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Pudong Grade 3: Frindle Debate

December 12, 2018

On Dec. 14, third graders put their arguing skills to the test in a debate! After completing a novel study on the book,Frindleby Andrew Clements, students were split into four different teams. Each team spent time researching their side and creating arguments, rebuttals, and counter rebuttals.Frindletells the story of a fifth-grader named Nick, a curious student who causes a bit of trouble for his teachers. In his Language Arts class, Nick comes up with his greatest prank: deciding to call a “pen” a “frindle.” Soon the word becomes very popular and his teacher, Mrs. Granger, is not very happy with Nick. Should Nick be able to use the word “frindle” or is Mrs. Granger correct? Is Nick a trouble maker or is he just a curious student? Students debated these two questions in class. All of the students were quite poised, responsible, and creative with their arguments. Debates give students a chance to voice their opinions, show their creative thinking, analyze and evaluate other arguments quickly, and practice public speaking. Many students enjoyed the debate so much that they’d like to debate even more topics in class!

(Written by Melanie Cherry Pictures by Melanie Cherry & Andrew Mahoney)