Debate Team Carousel
3rd-12th Grade
Big Ideas
Directions
- Each student starts with their own sheet divided into 4 boxes.
- In Box #1 of the template, students write a Claim that answers the question and support their Claim with one piece of Evidence.
- Each student passes their paper (in a circle) one student to the right.
- Upon receiving a new paper, students write a new piece of Evidence in Box #2 that further supports the Claim from Box #1.
- Again, each student passes their paper one student to the right.
- In Box #3, students make a Counterclaim that challenges the original Claim. The Counterclaim must be supported with a piece of Evidence. (If students cannot think of a Counterclaim, they can make a different Claim to answer the original question but must support it with Evidence.)
- Again, each student passes their paper one student to the right.
- Students read over the whole sheet so far and pick the Claim (Box #1) or Counterclaim (Box #3) that they agree with most. Then, in Box #4, they write their reasoning. Their reasoning should explain why the evidence written thus far supports the claim or they can add new evidence.
When to Use
- Introduce a unit and collect students' background knowledge.
- Pre-assessment for argumentative writing skills.
- Formative assessment to check for understanding.
- Review for test/quiz.
- Debate issues/events.
- Use in a warm-up/day-starter.
- Use in an exit ticket.
Strategy Variations
After the third person writes in Box #3, the paper is passed back to the original owner. The owner reads over what has been written so far and in Box #4 answers the question "Do you still agree with your original Claim? Why or why not?"
Add Movement
For kinesthetic learners, leave all the papers in one spot and the students must rotate around the table. Instead of passing the papers around the table, students move to new seats each time. This should happen until all students return to their original seat.
Differentiate for Various Levels
For students who need extra support, add sentence starters/guiding questions in 1 or more of the boxes as needed. For students who need more of a challenge, they can try to find more than 1 piece of evidence. Or, they can explain why their evidence supports their claim with reasoning every time they add a piece of evidence.
Added Accountability
Students initial in the box they write in to increase accountability in their participation. This way the students can know who wrote what on their paper, and the teacher knows each student participated in each step of the activity.