Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Lets Start an Argument.....

As we continue forth with our persuasive unit in communication arts, yesterday we prepared to read a short story called "Dressed for Success". This is a article from Time for Kids Magazine and in this story it poses an argument for school uniforms. Almost immediately the room was divided when it came to pros and cons of school uniforms. I knew right away I had to seize this teachable moment. We started a discussion about what are the differences between debates and arguments, also we discussed what makes a great debate. We decided as a class that we would continue this topic and work our way to a class debate over school uniforms. We took the first step yesterday and divided our class room into "for it" and "against it" teams.


Yesterday to get in the mood of debating and I allowed my students 10 seconds to "state" their arguments to the opposing team about school uniforms all at once....it made for great video.


Today, to get ourselves thinking about what makes a great debate, we will be watching a video from the famous British TV series Monty Python. We will use this video to discuss arguments and how they can be used to persuade another person.

Mr. McClung

6 comments:

Little Voices, Little Scholars. said...

Hi there!
The subject of school uniforms is a hot topic for debate. I am sure you will get a lot of good and persuasive arguments about the topic. Our school have a uniform policy too.

From,
Mrs She Pt England School Auckland New Zealand

Anonymous said...

My goodness, that was quite the heated debate! I would love to know the outcome, was your class equally split, or did one "view" have more followers. I personally, love the idea of uniforms, but...that is just this one womans opinion......HAVE FUN!!!!!

Ms Driver said...

hi Mr McC's class
At my school we have school uniform. As a parent I really like that fact that I don't have to worry what my kids will wear each day, there is no choice, they just get up and get dressed! With my teacher hat on though, most of the time children wear correct school uniform which is great, it is easy to spot someone who is not. It is good for safety when we go out on school trips to identify our kids, and also good "branding" for our school - as students feel proud to be in their uniform and their behaviour reflects on our school, so there is pressure for them to be good! I have just asked my son Piers (http://piersdriver.blogspot.com) and he likes wearing uniform because all the kids are the same. He especially likes his sports uniform.
We look forward to tuning back in and listening/watching your debate.
from Mrs Driver
www.pakurangaheights.school.nz

Ms Driver said...

PS: forgot to add that when we want to raise extra funds for the school we hold a "mufti" day. This is where the students can wear "normal" clothes to school and pay $1 for the priviledge of doing so! These can have themes and are a lot of fun!

jkmcclung said...

Great stuff! I like I was saying to Mrs. She on twitter today, I would like to create an online poll and maybe even a online debate with our friends in NZ....I think we would have some great points of view.

Anonymous said...

Make a poll.....do it....Create the subject and we will respond....its on your "gaget" section on blog....Come on.....we are ready to vote......