Grade 5 students in Mrs. Laura Lopez’s class at Franklin School were excited to take part in their first ever mock debate during their end-of-theyear Writing Celebration held in May at the school’s auditorium. Family, staff, and students were invited.
The journey to this day began with a simple question: Should chocolate milk be served in school cafeterias, or not? After a heated impromptu classroom debate, the students spent weeks analyzing articles, websites, videos, statistics and other data in order to draw their own conclusions about this controversial issue.
In addition to expressing their stance on the great chocolate milk debate, the students showcased the skills and knowledge they’ve acquired relative to argument writing.
In their Writer’s Workshop curriculum, 5th grade marks the transition from traditional persuasive writing to research-based argumentative writing. They’ve learned that effective persuasive essays utilize evidence to bolster their opinions.
(above) At the podium is Nicole Wilk reading her essay on the benefits of drinking chocolate milk.
