Congratulations to our Cedar Hill Prep School Debate Team, who traveled to the Wilberforce School in Princeton this past Saturday, January 11th to participate in the second round of the Garden State Debate League.
All of our students did an amazing job, including the team of Nima Majidi and Pranav Pulakkat who finished second in the group category. Also Nikhith Nookala who finished second in the Individual Speaker Points category.
Great job to all of you!
This is Cedar Hill Prep’s first year – we are the rookie amongst the 14 schools. Their first debate was on November 21st.
The second debate was on Jan 11th (the school won 2nd prize for most wins and overall points. Two teams won – 2nd prize and 6th prize for debate wins.
One student won 2nd prize for most speaker points. The third debate is on Feb 21st. The Nationals will be in NY in May.
What is the Middle School Public Debate Program (MSPDP)?
Middle School Public Debate Program (MSPDP) is the world’s largest program for class and contest debating in the middle grades. Designed to teach public speaking, critical thinking, listening, and debating to students in the middle grades.
Currently, the MSPDP organizes league competition in California, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
Why We Debate
The reasons we do debate at Cedar Hill Prep School are because it teaches life skills and prepares students for higher order thinking. It provides a platform to build broad skill sets. Oral literacy is very important for school and career success.
Middle school students are talkative and argumentative and therefore debate makes a natural fit for middle grades.
Practice Critical Thinking
Participation also teaches research, organization, and argumentation. Students debate about a wide range of topics throughout the course of a year and must research multiple sides of those topics. They prepare and organize notes for speeches while developing sophisticated critical thinking skills as they assess the relative merits of different arguments. It teaches students about the structure of an argument in terms of a viewpoint. In addition, students need to present convincing facts and explain their reasoning for their argument.
Students build confidence by speaking in public on the important issues of the day, and debating creates a “safe” environment for students to develop these skills while receiving feedback and encouragement.
Teach Active Listening Skills
This activity teaches students how to be active and critical listeners. Listening skills are increasingly important in state or locality-mandated content standards. Listening skills are critical to success across the curriculum, because if students do not develop sophisticated listening skills, they will not be able to fully process and engage other aspects of instruction.
In debates, students must make arguments and answer the arguments made by the other side. They must organize and structure speeches, and question opponents directly. This creates an incentive structure to build listening skills. Debate incorporates learning tools such as specialized note taking which can help students to immediately focus on listening and critical engagement with an ongoing discussion.
