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Middle School Novice Curriculum Guide
Taking Notes (Flowing)
Why Should You Flow?
Let’s say you have a big test in your history class next week, and your teacher says that it will cover what you talk about in your next three classes. What should you do if you want to do well on the test?
Pay attention and take notes!
It’s the same way in sports. Let’s say you’re playing soccer and the other team’s goalie comes out of the net to play offense. You’ll only notice that if you’re paying attention, and when you do notice it, you’ll know that it’ll be easier to score a goal since their net is unprotected!
That’s why you should pay attention and write down what’s happening in your debate round. If your opponent makes a mistake, you’ll only notice it if you’re listening, and you’re more likely to remember it if you write it down. You need good notes to help prepare your speeches and to ask good cross-examination questions.
How to Flow
You’ll get an example flow sheet in your tournament workbook. Make some on your own by making columns on another sheet of paper. They should look like this:
To use your flow sheet, you should write down what’s said in each in speech in the respective column. You should try to flow what both teams say about a specific argument next to each other. Make sure to flow the tags (assertions and reasoning). Also, leave space between arguments in case your opponent makes multiple answers to the same argument. Lastly, find ways to write quickly by abbreviating or using symbols. For example:
