LD Training Week 3 - Value Statements & Research Basics

Welcome to week 3 of The Great Debate's introduction to Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate.  Today we'll be covering 2 lessons.  The first lesson is entitled "Value Statements and Definitions"  This 2-video lecture gives you an understanding of what a "value" is in the context of "value debate" and discusses the importance of defining terms in a debate round.  This lecture is indispensable to any new value debater - it gives you the keys to the world of Lincoln-Douglas debate.

The second lesson is entitled "Research Basics"  This short video explains the initial steps you need to take to begin to understand any topic you'll be debating.

Value statements rank ideas or beliefs against one another.  A debater must be able to articulate a value, provide a mechanism for measuring that value, and demonstrate the superiority of the value in order to win a value debate round.  Today we'll focus on understanding what a value is and discuss some different values that are used in debate round.  Later we'll focus on measuring the comparing values against one another.

This week's lesson is available on the Great Debate's youtube page.  It is also available on the Great Debate website in embedded format.  Finally, you can see the videos right here:

And here's the research basics video:

If you haven't already, be sure to visit The Great Debate website to request your free packet of outlines.  If you are a student, you can request the student packet and coaches can request a coach packet with additional resources including a syllabus and answer keys.

Today will be our last "fun debate" for a while.  Pick another topic, pick sides, and have fun!

After you watch the video, be sure you download Coach Marko Djuranovic's Ultimate LD Handbook.  Read pages 54-66 before next week's lecture.  Don't worry if it doesn't all make sense.  You are just trying to understand the big picture right now.

Finally, as homework, read the current resolution for your league.  Take out your list of 3 reasons from the last 2 weeks.  They should be in full argument form now - with claim, warrant, and impact.  Next, write down 3 arguments against the resolution.  Use the techniques of research you learned today and find evidence as your warrant for each of these 6 arguments.

Have a great week and we'll see you next week for our fourth debate lesson, "The Debate Round"

If you are interested in learning a form of debate other than Lincoln-Douglas value debate, The Great Debate is a wonderful textbook for policy debate written by the teacher in these videos.  The Great Debate provides training in the basics of debate and includes information for debaters who have already learned the fundamentals and are looking for more intermediate level training.  The Great Debate has a teacher's guide (coming soon) which includes lesson plans and additional material for coaches.  For more information about The Great Debate, visit our website.  We also have produced a video training series for Public Forum Debate.  The public forum series is another free resource from The Great Debate.