8th Grade Debate
Channel: BFS YouTube
Date: 2016-03-27

English teachers engage in a continuous process of curricular reflection and consideration, but usually, students don't give too much thought to the selection of works in a year's syllabus--until now.  Last Friday, eighth graders debated the inclusion of John Steinbeck's controversial classic, Of Mice and Men, in the eighth grade English curriculum.  After going over the various considerations that go into the makeup of a curriculum, including theme, literary merit, representation of different groups, student interest, and so on, students were divided into three groups.  Two debate teams prepared opening arguments, rebuttals, closing statements, and notes for a question-and-answer session; they rehearsed their arguments and strategized the most effective ways to make their cases.  A third group, made up of four judges, prepared questions to prod the debaters' thinking further and also drew up assessment criteria for their classmates' debate performance.  During the debate, students raised arguments about the novel's role in the American literary tradition, its representation of women and the disabled, and its relevance to young people today.  Afterwards, many reflected that the process of preparing for the debate led them to understand different perspectives on the work; some students who felt they had been assigned to "the wrong team" ultimately came away with a better understanding of both sides of the argument.