U.S. Government Debate

Is America Living Up To The Ideals in the Declaration of Independence?

Debates are a wonderful way to begin thinking critically. Every argument can be approached by multiple points of view.

Your mission is to come up with at least three affirmative arguments (agreement) and three negative arguments (disagreement) to the following proposition (statement for debate):

The United States is living up to the ideals in the Declaration of Independence.

You will need to prepare and be able to articulate your views in our class debate. While you are expected to do your own research Do not, I repeat, DO NOT copy information from websites for your debate preparation – instead read through the RELIABLE information and formulate your own opinions! YOU MAY quote a reliable source but give the source credit (cite) – do not pass it off as your own. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Ideals (pg 21 of text) / Helpful Information about the Declaration
·  Liberty
·  Equality
·  Self-Government / ·  According to the Declaration, all individuals have “certain unalienable rights,” which are inherent to everyone
·  The Declaration reaffirmed the idea of government by the consent of the governed. The people have “certain unalienable rights,” of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
·  If the government violates these rights, then the people have the power to change their government.
(http://www.mapsofworld.com/)

You will be graded upon FOUR different categories:

·  Debate Preparation

·  Debate Participation

·  Understanding of the Topic

·  Completing your Self – Assessment

Make sure you turn in your entire packet, completed, after the debate.

Name: ______Date: ______

Debate Preparation

To prepare for your debate, fill in your statement (position), major points, and examples. You will be required to support three affirmative and three negative arguments as to why or why not the United States is living up to the ideals in the Declaration of Independence. As the debate unfolds, make notes about the other team’s points, as well as your response to them

Affirmative Statement: (Agrees with the proposition)

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1.  Major Point 1: ______

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Examples/Illustrations:

2.  Major Point 2: ______

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Examples/Illustrations:

3.  Major Point 3: ______

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Examples/Illustrations:

NOTES DURING THE DEBATE:

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Negative Statement: (Disagrees with the proposition)

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1.  Major Point 1: ______

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Examples/Illustrations:

2.  Major Point 2: ______

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Examples/Illustrations:

3.  Major Point 3: ______

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Examples/Illustrations:

NOTES DURING THE DEBATE:

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Self-assessment:

□ My position statement(s) was/were clear and concise.

□ My major points strongly supported my viewpoint.

□ I spoke at least once and I did not speak more than three times (unless given permission by Mrs. Leonard)

□ My team gave specific examples and illustrations to make major points more clear.

□ My team was able to find weak points in the opposing team’s viewpoint and point those out.

□ We strengthened our argument and convincingly closed the debate with why our position should win.

□ We used good eye contact, tone of voice, and kept the attention of everyone.

One thing I could have improved upon to make this experience better was:

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One thing I did very well before or during the debate was:

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What did you learn about the debate process/being a part of a debate in class?

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After debating both points of view, do you believe the United States is living up to the ideals in the Declaration of Independence? Why or why not?

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Class Debate
Teacher Name:Mrs. Leonard
Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4(20-25pts) / 3(15-19pts) / 2(10-14pts) / 1(<10pts) / Score
Debate Preparation / Every major point was well supported with several relevant facts, statistics and/or examples. / Every major point was adequately supported with relevant facts, statistics and/or examples. / Every major point was supported with facts, statistics and/or examples, but the relevance of some was questionable. / Every point was not supported.
Debate Participation / Student consistently used gestures, eye contact, tone of voice and a level of enthusiasm in a way that kept the attention of the audience, as well as participated at least 2 times in the debate. / Student usually used gestures, eye contact, tone of voice and a level of enthusiasm in a way that kept the attention of the audience, as well as participated at least once in the debate. / Student sometimes used gestures, eye contact, tone of voice and a level of enthusiasm in a way that kept the attention of the audience, as well as participated at least once in the debate. / Student had a presentation style that did not keep the attention of the audience, or did not participate at all during the debate.
Understanding of Topic / The student clearly understood the topic in-depth and presented their beliefs forcefully and convincingly in their final self-assessment. / The student clearly understood the topic in-depth and presented their information with ease in their final self-assessment. / The student seemed to understand the main points of the topic and presented those with ease in their final self-assessment. / The student did not show an adequate understanding of the topic in their final self-assessment.
Self Assessment / The student provided well thought out and thorough answers to his or her self-assessment, showing clear growth from the assignment. / The student provided thought out answers to his or her self-assessment, showing some growth from the assignment. / The student provided incomplete answers to his or her self-assignment and could not show clear growth from the assignment. / The student did not answer his or her self-assessment and did not show growth from the assignment.