Unique Activities
Brace yourself, grab a coffee, and get ready for some inspiration.
GDB's Games
*Only at Greatest Debate Bootcamp
Hydra
- Diverse consideration of argument content
- Framing of the topic at hand
- Teamwork, partnership
- Quick thinking
- Note-taking
Against The Herd
- Courage
- Quick, on-your-feet thinking
- Framing of one’s argument
- Time management
- The ability to identify counterpoints that threaten your argument and those that do not
The Fractal
- Humor and wit
- The ability to see outside your preferences
- Teamwork
- Strategizing
- Weighing arguments’ value
Sumo
Yes, if this sounds like the Japanese sport of wrestling to you, you are correct. But, don’t worry, we will not be wrestling! Instead, SUMO for debate camp is a 1 versus 1 quick debate match.
Sumo Inspires
- Quick thinking
- Respect for your opponent
- Diverse argumentation
- Deep listening
How Sumo works
The judge (called the gyoji) selects two competitors with similar experience from the pool of debaters and finds out which one is older. The older debater will get to choose the determining number first.
Establishing Order
- Gyoji: Please bow to each other. What is your birthday?
- Debater 1: January 22, 2009
- Debater 2: March 3, 2008
- Debate 2: Ni.
- Gyoji: No. Debater 1?
- Debater 1: San.
- Gyoji: Yes, that is correct. What would you like: topic or speaker position?
- Debater 1: Topic.
- Gyoji: Debater 2, you get speaking order.
Think Fast, Rapid Debates
This is how the time segments look:
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Picking Sides
- Debater 2: I will choose 2nd and 4th.
- Gyoji: The topic is "What is best: waffles or pancakes?"
- Debater 1: Waffles!
- Gyoji: Debater 2 you have pancakes. Time begins NOW.
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Debater 1
- Gyoji: Time! Debater 1, begin in 3, 2, 1…
- For 30 seconds, Debater 1 delivers arguments and anything else they can think of why pancakes are better than waffles.
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Debater 2
- For 30 seconds, Debater 2 delivers arguments and anything else they can think of why waffles are better than pancakes.
Refutation
Debater 1
For 30 seconds, Debater 1 delivers arguments, refutation, and anything else they can think of why pancakes are better than waffles.
Debater 2
For 30 seconds, Debater 2 delivers arguments, refutation, and anything else they can think of why waffles are better than pancakes.
Here, Gyoji considers what they have heard, determines who won, and points to the winner. Both debaters bow again to each other, and the next two debaters are called out. In a single SUMO tournament, you may lose three times before being done. On the third loss, you continue to work with the gyojis to get better!
Hydra
Named after the many-headed serpent of Greek mythology, the debate game of HYDRA features many debate heads all arguing for a particular candidate to a special prompt.
Hydra Enhances
- Diverse consideration of argument content
- Framing of the topic at hand
- Teamwork, partnership
- Quick thinking
- Note-taking
How Hydra works
Ending the first day of camp, we will announce the HYDRA topic. Let’s say that the topic is “Most Impressive Animal.” That night Justin will begin taking answers to this prompt at 7 PM sharp at his justinsweitzer113@msn.com email address.
Debaters will secure their answers on a first-come-first-served basis.
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As the responses come in:
Justin will reply to each request with either "Yours," indicating that the debater's response has been accepted, or "Taken," signifying that another debater has already submitted that response, requiring the debater to submit a new one. Upon receiving a "Yours" response, the debater should begin researching their assigned topic.
The Next Day
We will announce who it is each debater is paired up with and give all pairs approximately 75 minutes to do the following:
- Discuss which of the two answers the pair has obtained should be the one they will begin writing arguments for. Quickly!
- Begin writing Impacts and arguments. As many as you would like!
- Fulfill the special task element.
Group Debate
Each pair preparing for the HYDRA will have at least one coach as their guide. When prep time is over, all pairs of debaters get into the same room and form an oval, creating a discussion/argumentation space. Typically, one HYDRA room will have 7-8 pairs of debaters arguing. Let’s pretend that this example HYDRA has 8 pairs. Here is the speaking schedule. Start with 1st Rd./Team 1 and go left, snaking around in the three rounds like a backward “S.”
Schedule
m = minutes, rd. = round
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1st Round
- All teams are allowed only to give out impacts, and arguments, while taking POIs (POIs will be explained during camp)
- Each argument must provide a warrant. In other words, if your animal is a cockroach and you say “Cockroaches can turn in 36 directions in a second” you must also tell us why this is IMPRESSIVE! If your animal is the panda bear and you say, “Panda bears can eat 50 lbs. of bamboo a day,” you must also tell us why this is IMPRESSIVE!
2nd Round
- All teams may continue to give out impacts, single arguments, and take POIs
- As well, teams may begin refuting other teams’ points
3rd Round
- Everything goes in this round!
Points for Hydra
When the HYDRA is over, judges combine points and announce which teams finished 3rd, 2nd, and 1st. If you finish 1st, you are called “King/Queen of the HYDRA” until the next HYDRA is complete. On the following page is a blank HYDRA scoring sheet (for coach use only).
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Hydra Scoring Sheet
- 0-5 pts. for Impact
- 1 pt./Point
- 1 pt/original Refutation
- 1 pt/successful Counter Point
- 2 pts for POI taken
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Against the Herd (ATH)
This game is for those who are ready to take on the entire camp itself. Don’t worry, this is done on a volunteer basis, but we do encourage those with some experience to give it a shot.
ATH Grows
- Courage
- Quick, on-your-feet thinking
- Framing of one’s argument
- Time management
- The ability to identify counterpoints that threaten your argument and those that do not
How ATH works
A debater tells a coach at any time during camp that they “want to go against the herd.” The coach then asks them what it is they want to argue. Arguments range from “Soccer is the best sport” to “We should colonize Mars” and anywhere in between–it’s whatever the debater wants to argue! A debater writes an impact, with at least three points, and submits it to a coach.
This debater faces the whole camp and delivers their argument at a scheduled time. While they do this, campers will start standing up to challenge the speaker with POIs. The ATH debater must take at least 7 POIs in 5 minutes and successfully refute 70% of POIs taken.
In the end, Justin asks select judges if they believe that the speaker has refuted 70% of the POIs and, if 70% of the judges say yes, then Justin announces to the whole camp that until it is argued otherwise “Soccer is recognized by the House as the best sport in the world” or “we should indeed colonize Mars” or whatever else it is that the ATH speaker proposed. If the House does not find that the speaker defended their argument successfully, the motion is struck down.
The Fractal
This GDB game challenges the debater to see phenomena as good or bad, effective or ineffective, weird or boring, cool or not cool. In three-person teams, debaters find images of unique dresses, food, events, animals, architecture, songs, videos, tattoos (anything, really) and determine whether it is Awful or Awesome? The twist comes when the team has to defend something they find Awful as Awesome or vice versa. Diabolical? I know!
The Fractal Develops
- Humor and wit
- The ability to see outside your preferences
- Teamwork
- Time management
- The ability to identify counterpoints that threaten your argument and those that do not
Yay or Nay?
This is Emma Stone’s Oscar dress from 2019. Awful or Awesome?
Could you effectively debate either side?
How The Fractal Works
Three-person teams cooperate to find a cache of images and videos that they are willing to argue that they are Awful or Awesome. As they rotate round-robin style in “home and away” competitions with other teams, they have to strategize on which image to use and which side they anticipate having to defend. Eventually, after a spiraling series of matches, one team emerges from both Fractal Belts and competes in front of the whole camp in what we humbly call THE FRACTAL BOWL.
Order of Operations
Research
All teams go to Breakout Rooms to mine the web for divisive people, outfits, wildlife, food, cars, architecture…you name it. Coaches make sure that team selections are appropriate.
Planning
Teams then discuss what they would say for each side, Awful or Awesome, knowing that their opponents will pick first when their opponents are the away team. Teams must also decide which speaking order they are in; no debater can have the same speaker position two matches in a row.
Logistics
Each team has a home room 1-5 or 10-15. The Presentation Room is Room 1 and Room 10.
Ready, Go!
Matches begin in the Presentation Room.
- The home team displays an image.
- The away team chooses which side to defend.
- Both teams get 5 minutes to prep back in their own rooms.
Round Robin
Rounds go Round Robin style until a clear #1 emerges.
Finals Time
The two #1’s face each other in the Main Session in the Fractal Bowl.
Beta
SPK. TIMES ARE 30-30-15
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Gamma
SPK. TIMES ARE 30-30-15
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Get in Touch
Ready to turn curiosity into confidence? Reach out, and let the adventure begin!