Students are terrific and energetic arguers. Even the non-confrontational ones tend to pick a side of an argument and latch on to it with complete conviction and excitement. Units like debate and mock trial feed a teenager’s argumentative side, and students often thrive in these environments.
Not too long ago, a few students of mine were creating a sports podcast as part of a choice project. The first segment of their podcast was to highlight and discuss who each boy believed was the best quarterback of all time. One chose Tom Brady, and the other chose Peyton Manning. As they were researching (and boy did they research!), the boys became fixed on a particular fact that they found. They found a good, citable point, and I saw an opportunity to practice creating counterarguments as a class.
The Details
One student believed Tom Brady was the greatest quarterback of all time, but his opponent found a quote FROM Tom Brady stating that he (Tom) thought Peyton Manning was the greatest of all time. Mic drop, strong argument, research done...Not quite. At this moment, the Pro-Manning student felt like he had a surefire victory on his hands, but that was not to be.
Enter, the Counterargument Lesson
In my argumentation unit, I have outlined several ways to “defeat your opponent like a boss,” and this particular organic classroom moment was an awesome segway into an inspiring teaching moment.
This quote from Tom Brady may have been a great point to make, but the Pro-Brady side wasn’t out yet. That is when we went to the whiteboard and learned how to develop a counterargument using my 5-Part Counterargument Model.
Part 1: “One Might Argue”
One might argue that Peyton Manning is the best quarterback of all time,
I teach students not to shy away from a good argument; instead, I encourage them to attack it. I always want my students to start their counterargument with the words “One might argue…” and then succinctly state their opponent’s argument. When arguing, running is a sign of weakness; the direct approach to a problem is the best method here. I also make sure to let students know that they should attack the strongest argument against their position. Doing so will shut down their opponent and ensure a victory!
Part 2: “Because”
One might argue that Peyton Manning is the best quarterback of all time because Tom Brady himself stated in an interview that he believes Peyton is the best.
After stating their opponent’s argument, we follow up with the word “because” and provide the evidence given from our opponent. Again, we aren’t running from the fact, but we aren’t going to take it at face value either.
Part 3: “However” “But” “Yet” “Nevertheless”
One might argue that Peyton Manning is the best quarterback of all time because Tom Brady himself stated that he believes Peyton is the best. However, that interview is old, outdated, and no longer relevant to the conversation.
It’s time to REFUTE!! The time has come to address our opponent’s most persuasive argument and turn it into a weakness. In this case (and frequently with others), the date of the fact the boy used to support his statement is really important. It didn’t take much research at all to figure this out; in fact, the opposing student stated the date as part of his citation. We decided to bring the year more fully to the audience’s attention.
Part 4: “Because”
One might argue that Peyton Manning is the best quarterback of all time because Tom Brady himself stated that he believes Peyton is the best. However, that interview is old, outdated, and no longer relevant to the conversation because, as my opponent said earlier, that interview took place in 2011, a full nine years ago. Nine years of football seasons encompass hundreds of touchdown throws, sacks, and rushing yards. Thus, Brady’s statement is no longer relevant. Peyton Manning retired in 2016, and Tom Brady continues to play and improve his craft.
Using formal language, we turned the opposing student’s most significant argument into a negative. Using the word “because” to connect the statements, we take the time to explain our reasoning in full.
Part 5: “Therefore”
One might argue that Peyton Manning is the best quarterback of all time because Tom Brady himself stated that he believes Peyton is the best. However, that interview is old, outdated, and no longer relevant to the conversation because, as my opponent said earlier, that interview took place in 2011, a full nine years ago. Nine years of football seasons encompass hundreds of touchdown throws, sacks, and rushing yards. Thus Brady’s statement is no longer relevant. Peyton Manning retired in 2016, and Tom Brady continues to play and improve his craft. Therefore, Peyton Manning may have been the greatest in 2011, but that in no way shows that he is the greatest quarterback in 2020, and we found zero recent, relevant statements from Tom Brady to support his feelings from almost a decade ago.
Boom. Using the word “therefore,” we lead into a clear, concise conclusion that the reader can draw from our counterargument. We are also purposeful with our word choice using a phrase like “almost a decade ago” to bring home our counterargument.
Teach it Early and Use it Often!
I teach students this formula for creating a counterargument because it acts as a solid foundation for both dissecting their opponent’s ideas AND writing a rebuttal that can stand up to the argument.
I strongly recommend teaching this counterargument formula at the very beginning of the year because the opportunities to practice it will come up organically in class (like this football podcast example). When students are arguing about why it’s stupid to have to take Health and PE every year, they allow you to practice creating a counterargument as a full class. When students are discussing which of the newest superhero movie remakes are the best, counterargument opportunity! I like to have the steps (words and order) written out and ready to go on an anchor chart that I can easily pull out when the opportunity arises. By the time we finally get to the actual argumentation unit, students are already well-versed in our counterargument formula.
To dig deeper into the units and resources mentioned in this post, check out the links below!
