Debate 1, 2, 3, 4
Grade Level 9-12
Course Description: This course is designed to serve as an advanced, competitive communications course that focuses on public speaking as a form of communication. This course is designed to help you select intellectually challenging and socially significant speech topics appropriate to specific audiences, prepare outlines that facilitate the delivery of well-organized speeches, develop your research skills as well as knowledge about the construction of an argument, enable you to comfortably, competently and eloquently speak in front of an audience, and to assess public speakers' strengths and weaknesses. You will then utilize these skills as a member of the O’Connor Speech and Debate Team to participate in speech and debate tournaments that can earn you recognition and college scholarship opportunities! You will also learn techniques to increase confidence, methods of adapting to a variety of audiences, and ways to support ideas with sound evidence and logic. You will be speaking in this class!
Topics Covered: We will learn a variety of styles of speech and debate that you can compete in at tournaments including but not limited to: extemporaneous speaking, policy debate, student congress, World Schools debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, original oratory, informative speaking, prose and poetry.
Major Assignments: Students are required to attend at least one speech and debate tournament a semester. Students will also participate in scholarship contests that may require speech or essay writing. Students will also participate in debates and speech events in class. There will also be after school practices on Wednesdays designed to prepare students for tournaments.
Outside time/monetary requirements: Students will be required to attend at least one speech and debate tournament a semester. Each tournament requires a $20 participation fee to cover registration and judging fees. Families may create payment plans or have fees waived if their student is eligible for free and reduced lunch. We DO NOT want finances to be a barrier for competition for any student.
Prerequisites: Debate I is a prerequisite for future Debate courses.
Course Description: This course is designed to serve as an advanced, competitive communications course that focuses on public speaking as a form of communication. This course is designed to help you select intellectually challenging and socially significant speech topics appropriate to specific audiences, prepare outlines that facilitate the delivery of well-organized speeches, develop your research skills as well as knowledge about the construction of an argument, enable you to comfortably, competently and eloquently speak in front of an audience, and to assess public speakers' strengths and weaknesses. You will then utilize these skills as a member of the O’Connor Speech and Debate Team to participate in speech and debate tournaments that can earn you recognition and college scholarship opportunities! You will also learn techniques to increase confidence, methods of adapting to a variety of audiences, and ways to support ideas with sound evidence and logic. You will be speaking in this class!
Topics Covered: We will learn a variety of styles of speech and debate that you can compete in at tournaments including but not limited to: extemporaneous speaking, policy debate, student congress, World Schools debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, original oratory, informative speaking, prose and poetry.
Major Assignments: Students are required to attend at least one speech and debate tournament a semester. Students will also participate in scholarship contests that may require speech or essay writing. Students will also participate in debates and speech events in class. There will also be after school practices on Wednesdays designed to prepare students for tournaments.
Outside time/monetary requirements: Students will be required to attend at least one speech and debate tournament a semester. Each tournament requires a $20 participation fee to cover registration and judging fees. Families may create payment plans or have fees waived if their student is eligible for free and reduced lunch. We DO NOT want finances to be a barrier for competition for any student.
Prerequisites: Debate I is a prerequisite for future Debate courses.