Argumentative Essay Prompt. A Four-Day School Week

Transcription

1 Argumentative Essay Prompt A Four-Day School Week Recently, a school district in Pennsylvania became the first in the state to change the traditional school schedule from a five-day week to a four-day week. This change is intended to save the school district money, but it may cost parents and student s money and opportunities in the long run. All of the students in your class have heard this news. Some are thrilled; however, some believe that this change will have a negative impact on learning and extracurricular activities. In a well-developed, multi-paragraph essay, state your position on this issue and then convince your fellow classmates to join you in a call to action to either shorten your school week to four days, or to keep the five-day school week. You must provide compelling evidence for your argument, and address and rebut the counterarguments. Be sure to include facts, statistics, or any other relevant information to strengthen your view on this issue.

2 Pros and Cons of 4-Day School Week Discussed by Larry S. Chowning St. Clare Walker Middle School principal James Lane presented a committee report to the Middlesex County School Board on Jan. 13, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of the school system implementing a four-day school week. Due to potential cuts in education funding, many school districts across the nation are considering alternative schedules in order to reduce costs, said Lane. The four-day school week is being implemented in several states, notably Kentucky and Colorado, he said. A four-day system is legally allowed as long as the required minimum number of instructional minutes are met, as opposed to the minimum day requirement. The advantages to a four-day school week are that student dropout rates decline; student disciplinary referrals decrease; student achievement is generally not affected either positively or negatively; student and teacher attendance improves; and students and teachers benefit from less interrupted class time as a result of longer class periods and fewer transitions at all grade levels. All of this increases the efficiency of instruction, said Lane. Other advantages are a significant savings on items such as utility and fuel bills, substitute teacher pay, school bus driver and custodial pay, and building repairs. Also under the four-day system, school days missed due to inclement weather can be made up on what would have been the fifth school day instead of at the end of the school year. The main disadvantages are that the system creates child care issues on the one weekday that schools are closed, and the concern as to how young students will respond to longer school days that would be necessary under the plan. Other disadvantages are that teachers feel that at-risk and special needs students may have retention difficulties with an extra day off each week. Some school officials feel the four-day week may appear to be inconsistent with the new emphasis on more instructional time in school. Also, the four-day week will take more of a local community commitment than other schedule options, as it can affect daily community routines as well as the routines of children. Athletic teams will have difficulty in scheduling games against opponents that are on a five-day schedule. Teachers may be less likely to volunteer to host after-school activities due to the longer school day. Lane said the four-day school week would save the school system about 3% of the total school budget. Student achievement is the most important thing that should be considered, said Lane. There is no empirical research that has been found to show an increase or decrease in achievement with this schedule.

3 Argumentative Writing Ideas-Graphic Organizer ISSUE: Write one idea per box. Your ideas should be of equal importance in both columns. Pro s Defend Con s Attack Choose a position 2. No position is correct. Either is valid if you prove it. Persuade with good reasons supported by good examples.

4 Argumentative Writing Draft-Graphic Organizer Complete the graphic organizer below. Afterwards you will use it to help you write your first draft. Introduction Lead: Capture your reader s attention. (hook) Thesis (1sentence) Body First of all (claim #1), Next (claim #2), Most important (claim #3), Counter Argument: in one body paragraph) Restate your Claim (1-2 sentences) Conclusion

5 Use Good Verbs: promotes increases allows decreases builds causes gives prevents shows keeps enables provides takes creates insures eliminates boosts limits penalizes discriminates inhibits disrupts distract irritates discourages drives prohibits curtails depletes controls