Teaching Argumentation. Julia A. Simms
(such as put-downs or blaming), yellow represents behaviors that students should be careful of (such as raising one’s voice), and green represents behaviors that help the discussion move forward (such as active listening or encouraging words). Teachers can even designate one student the “traffic signal,” whose job it is to hold up different colored pieces of paper (red, yellow, and green) during discussion to show classmates how they are doing.
Provide Examples
Teachers can also provide students with examples of responsible, assertive discussion. Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Carol Rothenberg (2008) recommended creating question prompts and sentence frames for communicating responsibly, printing them on table cards, and placing them on desks for students to use during collaboration. They state that these easily accessible reminders “reinforce the need for holding oneself (and each other) accountable for rigorous discussion” (p. 97). Table I.19 depicts various sentence frames and stems that students can use to develop responsible communication skills.
Teachers can also display question prompts and sentence frames prominently in the classroom or distribute them via handout while a debate is in session. This strategy is particularly useful for English learners (ELs), but all students can learn from the examples, even those with lots of argumentation experience.
Table I.19: Sentence Frames and Stems for Communicating Responsibly
| Clarifying | Connecting |
| How is this relevant to your point? Can you explain what you mean? So what you’re saying is . | I want to say more about what said about . I’d like to add . I noticed that . What said reminded me of . |
| Agreeing | Disagreeing |
| I agree with because . I think made a great point about . Yes, and furthermore . Although we still disagree on the claim overall, it seems to me that we can agree on . | I disagree with because . Couldn’t it also be that ? I see why might say that, but . While I think had a point that , I disagree with the part where he/she said . It seems to me that committed an error in reasoning when he/she said . |
| Changing the Subject | Taking Responsibility |
| It seems to me that we’re spending a lot of time discussing , when maybe we should be discussing . I’d like to change the subject to . Something I think the other side has not addressed is . | I must have miscommunicated my point earlier; I apologize. What I intended to say was . Earlier, I neglected to point out . I’m sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you meant . You’re right. Those words were hurtful and uncalled for. I shouldn’t have said that. |
Source: Adapted from Michaels et al., 2010.
Practice and Deepen Understanding
Finally, students practice and deepen their understanding of responsible communication. One simple and engaging method is to analyze the behavior of prominent debaters in the media. Screen clips from televised presidential debates or arguments between political pundits on programs such as CNN’s Crossfire. Alternatively, utilize the resources that Intelligence Squared—an organization that conducts Oxford-style debates—provides on its website (http://intelligencesquaredus.org). Show your class a video of a debate, download an NPR radio podcast of one, or read, annotate, and discuss a debate transcript. Ask students to identify instances of strong and weak decorum for debate as they watch, listen, or read. Students can also complete reflection guides that contain questions, such as “What are three examples of respectful disagreement used in this clip?” or “What did it look and sound like when a debater lost control of his or her emotions? How did this affect your opinion of the debater?” Use activities like this to facilitate whole-class or small-group discussions with your students about responsible communication.
How to Use This Book
The activities and games in this book fuse two key elements of effective engagement—academic games and friendly controversy—to help students practice argumentation skills outlined in the CCSS. According to over sixty studies conducted by Marzano Research Laboratory, the use of academic games in the classroom is associated with an average gain of 20 percentile points in student achievement (Haystead & Marzano, 2009). Furthermore, a study by Nancy Lowry and David Johnson (1981) demonstrated that imbuing a friendly sense of controversy into lessons leads to more curiosity, higher achievement, and more positive attitudes regarding the subject matter.
While encouraging friendly controversy, take care to avoid placing inordinate pressure on winning. Research shows that mild pressure can help people focus (Cahill, Gorski, & Le, 2003; Shors, Weiss, & Thompson, 1992; Van Honk et al., 2003) but too much pressure can have negative consequences (Ito, Larsen, Smith, & Cacioppo, 2002; Roozendaal, 2003). For example, students who feel overly compelled to win a game can be embarrassed if they lose (Epstein & Harackiewicz, 1992; Moriarty, Douglas, Punch, & Hattie, 1995; Reeve & Deci, 1996).
Fortunately, students do not need to be motivated by external pressures, prizes, or rewards to enjoy academic games. Thomas Good and Jere Brophy (2003) discussed the engaging elements of competition for its own sake:
The opportunity to compete can add excitement to classroom activities, whether the competition is for prizes or merely for the satisfaction of winning. Competition may be either individual (students compete against everyone else) or group (students are divided into teams that compete with one another). (p. 227)
Marzano (2007) calls this type of fun, low-stakes sparring inconsequential competition because it has no bearing on a student’s grade or status in the class.
This book contains ten argumentation activities and games for classroom use:
1.I Think, I Like, I Believe
2.Opinion Scoot
3.Fishing for Facts
4.Argument Relay
5.Rapid Fire
6.Which One Doesn’t Belong?
7.Text Evidence Bingo
8.Rhetoric Memory
9.Claim Capers
10.Convince the Crowd
Activities and games are ordered by grade level, with those for younger students in earlier chapters and those for older students in later chapters. Each one involves a different combination of CCSS-based argumentation skills. The activities and games at the beginning of the book require more basic skills (such as distinguishing fact from opinion and presenting and supporting claims) than those at the end. For easy reference, the first page of each game or activity lists the appropriate age group, the argumentation skills involved, and materials needed. Teachers can also use tables I.2 (page 5) and I.3 (page 15) to see which activities and games align to specific argumentation standards. Locate the standards that correspond to your grade level in table I.2, take note of the skills associated with the standards, and choose activities and games from table I.3 that allow students to practice those skills.