Everyday Debate & Discussion Teacher's Edition

A one-semester or yearlong course for grades 8-12

“For what should a man live, if not for the pleasures of discourse?” —Plato

What would you do if you were having a conversation with a friend and realized that you completely disagreed with her point of view? What if your friend wanted to debate you about this issue? Would you welcome such a challenge as an adventure, or would you shrink from it as a threat? If you are one who feels fearful about—or even repelled by—debate or disagreement, Everyday Debate & Discussion may change your mind. This book will give you debating confidence and open your eyes to the benefit of debate, disagreement, and discussion in your day-to-day life or in a formal debate setting.

This clear, engaging book is designed for three types of people:

1. those leading a debate team or class at a school or co-op
2. logic or upper-school teachers who want to create a truly dialectical environment
3. teachers who wish to enhance their teaching by including more robust discussion and debate

Everyday Debate & Discussion: A Guide to Socratic Conversation, Informal Discussion, and Formal Debate not only shows students how to conduct informal and formal debates, but also how to develop good arguments by using solid logic and the resources available in their own thinking as well as the world around them. Students will employ the techniques of logic and rhetoric, such as the common topics of definition, comparison, relationship, circumstance, and testimony. Additional study of ethos, pathos, and style is also included, as well as a study of debate arrangement.

This robust teacher’s edition includes the entire student text, along with answer keys, teacher’s notes, and a mini–crash course in creating dialectic classrooms.