One activity you can do in your class is to have a classroom discussion. This is something that can help students on a variety of levels. There are writing skills, critical thinking skills, and even speaking skills that will be put to the test in this type of activity. It is quite easy to have this type of discussion in your classroom as long as it is properly organized.

First, you will need to propose a topic. It must be something where there is no clear correct posture in any way. This makes both positive and negative positions on the matter equally attractive to those involved in the debate.

Get a style for your debate. Many use the Lincoln Douglas style, but there are many others that you can use. The point is to have time for both positions to make arguments, refute arguments, and ask questions. These formats will have equal minutes for both positions, which will give both parties just enough time to formulate and react to the arguments.

Have your students work in both positions. This will not only challenge them, but will also prevent you from running into the problem that everyone is on the same side, leaving no room for debate.

When you do the debates, have each student do at least one of each with a different person to go against. Try to group students according to what you think are the skill levels to try and keep things challenging but fair.

Let the others in the listening class be the judges along with you as the teacher. Have the listeners outline the arguments and comment on the discussion so that everyone continues to listen and pay attention to what is happening.

Be aware that something like this can take a long time in the classroom. It’s not a short project by any means, so don’t treat it as such.