Image of a student eating carrots and another student reading a book
Art by Tom Garrett; Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
Debate,

Should School Have Snack Time?

Eli thinks school should have snack time. Ruby doesn’t agree. What do you think?

From the March/April 2023 Issue
Lexiles: 410L
Guided Reading Level: K
DRA Level: 16-18
Featured Skill: Write Opinion Pieces, Participate in Conversations,
Topic: Social Studies, English Language Arts,
Common Core Standards
  • W.2 Write opinion pieces RI.2.8 Describe how reasons support the points the author makes in a text RI.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate texts SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts
TEKS Standards
  • Health
    (1) Health behaviors. The student understands that personal health decisions and behaviors affect health throughout the lifespan. The student is expected to: (D) identify healthy and unhealthy food choices such as a healthy breakfast and snacks and fast food choices

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Yes!

Eli

School should have snack time. 

First of all, my lunchtime is 1:20 p.m. That’s really late! We start school at 8:20 a.m. So we have to wait five hours to eat!

We get sooo hungry. We get tired. We can’t pay attention. Sometimes people fall asleep at their tables. It’s not good. We need to eat.

But if we had snack time, we could take a break. We could eat yummy snacks. Then we would have energy. We could pay attention. It would be a win-win!

No!

Ruby

School should not have snack time. 

First, my lunchtime is 1:20 p.m. too. But it’s OK. I eat a huge breakfast so I don’t get hungry before lunch.  

Having a real snack time at school would take at least 15 minutes. You have to take time to get out your snacks and eat them. Then you have to clean up. 

That all takes time away from learning. Would kids have to stay later at school every day to make up what we missed during snack time? Yikes! 

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Answer Key (1)
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Answer Key (1)

About the Story

Casel Social-emotional Learning Focus

Relationship skills: Communicating effectively

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

1. PREPARING TO READ

Have students preview the text features. Ask:

  • What is the topic of the debate? (Prompt students to use the debate title and the picture as clues.)
  • What are the two opinions people might have about this topic?

2. READING THE DEBATE

  • Read the debate as a class or in small groups.
  • You can also have students read the debate as partners, with each student reading one side aloud.

3. DISCUSSING

As a class or in small groups, have students discuss:

  • Which opinion do you think makes the most sense?
  • What is your opinion? What information or argument helped you form your opinion?

4. WRITING

  • Pass out our opinion-writing printable. Ask students to write their opinion in the top section.
  • Then students can underline three points in the debate that back up their opinion.
  • Last, they can complete our printable to show what their opinion is.

Text-to-Speech