Last Updated on October 18, 2017
At the end of the past school year, we challenged Listenwise teachers to engage students in a classroom debate. The rules were simple: choose a debate story from Listenwise, have students listen to the story, pick a side and record the debate in action. We wanted to get students talking and having fun during the last weeks of school.
Thank you to everyone who participated! We had some great submissions, but one classroom’s debate was more spirited than the rest.
Congratulations to Mr. Bob Donahue’s 6th Grade class at St. Columbkille Partnership School in Brighton, MA!
The winning class debated whether social media affects behavior, and did a fabulous job working in teams and presenting their arguments. Watch their debate below:
Mr. Donahue told us that his students loved debating and using class time to be interactive: “The content got the kids thinking about their own lives and how they feel about the social media use. They took both sides and learned how to argue their perspective using facts and also listening to the other side. I was delighted at the result and so were the kids. I am grateful to Listenwise for their efforts to constantly strive to present important topics to learners.”
If Mr. Donahue’s class debate inspired you, try hosting a debate in your classroom this fall. We post a new debate story every Friday, so check out the latest Current Events, choose a story, and share your debate with us on Twitter @listenwiselearn!
“Listenwise has been an invaluable teaching tool for my middle school social studies students. The topics are well researched, covering diverse subjects and the lessons are accessible for most learners. The students loved doing the debate on Whether Social Media Affects Behavior. The content got the kids thinking about their own lives and how they feel about the social media use. They took both sides and learned how to argue their perspective using facts and also listening to the other side. I was delighted at the result and so were the kids. They loved using class time to be interactive and we had a celebration when we found they won the $50 Amazon gift card. I am grateful to Listenwise for their efforts to constantly strive to present important topics to learners.” – Mr. Donahue
