Middle schoolers debate

Seabury middle school students have spent a few weeks learning about the United States political system, specifically political parties. This involved a number of smaller projects which culminated in a debate on whether the United States should continue its two-party system, or change to a multi-party system. 

First, they were separated into three groups to look at political parties through different lenses – historical, economical, and global. Each team watched videos, read written research material, and took note. Once they were experts on their focus, they presented to the group so that everyone could look at political parties through these three lenses. This helped students to understand why and how we ended up with a two-party voting system, and some of the other options out there.

From there the students were split into two teams for the debate. There was the For Two Party Team, and the Against Two Party Team. These teams worked for two weeks to gather evidence, craft arguments, and prepare possible counter arguments. Then came the debate. Each team has an opening statement, three arguments, and a closing statement. They also had to be prepared to counter the other team's argument and defend their argument from the opposing sides' counter arguments.  

Each team made sure that every member participated in the event. Each side did an excellent job. The Against Two Party, especially, had a fantastic counter argument team. This contributed to the Against winning the debate. Their argument team was strong as well. A number of students also won MVP awards for speaking skills, preparation, agumentative skills or commanding presence.