Year-round schooling is a good idea because it increases student achievement and is a model that should be adopted by all schools. Students have the same number of vacation days off, but the days are spread out over the course of the year, which prevents summer learning loss. Martha Juarez, a teacher in Texas reports, “I spend the first month of school reviewing math concepts that kids forgot from the previous year” (Newsweek). Standardized test data from year-round schools shows that students in year-round schools score higher than students in schools with a traditional school year. “The number of students achieving at grade level in language arts and math went from 67% to 82% in the first year after we changed” (Ed Week). Students in year-round schools are able to complete more meaningful projects since their breaks are shorter. Jamaal King, a 6^th grader in Seattle who goes to a year-round school says, “We are doing this cool project and we can work on it all year since we’re never off for longer than a month.” There is no question that year-round schools are a better model than their traditional counterparts.

Evidence types:

Claim = opinion on a topic

Evidence = facts, reasons,
personal experience,

expert research, statistics

Rubric

The paragraph: ·         Creates a unified and persuasive argument; every sentence supports the key claim. ·         Begins with a clear debatable claim. ·         Provides three pieces of evidence that overwhelming prove the claim. ·         Evidence is of three different types (facts, personal experience, statistics, experts); including evidence from a secondary source ·         Sources are credible and properly cited.

The paragraph: ·         Presents evidence in the most logical order. ·         Smoothly transitions from one idea to the next.

The paragraph: ·         Contains no fragments or run-ons; engages complex sentence structures. ·         Consistently maintains a formal voice. ·         Readily employs diction specific to the chosen topic.