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Instructional Strategy

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INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

Flash Debate

Grade:

6-8, 9-12, UNIV

Type:

Discuss & Collaborate
/ Develop Language (MLL)
20-30

Minutes

When:

After reading

Materials:

Whiteboard or display, writing utensil
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Description

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© beast01— iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
Flash Debate is a discussion strategy that asks students to form an opinion, gather text evidence to justify their opinion, and share their thinking with peers. The strategy encourages flexible thinking and active listening as students engage with classmates with different opinions and consider if the points made by others cause them to adjust their thinking. Used after a reading or viewing of an image or video, Flash Debate asks students to back up their opinions with evidence and to consider other possible opinions and arguments.
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Procedure

1
Following a close read of a text that explores an arguable position, ask students to choose (or assign them) a position to defend.
2
Provide time for students to reread the text to locate evidence that supports their position.
3
Pair up students with opposing positions.
4
Explain that students will take turns sharing their position and their evidence. After both students have shared, they should discuss their partner’s position and evidence, providing counter-evidence as appropriate.
5
Debrief as a full class, asking students to share strong evidence or arguments that made them change their original position.
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Differentiation

Student Processing Time and Evidence Gathering: Invite students who are defending the same position to reread the text together and discuss the evidence they want to use. Giving students time to think, discuss, jot down notes, and practice what they might want to say supports language acquisition and processing time.
Generate a Rebuttal: For students ready for an additional level of challenge, ask that they consider the opinion and evidence that the opposing students may use. Invite them to review the text for this evidence and generate a rebuttal to dispute the opposing side’s arguments. This encourages students to think about both sides of the topic and strengthens their argumentation skills. Pair up students from opposing sides for the Flash Debate, inviting them to first present their argument and evidence and then rebut the other side’s argument.

Multilingual Learning Support

Beginning Proficiency: Provide visual argument cards with preselected evidence in both English and students’ home language. Teachers should create a bilingual word bank of debate vocabulary and opinion expressions (e.g., I believe, because, evidence shows). Students can use a simple T-chart to organize their evidence, with pictures or symbols to support key points. During the debate, give students sentence frames on table tents (e.g. ”My position is…,” “The text says…”) and allow them to express complex ideas in their home language before bridging to English. Consider language backgrounds when pairing students to ensure they feel confident sharing their positions.
Intermediate Proficiency: Support more sophisticated argumentation and build students’ academic language by providing a structured evidence collection guide with sections for claims, evidence, and potential counterarguments. Consider using the Claim, Evidence, Reason column graphic organizer or the Claim, Evidence, Reason Web graphic organizer. Provide academic sentence frames that focus on making connections between evidence and claims (e.g., “This evidence supports my position because…,” “I understand your point about…; however,…”). During the debate, students can use a guided listening sheet to track their partner’s arguments and prepare responses using provided transition phrases for agreement, disagreement, and building on ideas.
Advanced Proficiency: Emphasize sophisticated debate techniques and academic discourse by providing students with prompts for evaluating evidence quality and identifying logical fallacies. The debate structure can include more complex sentence frames for conceding points, qualifying arguments, and synthesizing opposing viewpoints (e.g., “While your evidence effectively demonstrates…, it doesn’t fully address…”). Encourage advanced learners to use discipline-specific vocabulary and complex sentence structures to articulate nuanced positions and engage in real-time analysis of counterarguments. Debrief with the class, focusing on metacognitive reflection about how evidence and reasoning influenced students’ position changes.
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Variations

Inquiry Project with Flash Debate: Use this activity as the basis for an inquiry project. Present students with a debatable topic, and explain that they will research the topic, generate an opinion, and gather evidence to support their opinion. Consider student age when choosing the topic; younger students may benefit more from binary parameters (e.g., Which is a better energy source: solar or wind?), while older students may enjoy the challenge of more complex questions (e.g., How can we fight climate change?). After students have learned about the topic, formed an opinion, and gathered evidence, facilitate a Flash Debate to allow them to present their arguments to peers.
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