My 8th grade students read the short story " Flowers For Algernon." The protagonist was a mentally-retarded janitor named Charlie Gordon who was used in a scientific experiment by two doctors. Dr Nemur and Dr Strauss wanted to increase his intelligence by making him three times smarter than he actually was. Charlie ended up being a genius, however the effects of the operation were temporary. Eventually Charlie regressed back to what he was before.

We chose 8 students and made up two teams. Pros / Cons. The debate topic is:

It was a mistake for Charlie to have the operation

Pros are to agree with the topic and cons will disagree with it. There will be an opening statement ( 3 mnts), work period ( 2 mnts), rebuttal time ( 3 mnts), work period (2 mnts), response time ( 3 mnts) , work period (2 mnts) and finally closing statmement ( 3 pts)

Yesterday we had our rehearsal, as usual and students came up with interesting proofs. They brought some pictures of Marie Curie and shared some interesting facts about her life. They also shared what they had on human guinea pigs. The debate will take place on May 15,2009 and I will upload the video. The jury has a tough decision to make:)