Support students to understand debate team roles with this clear speech-writing checklist designed to guide each speaker through their responsibilities.
Teach Debate Team Roles with a Student Checklist
In a formal debate, each speaker has a specific role to play. Each speaker builds on what the others in the team have said to make their side’s argument strong and coherent. When each speaker performs their role, the team is able to present a clear, organised and persuasive argument.
This handy debate team roles checklist is the perfect support tool for elementary school teachers looking to introduce debates into their ELA lessons. The resource clearly outlines the expectations for each speaker on both the affirmative and negative teams, providing support for students as they plan, draft and refine their debate speeches.
Whether you’re preparing for a formal classroom debate or just starting to explore persuasive speaking, this checklist builds understanding of the key roles within a debate team and encourages students to organize their ideas effectively.
How to Use This Debating Team Roles Checklist
Using this debating team roles checklist will assist your students in structuring their debating speech with confidence… no matter what speaker role they have been assigned! Here are some clear and practical steps showing how a student might use the debate team roles checklist during the speech-writing process:
- Identify Team Stance and Speaker Role – Once students know whether they’re on the affirmative or negative team and what speaking role they have been assigned, have them locate their role on the relevant checklist. This will help them focus on the elements that apply to their speaker role when writing their speech.
- Read Through Speaker Duties – Have the students carefully read the checklist items for their role. These points clearly explain what they need to include in their speech, e.g. defining key terms, providing reasons and evidence, rebutting arguments or summarising the team’s position.
- Write a Speech Using the Checklist – Encourage students to write a paragraph (or multiple paragraphs) for each item on the checklist. For example, if the checklist says, “Acknowledge the chairperson and the members of the audience”, the students should write a sentence that does just that. Suggest they tick off each item on the checklist as they complete it.
- Rehearse and Re-Check – Once students have finished their speeches, have them read them aloud while using the checklist to double-check that they’ve included everything required for their role. This will ensure that they are well-prepared for the main event… the actual debate!
Download This Roles in a Debate Team Checklist
This debate team roles checklist can be downloaded as either a black-and-white PDF or an editable Google Slides file. If you download the Google file, please note that you will be asked to make a copy to your personal drive.
For sustainability purposes, please consider printing this two-page checklist double-sided.
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