Debating+Teacher

**D** ebating is a great way for children to demonstrate what they have learned. It provides a platform for students to present what they have learned and what the research shows. Debating is also a great collaborative learning tool. **Step 1:** Show students the following clip.

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The boy debating in this video clip mentions some controversial issues that your children might like to debate. He also has some key debating features that he uses such as humour. Some stimulating questions could be;
 * What fast food outlet do you think he may be talking about at 0:26? Why do you think that?
 * At 1:24 he uses Ronald McDonald as a role model? Explain?

**Step 2:** Get students to create a wordle of the ideas that come to mind when thinking about advertising and fast food.

**Step 3:** Explain to the students that they are going to debate the media impact through advertising with fast food. As a whole class decide on some topics that students could research into. Some suggested ideas are;


 * Fast food advertising should be policed like television programmes i.e given a rating
 * Adverts for fast food should only be played at certain times of the day
 * Advertising gurus should donate profits, received from fast food advertising, back to the community (similar to Lotto)
 * Fast food advertising is harmless and cannot be blamed for the rise in obesity
 * McDonalds makes people fat
 * Fast food packages should have health warnings like cigarette packets.
 * Eating fast foods over long periods will make you sick.

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**Step 4:** Ensure to get children to select the //for// or //against// side that they will assume when debating. Encourage s tudents to use a range of research methods to locate information about their chosen topic.

**Step 5:** Have a class debate! Get the children, in their groups, to present their debate to an audience. Children can vote on the debate that they think is the best and this group could present theirs to a wider audience such as a Syndicate or at a Community Assembly. Why not hold an open evening at invite the parents of the children in your class or school to come along and see your children battle it out.

This link provides information on Basic Debating Skills and the various roles that each speaker has. @http://www.actdu.org.au/archives/actein_site/basicskills.html || [] || || [] ||
 * [[image:ACT_Debating.png]] || [[image:http://www.actdu.org.au/images/header.gif width="176" height="38"]]
 * [[image:Speech_Gems.png]] || Explains the importance of public speaking as well as have tips and techniquest to help the student develop their speech.
 * [[image:Debate1.PNG width="70" height="51"]] || Word Document provides information on Basic Debating Skills and is geared towards younger stuednts. It covers preparation, organisation, teamwork, and planning an argument.
 * [[image:Wordle.png width="86" height="64"]] || A great website to create catchy "word clouds" from text that you provide.



References: Everyrose614. (2006, November 25). Fast Food Debate. (Video file). Retrieved from []