Year Round School
(No more summer
vacations?)
School Debate for
students grades 4-6.
For this assignment we are going to have a debate on Year Round School. All students in the classroom will be participating in this debate. We are first going to research Year Round School from the websites provided, and then we are going to share our opinions. In order to research and share your opinions, you will need to go to the following sites that are provided below and explore the pros and cons of Year Round School. In this debate you will need to use skills of reading, thinking, writing, researching, speaking, and listening. Please individually visit and explore the websites below and briefly jot down at least five (5) pros and five (5) cons that you feel are the most important from the following websites. Please follow or keep in mind the steps below when viewing the site and coming to your conclusions.
Gather – Gather information
Explore – Explore all sides issue
Form – Form an initial opinion
Defend – Defend position in
debate
Refine – Refine opinion through
knowledge gained during the debate
This is a great site comparing information and studies on improving academics and expanding learning in the schools. There are calendar comparisons and statistical summaries on Year Round Schooling. It also shows a map of the schools that participate in Year Round Schooling.
About.com: Year Round Education
This is a very valuable site for students to explore year round education in schools. This site starts off with “their” definition of year round education. Then it lists the arguments for year round education and arguments against year round education, and finally a conclusion summing up all the information.
About.com: Stay-at- Home Parents
This site gives a parent’s perspective on Year Round School. The parent describes the advantages and disadvantages of Year Round School.
About.com: Academic Impact of Year-Round Schooling
This site is an annotated bibliography summarizing the results of studies that have been done on Year Round Schooling.
Below are additional websites that give an overview of Year Round School for educational institutions and then go into the advantages and disadvantages of Year Round School.
Now that you have had a chance to view some of the websites and gather your information about Year Round School we are going to break into groups. There will be two (2) groups who will discuss the advantages of Year Round School and two (2) groups that will discuss the disadvantages of Year Round School, please pick which side of the debate you would like to be on and split into groups. Once the groups are decided, discuss your lists of pro’s or con’s, (depending on the group you are in) and put together a strong presentation for or against Year Round Schooling. We will set the room up and we will debate this issue among the classroom.
