Persuasion and argument week 1 - Live debates!

Our literacy this week has seen us start the persuasion and arguments half term. This week we have focused on speaking and listening by preparing and undertaking live debates. We debated the following topics;

• Should school meals be free for all children?
• Should the school day be extended by one hour a day?
• Do we really need to come to school.

We started by splitting the class into six teams. The teams were then given a topic to discuss but weren’t told whether they would be arguing in favour of or against their topic question. This allowed us to anticipate what the opposing debate team would probably say so that we had instant responses to their points.

Groups had to also use rebuttal responses to add sophistication to their work and create opening and closing statements for their audience. Once the debates had finished, the class voted and we then got to see which team had been the most persuasive!

The debates were a fantastic exercise in speaking and listening and all pupils gave a fantastic account of themselves. This is an activity we will be repeating regularly in Year 6 this year so watch this space for more excellent debate reports…

Nothing like a bit of speech writing...

Mini debates in preparation for the real thing!

Amber plotting her next move...

Mrs Gray spying on the other team...

And we're off!

The class gave a great account of themselves with their mature, respectful speaking and listening skills.