Fun Classroom Citizenship Debates: Back to School Learning Skills (SEL)

Build Classroom Community during BACK to SCHOOL season using 17 high-interest CLASSROOM DEBATES!

PERFECT to kick start a year of learning!

The slideshow teaches everything. You just guide the class conversation!

Want to see exactly what you get before you buy this bundle?

• Watch the BUNDLE PREVIEW VIDEO.

• Look at the BUNDLE PREVIEW PDF.
  (It is a watermarked version of the entire PDF resource.)

Want to see what the handouts and lesson plans look like?

• Section A. Debates
  (PREVIEW VIDEO and PREVIEW PDF)

• Section B/C. Video + Consolidation
  (PREVIEW VIDEO and PREVIEW PDF)

Use this life-long tool over and over again!

• Use it in SEPTEMBER during Back to School with your new class to set the tone for a year of learning!

• Teach important lessons if you ever need to fill a period.

• These debates are also a great way to kick off a Global Studies unit or English Language Arts unit on essay or persuasive writing!

• Leave the detailed lesson plan for your substitute teacher to teach.

FAIR is not always EQUAL!?

Explore being an active citizen at school and in the world!

Help students COMMUNICATE and APPRECIATE differences in opinion.

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL):

Using these timeless citizenship debates is a perfect way to get students to think more about SEL:

• who they are (Self-Awareness)

• diversity and equity (Social Awareness)

• communicating effectively (Relationship Skills)

⭐ The best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago. The second best time is now.

⭐ DISCUSS the difference between equal and fair.

⭐ BUILD classroom community as students explore the difference between a citizen and a good citizen (or active citizen) 

⭐ REMIND students how to communicate respectfully, even when they disagree.

⭐ EMPOWER students to reflect on their ideas and to think about how equal doesn't always mean fair.

⭐ APPLY what they learn by asking students which groups of people are invisible?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ TEACHER FEEDBACK ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• "My students love debating, so this resource was great!"
  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extremely satisfied - Jennifer C)

• "Very thorough and has built a community in my classes. Thank you"
  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extremely satisfied - Mary S)

• "This is an exceptional high quality resource that is worth more than it is, once I opened this product I was so impressed with the professionalism and dedication that was put into creating a high quality informational unit that is based on reliable sources throughout the entire package! I am very pleased with this purchase as my scholars are too, for they are the ones that receive this credible, reliable, and highly beneficial learning information that gracefully supports students through the learning process with rigorous content, that allows deeper learning opportunities for those that need that deeper level concepts for true engagement into their learning experiences! Highly recommend this phenomenal resource."
  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extremely satisfied - Deanna S)

• "This resource has been a real lifesaver to both my lessons and teacher training. Many skills are covered in this resource and I use it at any stage in my curriculum as lead-in for new topics, to end of units or to reinforce and supplement certain areas. We move from a local to global perspective, and this resource guides you through the entire process. I eventually got the entire bundle, and it is an added value to my teaching resources. Thank you for an excellent product."
  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extremely satisfied - Josephine M)

These high-interest citizenship debates are a safe but powerful way to teach students that

1. We can have opinions.
2. My opinions can be different from yours.
3. Your opinions can be different from mine.
4. And both of our opinions can be equally valid.

The 17 debate questions go through a series of "fun" questions to more "serious" questions as they get students wondering about fairness and equality.

✅ The slideshow lesson teaches the concepts.

✅ You can also EDIT THE FILES to fit your classroom needs.

✅ The slideshow lesson is comprehensive and teaches the lesson:

• DISTANCE LEARNING or 1:1 LEARNING in Google Classroom
• FACE to FACE LEARNING in your classroom

..... Hey, this is cool - check it out! ⭐ BACK to SCHOOL lessons to kick start a year of learning!

• Try this SURVEY so your students can see what kind of mindset they have.

• Do these FUN CLASSROOM DEBATES - does EQUAL mean FAIR?

• Watch these VIDEOS and figure out if teamwork is the same as collaboration. (Spoiler: not always.)

• Play these COMMUNICATION GAMES to notice how communication breaks down.

• Try the DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT challenge and see what happens!

• This one is MY FAVORITE. Students have a lot of fun with the group activity in Section A. The viral video in Section D is shocking... but are we really surprised at this point?

My name is Michael Fuchigami. I'm the teacher behind Educircles.

• I want to help you SAVE HOURS of PREP.

• Sign up for the Educircles Newsletter to stay in the loop!

• TpT support has clarified that we are not allowed to include contest information in our product descriptions or anywhere else on their platform. More info.

⭐⭐⭐ Teachers around the world have DOWNLOADED over 60,001 Educircles resources!

• Check out where teachers have bought my resources (map.)

• THANK YOU to everyone who has purchased an Educircles product.

• 10% of your purchase helps students going through a tough time.

• With your help, Educircles has DONATED $9,344.68 to STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH organizations!

• Here's why I do what I do.

✅ SOCIAL and EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL) in a world of Covid, Systemic Racism, and Constant Change...

• Teach students how to PIVOT when faced with obstacles and opportunities.

• BUILD character: develop resilience during uncertain times.

• EMPOWER classroom citizenship: actively participate in our school, local and global community to make the world a better place.

• THINK critically instead of reacting to fear, viral videos, or fake news.

• EVALUATE systemic discrimination in a real-world case study: how might a system impose unfair burdens on a group of people?

• Help students with SELF AWARENESS and SOCIAL AWARENESS. Start by asking your students Who is Invisible...

✅ SAVE HOURS OF PREP (and money) with a bundle!

• Reading Strategies bundle

• Social-Emotional Learning (6Cs Growth Mindset) bundle

• Goal Setting bundle

• The Educircles EVERYTHING bundle (Psst, the price goes up as I add more resources to my store.)

⭐ Why am I so passionate about 6Cs and Social-Emotional Learning? Because SEL helped save my life.

SINGLE PDF update - v2022-07-10

The individual products in this bundle now have a Single PDF to print (with a File Table of Contents and all handouts)

• I added a digital learning version (Easel by TpT)
• I added Microsoft versions for all files
• NO CHANGES to teaching content in section A.
• Updated teaching content in section C. (Updated the Handout - Student Self-Evaluation; Removed Google Slides file - Venn Diagram (Google Classroom version) as it has been replaced by the Easel by TpT file.)

Other changes

• Files are now packaged by section (A. Debate, B/C Video + Consolidation) instead of splitting Google Drive folders by use (i.e. Print and Teach, Edit the documents, Google Classroom)
• Simplified file names using descriptive words (handout, slideshow).
• Minor changes to formatting / layout
• Combined all handouts into a single PDF to print (for individual products)

If you have any questions, please ask in the Question section or email me at Mike@educircles.org