The MSPDP offers four major kinds of resources to teachers: textbooks, a teacher's guide, videos and supplemental handouts. All of the resources on this page are free and may be shared with attribution.
If you generate additional resources (graphic organizers, syllabi, etc.) that you wish to share with the community, please email them to MSPDP Co-Director Kate Shuster (kate.shuster[at]gmail.com) for placement on this page.
Key Resources
- Teachers' Guide (V. 4)
- MSPDP Rules For Competition (Edited 2015)
- Scoring Rubric for Individual Performance (Edited 2012)
- Flowsheet template (suitable for enlarging to legal size)
- Sample debate: "Ban Boxing!" (YouTube)
- Overview of Debate Skills
- Sample 12 Week Debate Unit (CA, annotated)
- Debate Unit (CO, courtesy of Mary Burnham)
- Tennis Debates - a whole-class debate game
Speak Up! is our brand new textbook, suitable for middle and high school students.
Still in print - the world's bestselling middle school debate textbook - Speak Out! - a comprehensive guide based on the original rules.
Speaking and listening strategies for classes across the secondary curriculum - written by teachers for teachers.
Common Core and MSPDP
Garden State Debate League President Dee Burek has assembled a series of lessons showing how skills learned through the MSPDP meet the Common Core State Standards.
Supplemental Resources
- Issue Analysis Form (doc)
- Cost-Benefit Graphic Organizer (pdf)
- ARE Intro Handout (pdf)
- ARE Fill-in Chart (pdf)
- Speaking and Listening Guide (pdf)
- Preparing for Your First Tournament (student-facing pdf)
- Sample Debate Team Recruiting Posters (doc)
Video Resources
The 2016 National Championship Debate
Topic: The United States should abolish the death penalty. Prop: Hackley School (NY) Opp: Pegasus School (CA)
Sponsored by the English-Speaking Union and the Middle School Public Debate Program.
Decision and Commentary for the 2016 National Championship Debate
Topic: The United States should abolish the death penalty.
Sponsored by the English-Speaking Union and the Middle School Public Debate Program.
Teacher Anne from Lenana Primary School in Narok County, Kenya speaks about the impact of the Public Debate Program for her students.
A student at AIC Primary Girls School in Kajiado, Kenya speaks about how the Public Debate Program has impacted her.
Sample debate. Topic: Television is a bad influence.
Decision and Commentary for a sample debate. Topic: Television is a bad influence.
Three middle school teachers and league presidents in the MSPDP discuss what it's like to manage a middle school debate league. Featuring Katie Ward (Polytechnic School), Lee Harris (St. Mark's School), Kate Shuster (Co-founder MSPDP), and Greg Paulk (Desert Springs Middle School).
The 2006 National Championship Debate.
Topic: Pakistan is more an enemy than an ally. Prop: Marlborough School (CA) Opp: Canyon Hills Junior High School (CA).
Sponsored by the Middle School Public Debate Program.