Have Students Take Controversial Positions with a Continuum
Controversial issues are great candidates for class discussion. On issues like abortion and the death penalty, everyone has an opinion.
A continuum is a great way to start out a discussion on a controversial topic like this. In a continuum, students stake out a position - on one side of the issue, the other, or in the middle. Then, some of the students can defend their positions, the debate can ensue, and students can re-evaluate where they stand on the issue.
Making the Continuum
Students line up along the line, or continuum, according to their position on the topic.
The first step in this activity is to actually make a continuum.
Choose a controversial topic for your discussion, and either write the prompt on the board or tell it to the students. Then ask the students to line up according to how they feel about the issue.
Students that agree with the prompt go to one end of the room. Students that disagree go to the other. Students that are ambivalent can stand in the middle and sort themselves out.
When you set this up, make sure that your topic is controversial. A question like, "Should the death penalty be legal?" is good. A question like "Did Japan provoke the United States with Pearl Harbor?" isn't so controversial. There need to be two acceptable and arguable positions.
Defend Those Positions
Once the students have taken up their positions on the continuum, pick two or three from each end to explain why they chose the position they did. In explaining their position, they should try and convince the other side that they are right.
At this point, you could launch into a longer, more formal discussion. Or, you could have the students complete an activity that might alter their perception of the issue.
Regardless of what you do in the interim, you should have the students line up again at the end of the activity. Give them a chance to reconsider their position. Has something in the day's discussion and/or activity led them to change their mind?
If so, they should physically move themselves along the continuum to their new positions. You can wrap up with having these students explain why they moved. If no one moves, pick two or three students to explain why their position stayed the same.
Final Tips to Remember with the Continuum Method
As mentioned before, make sure that your question is a debate-able one. If there's only one tenable position, you won't get any variation in the continuum... and you won't get a very good discussion.
Be careful how you phrase the question or prompt. Every question will have some bias to it - but some are more biased than others.
For example, "The death penalty should be legal," and "The death penalty should be illegal" are both slightly biased one way or another. However, the prompts "The death penalty is just," and "The death penalty is cruel punishment," are more biased in those directions. The less bias the better - let the students form their own opinions.
The next time you discuss a controversial issue, give the continuum a try. It gets the students up out of their seats, and it helps them visualize the spectrum of different viewpoints.
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