With one day remaining before the end of camp tournament, we are excited to see the campers put their new skills to use! We began the morning by reviewing our cases. Students continued additional research to supplement their cases, and they wrote blocks as well. Blocks are pieces of evidence that directly refute an opponent’s argument, as opposed to supporting their own argument. These are created in advance of a debate round, so students must have foresight in order to predict the possible arguments that their opponent could make.
Afterwards, debaters continued to practice debate other partnerships within their labs, testing out different ideas and blocks. Once the round had finished, instructors gave in depth feedback and commentary. Students had time to internalize the advice and make additional edits to their speeches. After lunch, the debaters made final refinements to their cases and blocks. Instructors reviewed proper case formatting in order to be fully prepared for the tournament.
To continue reviewing for the tournament, campers played a game of debate baseball. We split labs into two groups, and instructors generated a list of debate trivia questions. Campers had the option to choose a single, double, or triple, each varying in difficulty. If they answered it right, they were able to advance up the bases! We asked questions about speech order/times, cross-fire strategies, impact weighing, and much more. In this way, students were able to review concepts that they learned throughout camp so they will be fresh in their mind tomorrow.