This past spring I got to test out and adapt a Model Curriculum Unit that I co-authored with colleagues as part of a DESE Next Generation ESL FacT Training where we used The Collaboration Tool to design standards-based units. DESE’s Next Generation ESL FacT training provided invaluable learning with colleagues across the Boston area, supporting facilitation of the Model Curriculum Unit curriculum design framework. In this video, I engage ESL3 students in a mini lesson about point of view and protest speech. Students used transfer knowledge from our previous unit in argumentation to help solidify how rhetoric and point of view are related in speech writing.
The Model Curriculum Unit I designed, The Language of Debate, pushed my students to become debaters of minimum wage. All of my students work as essential workers (roofers, restaurant servers, dishwashers, grocery store employees) and this debate allowed the space for seeing more than one side of the minimum wage issue. When one student shared that he was a coffee picker in his home country–just one year prior–the class understood the road to earning an hourly wage and the security that comes with that right. This debate on minimum wage was more than an assignment; it provided access to evidence and tools to craft an argument for advocacy. This debate empowered students to understand how to take a stand with language and to use their lived experiences as fuel for a compelling position.
I knew my students could handle a debate while practicing speaking, listening, reading, and writing a new language, but I also know that a well-run debate with high expectations contains many components and relies on everyone understanding all parts. I developed this visual cue resource to help students visualize the steps in a debate structure. While it may seem simple in design, students had it in hand to remind them of their role and timing during debate. I laminated copies for each student as part of their debate packet.
The closing statement essay organizer, below, provided visual cues to scaffold the writing process and produce a final summation of their position to the judges. Each question in the green-shaded column was crucial in getting students to not only jump-start, but to extend their writing.
I have since shared my debate materials with teachers ranging from middle school to high school. I’ve adapted the materials to the age and levels of my students, but I continue to return to the necessity of clarity when creating debate material for students. Check out my debate materials plus more debate goodies here.
180newbeginnings.com 