Transcript Summer: 15 Days or 2 1/2 Months?

Summer: 15 Days or 2 1/2 Months?
Jordan Bettlemen
LA 4
11/14/05
Hook (She
chose anecdote)
Introduction
Background information on
topic. This is where you
state the controversial issue.
Do not give your stance here.
It’s been a long school year and I’ve learned
a lot, but I just can’t wait. I’ve been counting the
minutes until summer vacation. The final bell
rings. It’s the last day of school, and summer
has finally come! I don’t have to think about
school for at least another 2 1/2 months! Did you
know that some school systems are considering
a year-round calendar for students? I believe
year-round schooling is not an appropriate
schedule because it has little impact on
education, costs more, and reduces time off
over the summer
Three point
It makes little or no impact on education,
it is expensive
it disrupts a child’s summer vacation.
These are her 3 focus points. They
become the topic sentences for the
first three paragraphs in the body.
thesis
statement
Fact with source
included. If you use the
author’s name in the
sentence, you do not
need to cite it at the end.
Body Paragraph #1
Main Focus
Point
#1
Contrary to the well-accepted belief, year-round
schooling has no constructive impact on education.
Carlos Sadovi of the Darnell Little Chicago Tribune
states that most year-round schedules use the 45-15
method: 45 days of school followed by 15 days off.
Because of this, there are many first and last days of
school. All those transitions disrupt the learning process.
Also, there is no evidence of higher test scores. Due to
that, many schools that change to year-round schedules
end up switching back. For example, since 1980, 95
percent of schools that tried the year-round schedule
changed back to a traditional calendar (Aronowitz). It is
obvious that changing to year-round schooling does not
help students; therefore, why is the change necessary?
Fact with parenthetical
documentation at the end of the
sentence before the period
Elaboration
(She chose
“analysis”)
Body Paragraph #2
Main Focus
Point #2
Like any other facility, keeping a school open requires a great
deal of money. When a school changes to a year-round schedule,
the costs skyrocket. Keeping school open in the middle of summer
requires air conditioning, and that adds significantly to the school’s
expenses. The usual utility bills grow because of the additional
open-school time. Finally, teachers must be paid for all the weeks
they are working. With all these factors, the cost of keeping schools
open becomes immensely high. For example, a high school in
Arizona had a cost increase of $157,000 when they switched to
year-round schooling (Sandovi). Some schools may not be able
to handle such increases, and other schools that can handle these
expenses could be doing better things with the money. Is year-round
school really where the money should go?
Elaboration (She
chose “steps in a
process”)
Fact with
parenthetical
documentation
Main Focus
Point #3
Body Paragraph #3
Elaboration (She
chose
“hypothetical”)
Another important issue that year-round schooling doesn’t
consider is that an important part of a child’s life is summertime.
What if you were forces to take you were forced to attend a yearround school. With year-round schedules, you would hardly have
any time to relax. During the 15-day breaks, you would be thinking
about your quick return to school. It would also be difficult to
coordinate your family vacations with parents’ work schedules. In
addition, you would not be able to go to most summer camps.
One expert, Dr. Peter Scales, says, “The biggest plus of camp is
that camps help young people discover and explore their talents,
interests, and values. Most schools don’t satisfy all these needs.
Kids who have these kinds of [camp] experiences end up being
healthier and have fewer problems” (Wilson). Obviously, the
summer is crucial to a child’s learning and development. Why
should this invaluable part of a young person’s life be taken away?
Fact with source
included
Transition
Sentence
Body Paragraph #4
1st Opposing
stance with fact
and source
included
Many proponents of year round school may claim that
there are reasons it is beneficial. One supporter, Dr.
Benedict, principal of a year-round school in Kentucky,
states, “Students have the opportunity to remediate each
quarter prior to continuing to the next. They can keep
from falling too far behind as the year progresses”
(McClain). While this may be true in some cases, studies
1 rebuttal have shown that these frequent breaks do not have a
significant enough impact on education and the long 2 Opposing
stance
summer is very important to a child’s development
(Aronowitz). Some may also say that you still receive a
2
rebuttal summer break, only shorter. Does this allow for
extended vacations? Others may say that we still get our
breaks. They are just shorter and more frequent. Those
that believe students need more frequent breaks may
not see that this could be disruptive to the flow of the
3 Opposing
school year.
Stance
st
nd
nd
rd
3rd rebuttal
Restate Thesis – DO NOT use
exact same wording
Conclusion
It is evident that year-round schooling is not
the best option for the school calendar. As you
Comment
have read, it has no benefits to a child’s
education or the community as a whole. There is
absolutely nothing wrong with the traditional
school year. Why change something that works
so well? The final bell rings. Let’s make sure Question
this bell means that the “real” summer
vacation has come.
Call to
action
Add this
title
Bibliography
Aronowitz, Stanley. "National standards would not change our cultural capital.(National
Standards: Pro and Con)." Clearing House. 69. 1996. 144(4). eLibrary. Proquest
CSA. COBB CO SCHOOL DISTRICT. 07 Nov 2007. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com>.
Bruno V. Benedict. "Creating america's new public schools: Not Tomorrow but Today."
World & I. 01 Sep 1997. 316. eLibrary. Proquest CSA. COBB CO SCHOOL
DISTRICT. 07 Nov 2007. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com>.
Sadovi, Carlos; Darnell Little Chicago Tribune. "Reviews coming in on year-round
schools: State Report Card shows mixed results, but unconventional schedule wins
converts." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. 06 Nov 2007. eLibrary. Proquest
CSA. COBB CO SCHOOL DISTRICT. 07 Nov 2007. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com>.
Alphabetical order and indent
all lines AFTER the first line
The bibliography is typed
on a SEPARATE PAGE
and stapled to the end of
your essay. DO NOT
BULLET CITATIONS