Winter Week: Debates, Tapping and Catching Up

My 8th grade ESL classes will continue following their books. A class is on schedule to finish Unit 4 before the CNY holiday.

My 9th grade Social Studies classes are a little bit more varied in pace. The faster classes (301) already finished their Mental Health readings on Self- Harm and Bullying, as well as the Group Role Playing Activity. The other classes will catch up for winter week, so we can all begin the next semester on the same page.

For those faster classes, we can try a class debate. The last time I facilitated a proper debate was with my first 9th grade social studies class 3 years ago and many of my materials are no longer available. First, I need to introduce the concept of debate basics, have the class choose a topic and then break up into teams. As a prep exercise, we can break into teams of two, one student the affirmative, the other the negative and see how they can debate in twos. Then the following class, I will follow the Lincoln-Douglas format.

 Several debate topics to choose from:

• Electroshock Treatment (ECT) for kids: Therapy or Abuse?

"The treatment is controversial, and in the early years of the therapy (1930's), patients were not given anesthesia, and high levels of electricity were used.

Today, the therapy is safer, because patients receive anesthesia and electricity doses are much more controlled, according to the Mayo Clinic. Still, the treatment can impair short-term memory and, in rare cases, cause heart problems.

Because of these potential side effects, ECT should never be used as a first-line therapy. But, for people who have tried other treatments and have seen no improvement in their symptoms, the treatment can be very effective: 75 to 85 percent of patients who receive ECT recover from their symptoms, experts say.

ECT is used to treat patients who are severely depressed and at risk for suicide, and in some cases, it is used to treat schizophrenia and severe mania." (See Live Science)

• Marijuana Legalization in Taiwan
• Death Penalty
• 4 Day Work-Week
• Gay Marriage

They will use this mindmap to prep their ideas. Unfortunately, Scribd removed my debate ppt, that made it easy for Chinese speakers to follow the Lincoln Douglas format. Luckily, the internet is full of such resources, so I am looking for one I might use and tweek.



If there is still time, or maybe not enough time for a debate, I will have the class try "Tapping" as an exercise/life skill to calm down anxiety.

RESOURCES:
Teacher's Debate Guide
Everything You Need For First Class Debate