Suggested Age:

13-18

Prerequisites:

Students should be comfortable speaking and have basic research skills

Process:

Team policy debate teaches students research, analysis, critical reasoning, and clear expression. At it core, debate trains students to think and speak convincingly. The beginning of the course focuses on teaching students the fundamentals of debate with special emphasis on logical reasoning. The next part of the course focuses on research, evaluating evidence and supporting arguments. Each year the National Christian Forensic Association (NCFCA) selects a topic that is debated by home-schooling students all across the nation. Throughout the course we will be debating that topic. The topic for the 2010-2011 school year was “What should the U.S. Federal Government Policy be toward Russia? ” The topic for the 2011-2012 debate season will be released in early June. We will be debating the new topic for the 2011-2012 school year. Students will need to purchase two textbooks and a set of research material called a bluebook. The bluebook is specifically written for the yearly resolution and will not be available until mid-summer. To be successful in debate students will be expected to spend three to four hours a week outside of class researching, reading and constructing arguments.

Curriculum:

“Strategic Debate”, 3rd Edition by Vance Trefethen
Available from: www. monumentpublishing.biz
ISBN: 978-0-9795642-7-7

“A Rulebook for Arguments” by Anthony Weston, 4th Edition
ISBN: 978-0-87220-954-1

Research Material: Bluebook Cases for 2011-2012 (available mid-summer)
Usually around $55- your instructor will send out an email when this is in print. The blue book is available from Monument Publishing. Make sure you don’t order the blue book until you have the correct season.