Hi Class! What are your likes and dislikes regarding long weekends in relation to your learning? Beyond the assumption that we love long weekends, consider how long weekends impact your ability to learn. Would you prefer a longer school day for regular 3 day weekends or leave the current school schedule as is? How would an extended day alter your after school activities? For some insight, read this article about the new school at Sun Peaks using a 4 days school week by clicking here.
Post a response with a BIG IDEA (for or against a 4 day week) and support your position with reasons and details related to your big idea. Write in full sentences – using punctuation! Additionally, show your skills with compound and complex sentences. Your post is due Monday (October 15).
As responses are posted, be part of the conversation by replying to your classmates – it enriches the discussion!
I wouldn’t like to have a 4 day week because the days are longer.
Although I would be able to hang out with friends on the weekend!
You have barely scratched the surface of this writing activity. Support your position with examples and reasons. In your case, explain what is problematic with longer days, then describe the advantages of being with friends.
Please add more to your post.
I think a four day week would be great! Why because they would have more of a break from school because it would be an hour and 45 minutes extra. I think the kids would love it to because in the winter they can go skiing for a longer time on weekends because they would have an extra day. Thats my opinion.
Good opening statement, though there is no need to say “I think…” Beginning with “A four day week…” is more powerful. You are the author, these are your opinions, so there is no need to state ‘I think’.
Quick Fix.
That + is = That’s
Why? Why would you want longer days but longer weekend? I personally think it’s a bad idea because kids will forget subjects they learn in the week. Will it inter fear with there after school activities or do you have to change the times? Well the answer is yes because when you have an activities at 3:00 but your still in school you have to reschedule and most people are really busy with other things. Kids will also have homework due the next day and when they have a longer day it gives them less time if they have after school activities. When it happens kids try to finish at night then they are sleepy the next day and can’t absorb as much school work.
You provide great points supporting your position – well done!
Quick Fix:
– No need to say, “I personally…” – simply state, “It’s a bad idea…”
– interfere (not inter fear)
– the after school activities belonging to the students = their after school activities
I wonder, If longer days for longer weekends will affect the lose of memorize of the children what they learned that week, and there after school activities. There after school activities will be cut and they will not be able to hang out after school with there friends. By the time you get home it will be close to dinner time. Kids will get thrown off by the days and will be off task because The first day that the kids come back they haven’t seen there fiends in three days so they will chat. The teacher will have to reteach the curriculum’s then they will not get anywhere in the year. They will not pass the grade and will have to take it again next year for the regular school days 8:30 -2:30. The kids will not have as much fun as they should.
You raise a great point about students getting used to the school routine after a long weekend!
Quick Fix:
– their = belonging to them (their after school activities, their friends…)
– use an apostrophe to show possession and contraction, never to make a noun plural
– curriculum is an interesting word (the plural form is curricula)
I wouldn’t want to because I don’t want to stay a extra hour and a half every day just to get a extra day off I know some people would but I would not do it I mean I would probably do it for awhile but I think I would get bored eventually. If you got two days off or If it was just a half a hour then I would do it. But in general I wouldn’t do it.
Please provide more reasons in support of your position. Is the amount of added time too much? Do you not enjoy weekends?
Longer days is bad for school because if you have something after school its cutting in with a game or something. I think we need to stay with 5 days of school and 2 days of weekend not a extra hour in our day every week. Plus it might effect on other things in the mornings to because if you go on a bus and if you arrive at school you would be late every day if school starts at 8:00am and if the school bus arrives at 8:00 that would be bad.
You raise a terrific point regarding the students on the bus; a longer school day means getting home even later for some students.
Quick Fix:
it + is = it’s (it’s cutting in…)
affect vs effect (It may affect other things…this is a bad effect…)
I think it is a bad idea because we would have to stay in school an extra hour an 1/2 just to get an extra day. I think it should be two day’s or just an extra 1/2 hour plus if you live up there in the winter time it gets dark faster and if you live a little ways away then you would be walking in the dark and unless if you close to your home walking in the dark is dangerous.
You bring up a good point about students walking in the dark; there are some safety issues to consider!
Be aware of run on sentences. You have made your point using only 2 sentences. Ideally you would use 4-5 sentences (big idea, supporting reason 1, reason 2, reason 3, and a conclusion).
An apostrophe is used to show possession (Dave’s dog) and contraction (it’s), never to make a noun plural (two days).
I think that its ok because they get 1 more hour every day and if you think.also they get a early start every day so i think that its a good idea to do for just the year.
This is difficult to follow. Please rewrite your post in point form. Use a sentence for each point:
– I think it is okay.
– They get one more hour everyday. (add why this is good thing)
–
–
–
Doing this would be awesome we are still pretty much getting full school hours, but we have a three day weekend. Also if there is a pro-d day then we get four days off. But if they don’t do it for high school then I don’t really care.
How does the length of the weekend positively impact your learning?
I think having a four day week would be AWESOME because if the school district adds an hour to the school day it would give the teachers time to teach an extra lesson. Also giving kids another day off of school will make them more enthusiastic about going every Monday. It wouldn’t be bad having school only four days a week.
THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN APPROVED BY EVERY CHILD IN KAMLOOPS.
Would more time for lessons be beneficial for the students too? Sometimes the afternoon can feel like it lasts forever.
You make an interesting point when you suggest students will be more enthusiastic on Monday, I wonder if it is true?
A four day school week would be great! Longer days means less homework obviously, and who doesn’t love that? Shorter weeks aren’t just benefitial for children but for teachers and adults too. Think about it, the less money the school district has to pay for Janitor and teachers salaries, the more money they can spend on playground equipment, Fun Days, and feild trips. So, as you can see a four day school week, even with longer days would be WAY better in the long run.
You raise an interesting point regarding potential savings. For instance, if a school is open for 90 more minutes per day, does it use more, less or the same amount electricity, heating, cooling and water? I am not sure if the salaries would change because the same number of hours is being worked.
Quick Fix: field (not feild)
school would be cool if it was shorter but like the 5 day week because its shorter in time but in the shorter week you get a lounger school week so it really hard to chose from both of them
You have many ideas crammed into a phrase. You must use proper sentence writing skills (capitalization and punctuation).
Take your thoughts and organize them into complete sentences:
1) School would be cool if it was shorter.
2) The 5 day week has shorter days but shorter weekends.
3) The 4 day week has longer days and longer weekends.
4) It is really difficult to choose which one I prefer.
The longer weekend idea is not so good because some kids may need more help in school. Also more people enjoy being in school because they do more physical education and be active, then sitting on a couch playing mind killing games. 🙂
How kids would spend the extra time is an interesting topic to discuss. If parents were working, would kids simply plug in for an entire day?
Quick Fix: Use ‘than’ when comparing – they would be more active than sitting on a couch…
I wouldn’t like having a three day weekend because my bus picks me up around three o-clock,and I get home around four. If the school district decided to add another hour I wouldn’t have time for after school activities and hanging out with my friends. I do like having normal school hours more then extra school hours,besides if we had an extra day off,what use would non-instructional days have for the community?
You bring up an interesting point about non-instructional days because a shortened week would last 3 days if schools used a 4 day calendar.
Quick Fix: Add a space after a comma when typing.
I think that I would stay at school 1 hour longer at school to have a 3 day weekend. But when I get home I would be very tired and having a longer weekend would be relaxing too. But having a longer weekend would also interfrear with school work and you would forget last weekes lesson.
You raise good points about being tired and forgetting the content of lessons. Reread your post and notice your sentences beginning with the word ‘but’. You can use other words and expressions like: however, although, though, on the other hand…Using a variety of transitions makes your writing more interesting and effective.
Quick Fix: interfere (not interfear); last week’s (not last weekes)
It would be a bad idea to have longer weekends then days because you will have less days to see and hang with your friends. You will have more time to relax and less time to sleep in class. You will miss your favourite subjects like P.E. and art or maybe even math. longer days is a horrible idea. There should less weekends then we already have.lots of people might think this is a bad idea but I disagree.
You would not miss class time, rather the 5th day would be spread over the other 4 days of the week.
Quick Fix: use ‘than’ when making comparisons: longer than…less than…
I know but I find that dumb why would they make it four days rather than five days. It should be six days rather then four or five
Saturday school is an interesting idea. Some places use Saturday school as a way to support learning. Would students be more conscious of their learning if they would have to come to school on a Saturday when their grades slipped or assignments were not completed? Would school be different when their classmates were ‘free’ on Saturday while they remained at school?
well good point but people shouldn’t be cautious about there grades slipping or assignments being over due thats when you give more time then usual because they’re is more days than usual so they should get extra time and it would be a great idea even if my classmates disagree
At what point/grade/age should overdue assignments have a response other than giving the student more time?
well teachers aren’t babying the students since there are more days they should get more time its only fair because some people like ,me start given assignments a week before they are due so if they get more time they will figure out to actually start the given assignments that are due and they will probably have them on time and ready to go
Its a good idea because the kids get 3 day but also get 1 more day to do homework that their teacher can give them to work on over the 3 day weekend . think when other schools have a 3 day weekend it does nothing to all the the kids exited to have a longer weekend.
It is a struggle to follow your thoughts. How do the students get 1 more day to work? Are you suggesting the students would do homework on the extra day off every week – do you think that is realistic?
Quick Fix: use ‘excited’ rather than ‘exited’ (the meanings are different) “The students exited the school and were excited about the weekend.”
I do not think that we should have longer weekends because some kids forget really fast. And some cant take in so much all at once . Also with the days being longer it would be harder for kids to focus.I know I wouldn’t want longer days because some parents wouldn’t be able to pick up their kids that late.Also if you had appointments or stuff like that it wouldn’t be good because it would be harder to catch up.
You support your position with many relevant reasons – well done! When typing, there must be a space after punctuation, not before it.
I don’t want a 4 day week because its 45 minutes more each day.
I would like the shorter weeks because we would get an extra day off from school and it gives us more time to do stuff.I think we should have 4day weeks but still the same amount of time instead of 45 minutes longer:).
It is actually around 90 more minutes per day! What ‘stuff’ do you see yourself doing with an extra day off per week? Can you think of more interesting words than ‘stuff’?
Quick Fix: When typing, add a space after punctuation. (more time to do stuff.I think we should )
It would be if we had longer weekends and days because more family time on the weekend. In school we will have more time to get some more work don.
I would enjoy extra family time too – especially to do some camping in the fall. Keep adding more details to develop your answer.
I would like to keep our school days as it is right now, because then the teachers would have to make new schedules for our subjects. Plus, then we don’t have to worry about it being dark in the Winter. I’m not saying longer days for longer weekends is bad thing, but it’s a bad idea. On the other hand it would be nice to have longer weekends, because then we could have more time to do stuff with friends and family, and more time to sleep in and not worry about school for a long time. As I said before, I would still like our school week as it is.
You raise good points on both sides of the issue. Excellent use of ‘on the other hand’ to transition between ideas!
i am good with the amount of days right now it is a good schedule for a lot of people and has been for a long time
Please elaborate. What is good about the schedule? Provide details to support your position.
Longer week days and longer weekends would be a bad idea because they would learn more but they would also play more video games and forget more. Students would also have to pay attention even more.
This seems like a quick response. Explain how they would learn and forget more.