Image of students eating lunch together
Illustration by Tom Garrett (Art); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
Debate,

Should There Be Assigned Seats at Lunch?

Ben thinks kids should have assigned seats at lunch. Emmy does not agree. What do you think? 

From the September 2023 Issue

Learning Objective: Build language arts skills, such as speaking and listening, main idea and details, text evidence, and opinion writing.

Lexiles: 340L
Guided Reading Level: H
DRA Level: 14
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

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Yes!

Ben

First, it would save me time to know where to sit. I spend a lot of time looking for a seat. 

Next, sometimes there is no room at my friends’ table. I don’t like that. I wish I had a place to sit. 

Last, I don’t know everyone. I would like to get to know new kids. If I had an assigned seat, I could make new friends. 

No!

Emmy

First, I want to sit with my friends. I don’t get to talk to them in class. I want to talk to them at lunch. 

Next, lunch is free time. I want to choose where I sit. No one else should choose for me. 

Last, I might not know anyone if the seats are chosen for me. I don’t want to sit with kids I don’t know. That’s kind of scary.

Activities (1)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
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Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)

More About the Article

Implementation

  • Whole class

Total time: 1-2 class periods (depending on the number of children in the class)

Social and Life Skills:

Respectful discussion

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

1. Read the Debate

Skill: Reading

  • Have different volunteers read each paragraph.

2. Write Reasons

Skill: Writing/Key details

  • Have children go back to their tables. Hand out our opinion writing page* to the class. You will have marked half of the pages with green and the other half with yellow.
  • Tell children that if they got a page with a green mark, they are on the “yes” side. If they got a page with a yellow mark, they are on the “no” side.
  • Have children write three reasons for their side on their sheets.

*Note: You can also pass out green and yellow (or two other colors) index cards.

3. Present Their Ideas

Skills: Public speaking, listening, being patient

Note: Having children line up allows you to incorporate movement into this activity.

  • Line up the “yes” kids on one side of the room and the “no” kids on the other.
  • Children will come up one by one, alternating yes and no, and read their reasons.
  • When they are done reading, they will go to the end of their line.

 

4. Make Counterarguments

Skills: Public speaking, logical thinking

  • Ask if anyone has any counterarguments to what they just heard. A counterargument tries to show why an argument someone made is not right or does not make sense. Explain that they should not repeat arguments that were already made.
  • Have any children who have counterarguments come up and present their ideas.

5. Choose the Winner!

  • This can be the most fun part of the debate for kids: The teacher gets to choose the winning team!
  • You can say, “There is no right or wrong here. Our class is a space where we can respectfully disagree. But I was most convinced by the argument that . . .”

 

Thank you to second-grade teacher Riverne Logan for this lesson idea!

Text-to-Speech