Argumentation Template: March Madness!!

 We love a good competition. The largest one that takes place around this time of year as the flowers begin to bloom is the NCAA Basketball Tournament. If you don't know what this is, ask a student of yours. Now, not all are fans, this I know, but a number of our students are. I like to incorporate as many student interests in my curriculum as much as I can, regardless of my feelings of them. Side Note: Never try to have your students recreate the story of American Imperialism using the "Twilight" series as inspiration <enter shivering emoji that doesn't exist>

Standards dictate student-writing across the curriculum. And it's not just writing for writing's sake. Different forms of writing need to be taught, practiced, critiqued, honed, and improved upon. Argumentation is one of those forms. Now our students love to argue. But can they argue effectively? Can they communicate their voice effectively in writing?

This activity forces them to take a stance on competing ideas, concepts, individuals, events, or anything else you can think of. The idea is to create a tournament in which students determine the winner by practicing their argumentation and writing skills. I've used this activity in class as a review activity for the Rise of Totalitarianism in the 20s & 30s. The students had to take a stance on certain events and argue which one had greater influence on the rise of dictators and the shift towards isolationism around the globe during the time period. It was well received as students were able to analyze events and movements we'd covered in an in-depth manner. I made it a partnered activity and it was interesting watching pairs argue with each other to place one event over the other.

This is a snapshot of the template I created that you can use and alter as you see fit

If you're interested in creating your own bracket, I've created a document you can make a copy of and alter as you see fit to suit your needs. It's pretty basic so get creative with it. I've included different ideas in the margins of the file for your benefit on how to use the file. If you'd like help with setting up an activity like this, please do not hesitate to ask me. I'd be happy to help.

Download Argumentation Template - March Madness!!