A statement that splits your class down the middle takes thirty seconds to think up. One that still has something worth saying after everyone's stood or sat down takes longer — and that harder part is the part that matters. A statement game doesn't run on the choice itself; it runs on what surfaces the moment everyone commits. Below: the test that decides it, why the standard debate rules let you down on one point, and statements you can use tomorrow.
A good statement doesn't measure whether the class gets it.
It makes sure there's something to talk about the moment everyone stands or sits.
The test: not a question, not a fact, and something left to say after the vote
Three conditions. You probably know the first two already. The third does the real work.
Not a question. "Is homework useful?" gives them nothing to choose — you can't agree or disagree with a question. Turn it into a statement: "Homework should never count toward your grade." A statement ends in a full stop, not a question mark.
Not a bare fact. "Water freezes at zero degrees" divides no one. Anyone who disagrees is simply wrong, and the round turns into a pop quiz. A fact catches half the class; it doesn't split it.
And something left to say after the vote. This is the only test you actually need, because it quietly covers the other two. Ask yourself: once everyone is standing or sitting, is there still anything to explain, contest, or check? For "reading the book beats watching the film," yes. For "the Earth orbits the Sun," no. It isn't about whether a right answer exists — it's about whether there's a conversation left after the choice.
Why the debate rules let you down here
Search for how to write a statement and you'll get the same list everywhere: make it controversial, keep the argument out of it, and no right answer. Good rules — for a debate, where the statement kicks off a case somebody has to win.
An agree/disagree activity works differently, and on one point it's the exact reverse. If you want a round to pull material back up, the statement is allowed to have a right answer. "A fraction and a decimal are the same number written differently" has a correct answer, and that's precisely why it works: whoever stays seated hears the arguments and gets there on their own — and sitting down costs nothing once an argument has convinced you. A debate coach would cut this statement on sight. For retrieving material, it's exactly right.
So the rule isn't "no right answer." It's: does the statement fit what you want the round to do? That depends on the function. There are four.
Four kinds of statement, by function
1. Retrieval — pulling material back up without turning it into a test
The statement touches material you've covered or just introduced, and often has a right answer. You're not measuring who knows it; you're letting them retrieve it themselves instead of hearing it spoon-fed again, and that retrieval fixes the material more firmly than a re-explanation would. If a misconception surfaces, good — that's what you talk about.
Physics — A heavy object falls faster than a light one.
Biology — A virus is a living thing.
Geography — The Netherlands couldn't exist without its dykes.
Three of these at the start of the lesson and you see where the class stands in five minutes. That's the warm-up function of Stand Up, Sit Down.
2. Opinion — one that genuinely divides the class
No right answer, and the trap isn't controversy but false division: a statement they secretly all agree on. Test it on yourself. Can you make a decent argument for either side? If not, it's too broad or too tame.
English / literature — A book you're made to read for school can never be one you truly love.
Economics — Saving is always smarter than spending.
Languages — Watching films with subtitles helps you more than without.
3. Values — for tutor time
This one isn't about knowledge but about the group: the class sees itself in a single second, with no going round the room. Keep the statement away from the personal. Everyone sees everyone's choice, so there's no anonymity here.
Citizenship — The class should be allowed to make its own rules.
Tutor time — Working alone produces better work than working in a group.
4. Series opener — the same statement at the start and the end
If you're using the activity as a frame around a run of lessons, put the same statements at the beginning and the end. Word them timelessly enough to work twice, and so that a student meets their own earlier position again. That works on how someone thinks, not on what they happened to have fresh that week.
The statement that's secretly a fact
The most common miss, and the hardest to spot in advance: you meant an opinion, but in the room it turns out to be a fact. You'll know from the outcome — nearly everyone picks the same side, no one hesitates, and the round deflates.
Two ways to head it off. Ask whether the other side has a decent argument; if it doesn't, rewrite. And watch statements where one word already settles the outcome: "violence is never the answer" leaves little room, while "the school should ban phones entirely" does divide. If a statement turns out to be a fact anyway, don't rescue it on the spot — note it, rewrite it for next time, and move on. Fixing it mid-round just turns it into a lecture.
Ready to use: statements by subject
Take them as they are, or use them as a model for your own topic. Order them so they build — start light, so the class feels that choosing is safe here, and keep the heavier ones for later.
English — Spelling shouldn't count toward your grade.
History — An invention changes the world more than a war does.
Maths — A fraction and a decimal are the same number written differently.
Biology — A virus is a living thing.
Physics — A heavy object falls faster than a light one.
Geography — The Netherlands couldn't exist without its dykes.
Economics — Saving is always smarter than spending.
Citizenship — The class should be allowed to make its own rules.
Tutor time — Working alone produces better work than working in a group.
Team meeting — Our last meeting could have been fifteen minutes shorter.
If you're stuck on your own topic, the activity's prep screen includes a ready-made prompt that drafts six for you, building from light to serious.
Binary, or four positions?
The statement decides not just what you ask, but which activity fits.
Agree or disagree, fast and sharp → Stand Up, Sit Down. Everyone chooses at once, stands or sits, no middle ground. Start here.
When "it depends" keeps becoming the answer → the statement is ready for four corners: four positions, more nuance, the class walks to a corner.
And if you want to drill plain factual knowledge with movement — statements with a right answer and no conversation after — that isn't an agree/disagree activity but a movement quiz.
A statement that divides the class is where it starts.
What matters is the one they're still talking about after the vote.