After the torrential downpour yesterday, it was nice to see the sun again this morning before drop off this morning. We started the day by talking about evidence and evidence comparison. During our discussions, we went over what differentiates a good source from a bad source and different techniques we can use to find good sources for our arguments.

After discussing the different aspects of good evidence, we went over "cutting cards", which is debate-talk for using the evidence that you found in an actual debate. Finally, we revealed the camp topic! The topic will be "Resolved: On balance, standardized testing is beneficial for K-12 education". Of course, the campers had MANY opinions of their own on this topic, but we wanted to get them started on their research, so each camper was tasked with cutting one card either affirming or negating the topic.

We, then, broke for lunch in the field house, where kids were able to cool off, play some sports, or just sit and talk.

After coming back from lunch, we focused on presentation- how to deliver arguments. We talked about the importance of maintaining eye contact, speaking clearly, and enunciating the words you say. To practice this, campers participated in a number of speaking drills, such as reading tongue twisters or reading articles backwards. We played a few games to close the day off before pick up.