Student Work

The class chose two topics to debate: "Which is better: a meat-based or vegetarian diet?" and "Which is better: single-sex or co-education?"

Rubrics and Teacher Comments on Student Work

Student’s Name______-

Debate Team__VEGETARIAN_

+ applies only if learners are doing internet searches

* applies only if doing extension activity of essay writing.

Overall score: EXCELLENT

Student’s participation in the project was excellent. She took extensive notes on five articles, actively discussed the topic with her teammates and her debate presentation was well-organized and easy to understand. She also actively participated as an audience member during the other group’s debate.

Student is a vegetarian, but before the debate stated that she did not have much knowledge about the nutritional aspects of vegetarianism. After reading the articles on debating, she said that she not only had a better understanding of the nutritional needs of a vegetarian, but she also was aware of the existence -- and reasons for -- a vegan lifestyle.

Student’s Name_______________-

Debate Team__SINGLE-SEX SCHOOLS_

+ applies only if learners are doing internet searches

* applies only if doing extension activity of essay writing.

Overall score: EXCELLENT

Student’s participation in the project was excellent. She took notes on three articles, and really tried to help her teammates coordinate their work. She was easy to understand and made a good deal of eye contact during the debate. As an audience member, she asked many thoughtful questions.

Student had just started attending the class, when we began the project. Her reading and writing skills were very strong, but her spoken English and aural comprehension were weaker. The week prior to the debating unit, Student had spoken to me of her concern that her classmates couldn’t understand her. After the debate, Chris told me that the debate helped give her confidence about her ability to make herself understood.

Chiyoko

Coeducation is the Best Choice for High School

In most part of world, most of people would agree that both boys and girls should attend high school. However, the question is whether the high school should be co-educational or a single-sex school. A coeducational high school offers the best education for both sexes.

First of all, it is natural environment. As we know, the real world consists of both sexes. Why not at school? If not, boys and girls can’t prepare for society. If they are separately educated, they will be interested in the opposite sex too much.

Coeducation can provide both sexes an equal opportunity. Boys and girls can participate in same classes and activities. On the contrary, at a single sex school, girls are discouraged to compete with boys intellectually.

It is essential for both sexes at high school age, to get each other as classmates, not as dates. First of all, experiments of learning together help both sexes to break stereotypes and to deepen their understanding of each other. Secondly, difficult situations about sex, like sexual harassment, happen because of misunderstandings.

As everyone agrees, learners at high school age have not matured yet. Therefore, they have a lot of flexibilities in their identities, ideas, and concepts. If boys and girls miss chances to know each other adequately at that critical period, they can’t reach the ultimate goal, real equal partnership between male and female, in their future.

11/19/98

Nowadays, there are a large number of people that practice vegetarianism in the world. According to recent research, more and more people are opting for a vegetarian diet. They have concluded that it is nothing to lose. In addition the vegetarian can contribute with the environmental and bring the benefits to animal. People really think that to be a vegetarian is difficult, impossible, not safe enough, can lose to much weight, etc.

Contrarily it is pretty easy and safe to be a vegetarian. For people that have not know idea about vegetarianism should read before making their conclusions or exchange or not their diet. In other words, people won’t believe how much they will learn about nutrition, vegetables, grains, greens, vitamins and fruits. Vegetarians are always in a good healthy and also in a good shape instead of fat.

Reading about vegetarianism people will notice ho many diseases they can avoid. Diabetics for example, there are three or four times more frequently on meat eater. Furthermore heart disease is the number one killer in the USA.

People don’t know why meat cause health problems. Animals are created in factory farms with less spaces than they need. Therefore, they are obligated to live with their feces. In contrast with their natural lives. Also the antibiotics and pesticides are sprayed on feed and on the animals themselves. This animal products are very dangerous for human.

Vegetarianism it is not just a style of life as lot of people think it. To be a vegetarian people just need to think in their health. On the other hand, they will bring benefit to animals and help the ecology.

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