This class is appropriate for middle school students and students who are brand new to debating (typically grades 7-9). Older students can attend Level 1 but are often able to self-study the material and advance in less than one semester.

Class Content:

These classes teach core debate fundamentals like debate format, argument construction, refutation, and analysis. Emphasis is placed on teaching students British Parliamentary style.

Advancement:

To advance students must be able to demonstrate: 

- a clear understanding of what debate is 

- how to prepare arguments

- how to refute arguments

- how to rebuild arguments

- the ability to flow a round

- the ability to complete all 8 BP speeches

Students do not need to be excellent, or even good, at any of these abilities but they should understand them and practice them consistently.

**Eligibility for advancement is determined by the instructor

This class is suitable for students who are embarking on their first experience of formal training in public speaking. This level is ideal for students who have demonstrated proficiency in English and a willingness to communicate and engage with classmates.

Students learn the fundamentals of storytelling, including building character narratives and perspectives, as well as different aspects of performance, listening skills, speech construction and argumentation.

BP Engagement Camps are reserved for experienced, well-developed debaters who want to master advanced impact comparison and round-framing techniques. Engagement Camps focus on impacting arguments, weighing points, comparative analysis, integrated responses, and framing. These skills are essential to competitive success in tournament environments. 

• Students will master the ability to identify how and why their team is winning the debate through the use of differentiation as well as both practical and principled arguments. 

• Students will internalize the core tools of impact weighing and understand how to counter their opponent’s use of those same tools. 

• By understanding framing as a recurring motif and means of viewing the debate, students will understand the role of meta-analysis and how to properly balance framing with refutation and rebuilding. 

• Exercises that analyze completed rounds will teach students to predict the effects of their arguments on future speeches. Retroactive reconstruction of debates will teach students to see the round as a whole, understanding the strategic evolution and progression of arguments from speech to speech. 

This camp is recommended for advanced students who have taken multiple regularly-scheduled BP classes and want to focus on evergreen skills that will positively affect competitive success in future tournaments.

BP Organization Camps are designed for newer and less experienced students to master the form and proper sequencing of BP speeches. Students will improve their ability to fill speech times, flow debates, order their speeches, and prepare/refute/rebuild arguments in the ways expected of BP debate. More specifically:

• Students will internalize the core components of speech organization: introductions, roadmaps, PAEL argument structure, signposting, flagging, and summaries. 

• Students will master the differences and similarities between rebuilding, direct refutation, and indirect refutation as well as the role each plays in different speeches. 

• Students will better understand the strategic roles of each speech and the expectations of each different speaker in a round for both content presented and speech organization (i.e. role fulfillment). 

• Emphasis on performance and execution enables the Organization camp to focus on how a student arranges and deploys ideas through increased individual feedback. 

This camp is especially recommended for students who need an extra push to catch up to their peers, students who missed large portions of regularly scheduled classes, and/or students who struggle to effectively fill their speech time.  

BP Advanced Camps are reserved for students participating in competitions or partaking in Comp-designated classes who are already familiar with the core materials of the Organization, Content, and Engagement camps. Advanced Camps challenge students who are comfortable with the full set of argumentative tools to apply those skills to the type of complex motions found in the highest levels of competition. 

• Through forward-analysis, students in Advanced Camps are taught to revise their positions by predicting how the opponents will respond and preempting opposing strategies. 

• Students will learn to frame arguments on controversial topics over sensitive current-events, such as racism, gender-discrimination, and systemic privilege. Debaters will learn how to operate on both sides of these motions without violating equity policies.

• Students will master characterization to strategically limit/delimit the grounds for debate and establish the terms of engagement.  

BP Advanced Camps are only available to students currently enrolled in Comp-level classes, currently participating in tournaments, or with the recommendation of an instructor.