Lesson Plan

Congressional Debate

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

Should junk food be banned in schools? Should the US open its borders to all immigrants? Should the US impose term limits for the House of Representatives and for the Senate? Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a source, class members select a current social, political, environmental, or economic issue, conduct additional research into this issue, synthesize this information into two contrasting views, and then conduct a congressional debate on the issue.

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CCSS: Designed
Instructional Ideas
  • Have members of the debate team or their advisor work with and share their expertise with the teams 
Classroom Considerations
  • The activity presumes debaters have access to Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America
Pros
  • The five-page packet includes a rationale for and an overview of the activity, a list of suggested debate topics, links to related resources, information about the debate format, and a rubric for the debate
Cons
  • The exercise presumes class members have some experience with formal debate