- 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?
Illustrations by Tom Garrett; Shutterstock.com (All Images)
Homework Before Screens?
Mia says kids should get to play video games before doing their homework. Jack doesn’t agree. What do you think?
From the Special Preview Issue
Common Core Standards
Activities
(1)
Skills Activities
More About the Article
The timely and thought-provoking debates you’ll find in every issue of Storyworks 2 are great for building a variety of important language arts skills, including speaking and listening, identifying main idea and supporting details, citing text evidence, and opinion writing. Use this lesson plan with any of our debates!
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
1. Preparing to Read
2. Reading the Debate
- Read the debate as a class or divide the class into 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.
Illustrations by Tom Garrett; Shutterstock.com (All Images)
Homework Before Screens?
Mia says kids should get to play video games before doing their homework. Jack doesn’t agree. What do you think?
From the Special Preview Issue
Common Core Standards
Multimedia
Activities
(0)
Skills Activities
More About the Article
The timely and thought-provoking debates you’ll find in every issue of Storyworks 2 are great for building a variety of important language arts skills, including speaking and listening, identifying main idea and supporting details, citing text evidence, and opinion writing. Use this lesson plan with any of our debates!
Step-by-Step 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 divide the class into 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.
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