#2817. Debate as a media to analyze and share opinion

Social Studies, level: Elementary
Posted Thu Feb 20 19:57:46 PST 2003 by Frida D. Widjaya (frida_dwiyanti@yahoo.com).
Sekolah Ciputra (School), Surabaya, Indonesia
Materials Required: One article from a magazine
Activity Time: 70 minutes
Concepts Taught: Introductory to the function of "Debate" as a media to share opinion and appreciate other's

The topic was about "The Invention".
The objective:
* To understand and know the current issue regarding the invention
* To appreciate other's opinion
* To share ideas and give own opinion
* To respon and be a good listener
The activity was on leson 4. The previous lessons were about the inventions time to time, the technology at home and in class, and about the famous inventors that influenced ourlife.
As the lesson 4, it means that students got already understanding of the invention, the inventor, the technology and the reasons(function) of the invention as the topic.
In lesson 4, I divided into 3 big parts; the introduction, the teaching-learning process, and the closing as the summing-up.
The introduction was review all the previous discussion for few minutes. Then I asked them to read the article that I cut from a magazine. It was about the invention of a killing-machine (a suicide machine) invented by a doctor from Australia. The students were reading silently and got the main poin of the article. Then I spilted class into two big groups based on their own opinions, wheteher they aggred with the invention or disagreed with it. Tehn we made some rules, such as: raising hand before speaking, keep listening when other is speaking, no "emotion" feeling involved, and must understand people who are different from each other. (From the first time, we set up the situation that everyone ma not the same in facing one same problem).
The second part was teaching-learning process that isDebate action. Students shared what they wanted. They gave opinions, and started to have alive class. We spoke in bilingual, in English and our mother-tonge language, that is Bahasa Indonesia.
As the closing I brought them to the reality that the invention must be for the positive benefit. The invention must for the better condition, situation and everything related to our life. I did this because they were grade 3 students, who were still young but so enthusiastic to know about the world around them.
At last, I agreed that this lesson can be done next time with different lesson in different subject. Students also becameaware ofcurrent situation. I suggest that we discuss also from our daily problem, that we face everyday.
As the assessment: we do reflection together.