Image of a kid building sandcastle and another sledding in the snow
Art by Tom Garrett; Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
Debate,

Which Is More Fun: The Beach or the Snow?

Mark likes the beach. Zuri likes the snow. Which do you think is better?

From the December 2023/January 2024 Issue

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

Lexile® measure: 330L
Featured Skill: Write Opinion Pieces, Participate in Conversations,
Topic: Social Studies, English Language Arts,
Common Core Standards
  • Social and Life Skills
    Respectful discussion
  • 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
  • Science
    (8) Earth and space. The student knows that there are recognizable patterns in the natural world and among objects in the sky. The student is expected to: (B) identify the importance of weather and seasonal information to make choices in clothing, activities, and transportation
  • English Language Arts
    (9) Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts—genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts. The student is expected to: (E) recognize characteristics of persuasive text, including: (i) stating what the author is trying to persuade the reader to think or do; and (ii) distinguishing facts from opinion

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The Beach!

Art by Tom Garrett; shutterstock.com

Mark

First of all, snow is cold! The beach is nice and warm. You don’t have to wear a coat and boots.

Next, there’s so much to do at the beach. You can make sandcastles. You can find shells. You can swim. You can read a book.

Last, the beach is beautiful. I like the sound of the ocean. Being at the beach makes me feel calm and happy.

The Snow!

Zuri

First of all, you can sled! I love sledding. You can go so fast. You can race with your friends.

Next, you can make almost anything out of snow. You can make forts. You can make snow people. It’s way more fun than building with sand.

Last, it’s cozy to go inside after you play in the snow. You can drink hot cocoa!

Activities (1)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Activities (1) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

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

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 two different colors of 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 . . .”

Other Teaching Ideas

1. Learn the Value of Debating

This is a great activity for the beginning of the school year. You could do it after reading the
first debate so children are familiar with what a debate is. You can refer to the web below all year.

Skill: Respectful discussion

  • Share with children that debating teaches us so many important skills that we will use for the rest of our lives! Create a web on chart paper that shows reasons why we have debates.
  • As you create the web, ask kids to share what they think each sentence on the web means.
  • When you are doing a Storyworks 2 debate, have this web up so students can refer to it. You can point out when students need to be good listeners, for example.
  • Remind students that, just like in any class discussion, it’s important to listen to each other respectfully, even if (especially if!) we disagree.

2. Take a Poll

This builds engagement. It also offers an opportunity to practice tally marks!

Skills: Polling, tally marks

  • Take a poll of students’ opinions before and after reading.
  • Make a chart on the whiteboard or chart paper and tally the students who say yes and who say no.
  • Did anyone’s opinion change after reading? Ask them to share why!

3. Sticky Note T-Chart

This is really fun. It also gives children practice with bite-size bits of opinion writing.

Skills: Charting, writing

  • Make a big T-chart representing both sides of the debate.
  • Have children write ideas supporting either or both sides on sticky notes. They can make as many sticky notes as they want in 10 minutes. They should write their name on each note.
  • They can come up and place their stickies on the correct side of the T-chart.
  • Call students up to read and share their stickies.
  • Which side won?

4. Classic Method!

This is a classic, simple way to teach our debate.

Skills: Reading, respectful discussion, writing

  • Read the debate together.
  • Discuss it.
  • Pass out the opinion writing skills sheet from our website. Have children go to their tables and fill it in.
  • If time permits, have children share what they wrote.

Text-to-Speech