The Metacognitive Debate Generator [2/20]

This PowerPoint included 101 debate prompts. It also contains a ‘randomiser’ slide so that debate topics can be selected randomly. Each prompt is designed to trigger reflection on a metacognition or learning-power issue, examples include:

• “A health body leads to a healthy mind”
• “It is possible to know too much” and
• “Everyone is born with an equal capacity for success in school.”

Debates take an ‘agree or disagree’ format: students are asked to move from one side of the room to the other depending on their response to the statements that appear.

This format allows teachers to foster debates and discussions between students, it can be helpful to ask students to justify their reasons and use sensible arguments. Questions you might ask include:

“What is wrong with the other position in your view?”,
“Why did you choose to stand where you’re standing?”,
“Why do you think people disagree so much about this question?”

It is best to encourage students to pick a side rather than float in the middle: but it can also be fun to allow students to change side as the debate progresses, so that students can try to persuade one another to move.

This is a great resource to use at the end of lessons if you have a few minutes left, it can be used as an entire lesson.

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