Article
ART BY JOHN CORBITT. NIKOLAEVA/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (BACKGROUND); VORONINA SVETLANA/SHUTTTERSTOCK.COM ($20 BILL)
Debate,

Finders Keepers?

Jack and Leah find $20 in their neighborhood. Should they keep it?

From the December/January 2021 Issue
Lexiles: 500L-600L, 600L-700L
Guided Reading Level: P
Featured Skill: Supporting an Argument,
Common Core Standards
  • R.1, R.2, R.6, R.8, W.1, W.4, W.10, SL.1, SL.3
TEKS Standards
  • Grades 2-3
    1a, 1c, 1d, 5a, 6b, 6e, 6f, 6g, 6h, 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 9e, 11a, 11b, 11c, 12b

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Dear Leah,

ART BY JOHN CORBITT. NIKOLAEVA/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (BACKGROUND); VORONINA SVETLANA/SHUTTTERSTOCK.COM ($20 BILL)

Can you believe we found $20 on the sidewalk? We’re so lucky! We should definitely keep it. We found the money, so it’s ours. It’s not like we’re stealing $20 out of someone’s wallet.

Of course, we would return it if we knew who dropped it. But we have no idea who this money belongs to. Besides, how would we find the right person? We can’t just put up signs around the neighborhood saying “Found, $20.” Anybody could lie and say it was theirs.

Plus, no one is going to judge us. In fact, plenty of people in our position would keep the money. According to a 2017 Scholastic survey of 376 middle schoolers, nearly half said they would keep money they found on the ground. Are all of those kids bad people? No!

Here’s an idea. We won’t even use the money for ourselves. We’ll use the money to buy presents for our parents or our teacher. So, what do you say?


Your friend,

Jack

Can you believe we found $20 on the sidewalk? We’re so lucky! We should definitely keep it. We found the money. That makes it ours. It’s not like we’re stealing it out of someone’s wallet.

Of course I would like to return it. But we don’t know who dropped it. We have no idea who this money belongs to. Besides, how would we find the right person? We can’t just put up signs around the neighborhood saying “Found, $20.” Anybody could lie and say the money is theirs.

Plus, no one is going to judge us. Plenty of people would keep the money. I found a Scholastic survey of 376 middle schoolers from 2017. Nearly half said they would keep money they found on the ground. Are all of those kids bad people? No!

Here’s an idea. We won’t even use the money for ourselves. We’ll use the money to buy presents for our parents or our teacher. So, what do you say? 


Your friend,

Jack

Dear Jack,

ART BY JOHN CORBITT. NIKOLAEVA/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (BACKGROUND)

I don’t feel lucky. All I feel is bad for the person who was unlucky enough to lose that money. Twenty dollars is a lot!

It’s actually against the law to keep money that you find on the street if it’s possible to locate the owner. So we really should try to find out whose money it is. And I have an idea to make sure the money goes to the right owner. We could ask people who come forward to say how much money was lost.

The survey you mention is interesting. But you shouldn’t do something just because other people say they would. What if people in a survey said it was OK to steal candy? Would that make you think stealing was all right too?

Speaking of stealing, keeping money you find is stealing. We should hand the money over to town officials or put up some posters. If we still can’t find the owner, we should donate the money to a good cause.


Your friend,

Leah

I don’t feel lucky. I just feel bad for whoever lost that money. Twenty dollars is a lot!

There’s actually a law about this. You can’t keep money that you find on the street—not if it’s possible to locate the owner.

So we really have to try to find out whose money it is. We could talk to people who come forward. We’ll ask them to say how much money was lost. That way we know the money will go to the right person.

The survey you mention is interesting. But you shouldn’t do something because other people do it. What if people said it was OK to steal candy from a store? Would you think stealing was all right too?

I think keeping money you find is stealing. We should hand the money over to town officials. Or we could put up some posters. Maybe we won’t be able to find the owner. Then we should donate the money to a good cause. 


Your friend,

Leah

What do you think? 

Go back to the letters and find reasons to support each side of the argument. Write down the information, then study the points on both sides. State your opinion in one sentence, which can be the introduction to an opinion paragraph.

What do you think? 

Go back to the letters and find reasons to support each side of the argument. Write down the information, then study the points on both sides. State your opinion in one sentence, which can be the introduction to an opinion paragraph.

Photo credits: Shutterstock.com

Photo credits: Shutterstock.com

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Skills Activities
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Fun Fact

On average, Americans throw away a total of $62 million a year just by putting their spare coins in the garbage!

SEL Discussion

Ask your students to imagine that they are the ones who lost the $20 and have them think about the debate from this point of view. Did their feelings change  about which side they think is right as a result of this shift in perspective?

From the Storyworks 3 Archives

Explore another tough question with your students, with the debate feature “Is It Ever OK to Lie?” from the October/November 2017 issue of Storyworks 3. This debate poses a similar moral question for your students. Ask them how the two topics relate to one another!

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     heading on the chart as clues.) 

    What are the two opinions people might have about this topic?

2. READING THE DEBATE

Depending on the reading level of your students, read the debate as a class or break the class into groups.

Have students read the debate a second time. Prompt them to highlight evidence supporting each side as they come across it. Using two different colors of highlighters would be useful here.

3. DISCUSSING

As a class or in groups, have students discuss:

Which opinion has the best evidence to support it?

Is one side stronger than the other? Why?

What is your opinion? What evidence helped you form your opinion?

For more advanced readers: Do you think the author has an opinion on this issue? What is your evidence?

4. WRITING

Have students complete the chart in the magazine or our full-page printable chart (available in your Resources tab in PDF and interactive formats).

Guide students to write an essay on the debate topic, using the chart they filled out.

Text-to-Speech