Debate @ Oak Park River Forest High School 2013-2014

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Welcome to Debate @ OPRF 2013-14

CONTENTS/AGENDA 2013-2014 DEBATE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE FAQ. WHAT IS DEBATE?........................................................... WHAT IS POLICY DEBATE?........................................... ARE THERE OTHER FORMS OF DEBATE?.................... WHEN DO WE MEET?...................................................... WHATS IN IT FOR ME? (BENEFITS OF DEBATE)........ WHAT SUPPLIES WILL I NEED?................................... WHO WILL WE BE COMPETING AGAINST?.............. DAY AT A TOURNAMENT HOW TO BE A GOOD DEBATER Your Grades Come First Team Practices Working as a Team About Your Coach.. Anatomy of a Debate Round.

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2013-2014 Tournament Schedule* Nov. 2, 2013 CDL Tournament November 8th 9th CDL Tournament December 6th 7th . December 14th Performance Trust Public Debates on the U.S. Economy Performance Trust Capital Partners, 500 W. Madison St. RCC Lane Tech College Prep, 2501 W. Addison St. H.S. Arlington Heights, IL DGNorth Mixer Invitational H.S. Downers Grove, IL

RCC/LCC Morgan Park H.S., 1774 W. Pryor St. RCC/LCC Thomas Kelly H.S., 4136 S. California Ave.

CDL Tournament January 10th 11th Jan. 25, 2014

Hersey Midwinter Freeze Out

CDL Tournament Jan 31st Feb 2nd .

RCC- Evanston Township H.S., 1600 Dodge Ave., Evanston

CDL Tournament The Chicago Debate Championship March 28th 30th Northwestern Univ., 2145 Sheridan Rd., Evanston (Fri-Sat)

DEBATE TOURNAMENT RESOURCES: https://www.speechwire.com/p-calendar.php http://www.nationalforensicleague.org/aspx/nav.aspx?navid=263&pnavid=169 http://www.nationalforensicleague.org/default.aspx http://chicagodebateleague.org/season-calendar/ *Schedule subject to change due to varying considerations such as, size of the OPRF debate squad, budgetary changes (good or bad), or host school cancelations. Its my hope to add more debate tournaments to the schedule.

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FAQ What is Debate? Debate is a competitive intellectual discipline in which differing sides of a proposition are advocated by opposing speakers. One attempts to persuade the audience (or judge) by using logical reasoning, empirical evidence, and appeals to principle & expert opinion. What is Policy Debate? Policy debate is about the best way to solve real world problems. At your school, policy probably refers to the rules currently in place. In debate, you debate about a proposed new rule or plan in order to solve a problem out in the world. Policy debate is a team activity. There are two debaters on each team and they go head-to-head in each round. Each round, your team is assigned the Affirmative or Negative position. The Affirmative must persuade the judge that their plan is the best way to solve problem X, and the Negative must persuade the judge to the contrary. For example, as the Affirmative, if I wanted to improve the already stellar performance of OPRF students, I might argue for abolishing summer vacation. I might argue that more school leads to more learning and we have to compete with other industrialized nations that already have year round school, etc. As the Negative, I would explain why that plan is a terrible idea and will lead to many awful unforeseen consequences. Fortunately, our topic is not about abolishing summer vacation. Each year, the policy topic is determined by the resolution. Whats the Policy Resolution this Year? The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its economic engagement with Mexico, Venezuela, or Cuba. (More on this later!) Are There Other Forms of Debate? There are other formats of scholastic debate such as, Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, and Parliamentary debate. We will primarily focus our energies on Policy debate but I will be open to competing at local tournaments where these other formats are available. When Do We Meet? We will be meeting on Thursdays from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM in room 370 of Oak Park River Forest High School.

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FAQ Continued Whats in it For Me? Great question! Competing in debate has many academic and life-long benefits. First, debate is a lot of fun. Its exciting to learn new things and make unconventional arguments that you generally cant make in a classroom or social setting. Many debaters meet life-long friends at debate tournaments and use the skills they learned in their future careers. Here are a few more benefits:

Speech and debate students have a significant edge in college admissions. Debaters tend to do better on college admissions tests like the ACT and SAT. Source:< http://www.capitoldebate.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/11/PetersResearch.pdf> Speech and debate participation provides real cognitive and behavioral outcomes in the following areas: o Improving reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills o Improving critical thinking skills o Fostering intellectual curiosity o Increasing motivation o Increasing engagement both at-risk and gifted students engage more and act out as much as 50% less o Unlike most of the American population, you will never be afraid to speak in public!

Source:<http://www.nationalforensicleague.org/aspx/nav.aspx?navid=194&pnavid=37>

Debaters are eligible for many generous college scholarships Source: <http://www.schoolsoup.com/scholarship-directory/activity/debate/> Source: <http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/debate-scholarships-universityscholarships/2010/12/01/id/378560>

Furthermore, debate participation aligns perfectly with many goals of the new Common Core Standards. Plus more debate trophies in the trophy case always look nice!

Reading Standards for Informational Text (RI) Reading Standards for History/Social Studies (RH) Writing Standards (W) Speaking and Listening Standards (SL) Language Standards (L)

Explore debate and the Common Core Standards in detail here: http://www.nationalforensicleague.org/aspx/nav.aspx?navid=207&pnavid=206

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What Supplies Will I Need?

Pen (pens of two or more colors is ideal) Notebook or legal pad to take notes. Highlighters One set of Core Files: http://chicagodebateleague.org/cdl-core-files/ File Folders File Tub: (Found at Target and most office supply stores)

Who is our Competition? We will be competing against other debate teams from high schools in the Chicago metropolitan area. In particular, you will be competing on the Regional Circuit on the Chicago Debate League (CDL). Brief Tournament Breakdown After weeks of preparation you will happily spring out of bed around 6 AM on a Saturday morning. You put on your best business attire and get ready to begin your awesome day (You may also bring your business attire with you in a garment bag and change later at the hostschools restroom). You meet your fellow debaters, coach, judges, and chaperones at the school around 7 AM and get on a OPRF bus or van that will take you to the debate tournament. Once there, you register and begin your first debate round around 9 AM. (Your parents and teachers are very welcome to come with you as chaperones and debate judges!) You compete in four to five rounds between 9 AM and 4 PM. Lunch is normally provided by the host school around noon and sometimes they provide breakfast, but not always. Those teams with the best win-loss records will qualify for the final rounds. After the final round, there will be an awards ceremony to recognize the winners of the final rounds. After the awards ceremony we will all get back on the OPRF bus/van and return to OPRF (normally between 4 PM-6PM) where your parents can come pick you up. Parents, we would love to have you serve as judges for debate tournaments. Some schools will make us pay an extra registration fee if we dont bring enough judges. Parents are always welcome to observe their children at practices and tournaments.

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HOW TO BE A GOOD DEBATER

Your Grades Come First: The greatest benefit of debate is what it can do for your long term academic success. But that benefit is undermined if you dont keep up your grades in your normal classes. Make sure you complete your homework each night before you start researching for debate. Be On Time & Prepared: Every debate team member should be at every practice on time. (Thursdays from 6-8pm). Please, always be on time and prepared with the knowledge and materials you need to succeed. We only practice as a team once a week so its essential that you make it every week. Please have your parent email me if you cant make it that week. Independent Research & Practice: You should schedule a few hours a week, in addition to the team practice, to research the topic and practice with your policy debate partner. How many hours you dedicate depends on your time management and how well you want to perform at the next tournament. Be Respectful: All students should always be courteous and respectful toward parents, teachers, school staff, and their fellow students. Any poor behavior may be grounds for dismissal from the debate team. Always Do Your Best (Representing Your Team): Do your best. Every debate student is expected to do his or her very best at every tournament. Remember that your debate partner is always counting on you to do your share of the work. Furthermore, remember that your behavior at every debate event is a reflection of you, your team, and your school. Communicate with Your Debate Partner: Its essential that you exchange contact information with your debate partner and coordinate time to practice and share research. Always Ask Questions! The only dumb debate question is one that goes unasked. About Your Coach My name is David Ellis. I am very excited to be the new debate coach at Oak Park River Forest High School. I look forward to sharing my decade long experience as an avid debater and debate coach. I currently work as the debate coach for McCutcheon Middle School (CPS) and as a coach mentor for the Chicago Debate League. Parents, I should be receiving an OPRF email in the near future. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at david.greg.ellis@gmail.com or call my mobile at 816-390-6437.

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Anatomy of a Policy Debate Round 1st Affirmative Constructive: 8 Minutes Cross-Examined by 2NC: 3 Minutes 1st Negative Constructive : 8 Minutes Cross-Examined by 1AC: 3 Minutes 2AC: 8 Minutes Cross-Examined by 1NC: 3 Minutes 2NC: 8 Minutes Cross-Examined by 2AC: 3 Minutes Rebuttal Speeches 1NR: 5 Minutes 1AR: 5 Minutes 2NR: 5 Minutes 2AR: 5 Minutes Stock Voting Issues:

Solvency

(Will the plan solve the harm or problem and can it ever work in the real world?)

Harms

(What is the Problem in the status quo to justify implementation of the plan? Is the plan important enough to even warrant consideration or make a difference? ) This issue used to include a related issue "Significance" i.e. "Is the problem significant?" but the two concepts have largely merged under the stock issue of Harms.

Inherency

(Is the Affirmative's plan happening already, and if not, why?)

Topicality

(Is the Plan an example of the Resolution? Does the Affirmative team's proposed policy comply with the wording of the resolution?)