Wednesday - October 23, 2013

Today is Persuasive essay day.  Each class had a writing prompt to complete in 30 minutes.  7th wanted to do the 8th grade prompt, since they had already written about the one I had in mind for them last year.

7th & 8th Grade prompt:

New Jersey bans taunting, profanity, biased trash talk during athletic competitions:  October 23, 2013

Officials are required to eject players for using taunts, profanity, or biased language.  The rules are part of an anti-bullying initiative that officials believe are necessary.  Under the new rules,  referees are required to enforce a list of banned words.  They are also required to report an athlete to the state governing body of high school sports should his or her language cross the line from competitive banter to profanity.

“Biased language is not, and will not be, tolerated in the classroom.  Interscholastic sports is an extension of the classroom, and therefore, the same rules should apply.”

Pro: Absolutely!  You shouldn’t be made fun of no matter where you are!  Foul language is disgusting at all times of life.  It should be banned.

Con: Get over yourself!  America’s long history with sports has always involved a certain amount of smack talk.  One shouldn’t take it personally.

10th Grade Prompt:
Should you change the way you dress because of what other people MIGHT think?

Your parents have been complaining about the way you dress.  They say you can express yourself, but that maybe you should tone it down.  Spiky hair is all right, but not all the time.  As for the nose ring-they can live with it, but not at your grandmother's birthday party.  You are sick of all these rules and tell your parents that how you dress is no one's business but your own.  You have to be yourself.

A month later, parent-teacher conferences roll around.  You've been doing well this semester, so you are not sweating it.  But when you catch your parents heading off to the meetings, you can't believe your eyes.  Your mother is wearing a red mini-skirt and an enormous blond wig.  Your father's wearing a gross Hawaiian shirt and torn shorts, black socks and sandals.  You are furious!  You say you will be the laughing stock of the school.  They tell you they're just expressing themselves.  What do you say now?  Should you change the way you dress because of what other people might think?

Pro: It’s a fact:  People judge you by the clothes you wear.  Sometimes that’s wrong.  But if you are meeting someone who doesn’t know you, they don’t always have much to go on.  You may be a great person.  But if you’re wearing a shirt with a skull on it, someone might find that frightening.  You don’t always have to conform.  But sometimes it’s best to dress according to the situation.

Con: You should always be yourself.  It’s a simple as that.  If people are shallow enough to judge you by the clothes you wear, that’s their problem, not yours.  Anyway, if you family and friends really love you, they’ll get over what might scare them at first.  Even grandparents.  Probably half the stuff kids do seems strange to grandparents.  But most of the time, they manage to love their grandkids anyway.

History:
I was gone for the afternoon, so the kids watched a video on George Washington and took 1 full page of notes for credit.  The video is available from the library.  It is the only video about President Washington in the library, so you can't check out the wrong one.  We are starting our constitutional unit, and George Washington was vital to the success of that process.