an argument in full
deciding what we think about topic
Q2.
Why might it be considered essential to use evidence in your arguments during a debate?
to make your argument longer
to confuse the other speaker
Correct answer: to support your claims and make them more convincing
to show off your knowledge without needing to debate
Q3.
Is the answer true or false? The word objection is a synonym for the word rebuttal.
Correct Answer: true
Q4.
Which word beginning with 'm' refers to the topic or statement that is being argued in a debate?
Correct Answer: motion, the motion, a motion
Q5.
Is the answer true or false? The person who moderates and organises the debate is called the opposition?
Correct Answer: false
Q6.
Which of these is not part of the success criteria for creating an effective opening argument in a debate?
address the motion clearly
adhere to the 3 minute time limit
use specific examples and evidence to support
use appropriate formal vocabulary
Correct answer: be chatty and use slang to engage your audience

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is one of the first steps in preparing for a debate?
memorising the whole speech
Correct answer: understanding your position (for or against the motion)
writing a long essay about the motion
listening to the opposing team's arguments
Q2.
What is an important reason to reflect on your debate performance after it's finished?
to forget what happened
to criticise others
Correct answer: to improve for next time
to make fun of mistakes
Q3.
Is the answer true or false? When writing and preparing debate notes, you should write out the whole script.
Correct Answer: false
Q4.
Which of the following is not an example of efficient note-taking?
Correct answer: writing out full sentences
highlighting key facts
using bullet points
underlining key information
Q5.
Which of these would not be part of a success criteria to judge a debate?
speech and body language
strong content
Correct answer: spelling, punctuation and grammar
logical structure
effective rebuttal
Q6.
What does 'anticipate' mean in the context of debating?
to ignore the other team's arguments
to copy the other team's points
to finish your argument quickly
Correct answer: to expect something and prepare for it in advance