LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Read opposing viewpoints and take a side; evaluate potential reasons for and against spirit days.

HEALTH ED STANDARDS

NHES 2: Analyze the influence of school and community on personal health practices and behaviors.

CASEL COMPETENCY: Social awareness

Lesson Plan: Are Spirit Days Out of Control?

Some schools have themed spirit days at least once a week. Has this trend gotten too big for its own good?

PREPARING TO READ

Before you read the debate “Are Spirit Days Out of Control?” ask your students the following pre-reading question:

What are the pros and cons of having spirit days at school?

READING AND DISCUSSION

  • Have your students read the debate “Are Spirit Days Out of Control?” independently; read the debate out loud to them; or have one student read one side of the debate and another student read the other side.
  • After they’ve read the debate, revisit the pre-reading question. Have their answers changed?

BUILDING COMPREHENSION AND VOCAB

Check students’ comprehension of and engagement with the story with the following assessment tools:

  • Comprehension Quiz

EXPANDING SEL OPPORTUNITIES

Continue the learning journey with the following extension activity:

Hold a FOUR CORNERS DEBATE to settle the discussion about spirit days once and for all! Before the activity begins, assign each corner of your classroom one of the following positions: strongly agree, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or strongly disagree. Distribute the skills sheet and have students choose a position in response to the sentence “Spirit days are out of control.” Once they have had a chance to prepare their ideas using the skills sheet, have each student choose a corner. From there, form mixed-opinion groups with students from different corners, and have the students take turns sharing and defending their opinions in their small groups. After the debate, have the whole class discuss whether debating the topic made them think differently about it.


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