As the judge for this debate I will:
• ! "Welcome students with a smile.
• ! "Remember that many teams are debating for the rst time.
• ! "Judge thoughtfully, fairly, and discreetly.
• ! "Use this script every time I judge a debate.
• ! "Not leave the room in the middle of the debate.
• ! "Allow teams 60 seconds between speakers to prepare.
• ! "Speak to teams only in English.
• ! "Never give feedback to a team, even when students ask for it.
• ! "Not tell a team what they could have done differently or what I
would have argued in their place.
• ! "Not discuss a debate’s outcome with students
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Running the debate:
1. Call the speakers up one at a time. Speakers should stand in front of the room,
not at their desks.
2. Instruct each speaker:
"Speaker [#] for the [Af rmative/Negative], you will have four minutes to speak.
Please approach the front of the room, introduce yourself, and begin."
3. Begin timing when the student begins speaking.
4. Knock once when the student has two minutes left to speak. Knock twice for
when they have one minute left.
5. Give each team 90 seconds to give the other team feedback, make sure to tell
them to be respectful and constructive.
6. As the students are giving each other their feedback, take that time to review
your score sheet to nalize your decision.
7. Announce the winning team like so: “its now time to announce the winning
team, the following debate goes to the (af rmative/negative) team.”
8. DO NOT share the scores with the students, give the score sheet to the teacher
present.
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Scoring scale:
When scoring students, keep the following in mind:
Manner
Manner refers to presentation and appearance.
• Speaking: How clearly did the student speak? Did he use notes effectively, or
read an entire speech
off cards? Did she nish her sentences decisively, or frequently trail off? Did her
tone vary? Do not
penalize students for their accents. You are listening for uent arguments, not
uent English.
• Presence: Did she look at ease, using hand gestures and making eye contact?
Did he treat his
opponents and adjudicator respectfully? Does he seem poised, like someone who
has practiced?
Method
Method refers to the student’s use of rhetoric and organization.
• Organization: Did the speaker clearly organize her ideas? Did those ideas ow
logically? Did they
support a central argument? Did the speaker make good use of time?
• Rhetoric: Did the speaker effectively use the language of persuasion to enhance
the impact of his
argument or to diminish and discredit the other team? Examples of good rhetoric
include powerful metaphors, inversions, and groups of three; there are many
others.
Material
Material refers to the content of the speech.
• Evidence: Did the speaker nd and make good use of information related to the
motion? Did she
make creative arguments and draw on fresh evidence and points, or did she rely
on predictable,
generic ideas? Did she provide enough context for you to follow her argument?
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• Rebuttal (or Prebuttal): Did he present evidence against or otherwise discredit
the other team’s argument? Did she address counterarguments? If the rst
speaker, does he do a good job
protecting against possible arguments, and of de ning terms in a way favorable
to his or her team?
Teamwork
Teamwork refers to collaboration. All three teammates receive the same
teamwork score.
• Cohesiveness: Did the teammates’ speeches t together to form an effective
argument?
• Behavior: Did teammates work well together during the event? Were they
respectful listeners?
Peer Feedback
• Helpfulness: Did the students offer their opponents constructive suggestions
and advice?
• Respectfulness: Did the students share this feedback with kindness and
courtesy?
Cautions: Do not give all the speakers on a team similar scores unless they are
truly similar speakers. Please use the full score range. All scores are scaled.
Debate rules:
1- students must refrain from dressing their teammates or opponents with their names,
only with their position in the debate (ex: af rmative speaker 2).
2- students are not permitted to have any ‘points of information’ (a kind of interruption
for the speaker currently presenting).
3- students mustn’t leave the room while a speaker is presenting.
4- the judge (you) is not permitted to judge the speakers with any kind of bias or
personal preference in mind, they can only score them based on performance.
5- all information that the speakers mention must have the source its from ready, as all
the sources will be presented to the judge so they can evaluate the information’s
accuracy.
6- any kind of action, language, or distasteful comments displayed by the students
throughout the debate will lead to point deduction.
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