SAN ONOFRE — One doesn’t need to go see the movie “The Great Debaters” to see a great debate. Mrs. Herter’s eighth-graders at San Onofre School, one of Fallbrook Elementary School District’s two Camp Pendleton schools, finished their language arts course by learning the art of debate.

The students look forward to the debate unit all year long, anxiously wondering who they will be paired with and what topic they will debate.

Students begin the unit by conducting a small amount of research on various topics presented on a questionnaire. Students know that they will be placed in...