Healthy Debates Lesson Plan

Standards

Social Awareness: the ability to understand and empathize with others

Relationship Skills: the ability to build and maintain healthy and supportive relationships

Objective

Students will demonstrate social awareness by understanding and articulating different perspectives on topics through debate.

Assessment

Students can be assessed in the following areas:

• Debate participation
• Clarity and logic of points presented
• Respectfulness and understanding of opposing perspectives

Materials

• Debate questions displayed on the board
• Notebook paper
• Timer for debate rounds (optional)

Activating Prior Knowledge

As students enter the classroom, have them write down their answers to the following questions:

• Should schools have a four-day week with longer school days or keep the five-day week?
• Is it better to have many acquaintances or a few close friends?
• Is it better to have a pet dog or a pet cat?
• Should schools use textbooks and handouts or tablets and digital worksheets?

Begin a class discussion by asking students, “Have you ever changed your mind about something after hearing someone else’s opinion?” 

Lesson

1. Introduce the day’s activity: a fun debate where they will argue for a side they didn’t initially choose. For example, if a student chose dogs as the best pet, they will argue for why cats are the best.
2. Define and discuss the importance of the following terms:

Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of others

Perspective Taking: the practice of considering a situation from someone else’s viewpoint

Active Listening: paying attention to others' arguments to fully understand their perspective

Constructive Argumentation: presenting points logically and respectfully

3. Set behavioral expectations and address misconceptions about arguing. One common misconception is that arguing means being rude or disrespectful. Clarify that a debate can be friendly and respectful. Behavioral expectations can include: focus on listening, do not interrupt, respect each others’ viewpoints, and maintain a friendly atmosphere.
4. Divide students into teams.  Create two large teams for a whole class debate or break students into an even number of smaller groups to encourage more participation. Give students time to research and discuss their main points.
5. Begin the debate using the following structure:

Team A presents their point while Team B practices active listening.

Team B offers a rebuttal to Team A’s point.

Team B presents their original point while Team A practices active listening.

Team A offers a rebuttal to Team B’s point.

Repeat this structure, adjusting the number of points and rebuttals based on the skill level of the class.

Reflection

Facilitate a class discussion to gauge student learning and check for understanding on why being open and respectful to different perspectives is important.

Digging Deeper

Have each student reflect on how it felt to argue from the opposite perspective and what they learned about empathy. Students can write a reflection, record an audio recording or make a video sharing their thoughts and feelings. 

Possible questions include: “How did it feel to argue the opposite of what your real opinion was?” “Did you gain a better understanding of why people might answer differently than you did?” “Did you change your mind on a topic?” “Will you be more open to listening to a different perspective in the future?”

Access the downloadable version of Healthy Debates Lesson Plan here.

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