Step 3 for Paper 1

Claim- Full Day Kindergarten is more beneficial than half day kindergarten and therefore all schools should have Full Day Kindergarten.

Reason: Full Day Kindergarten will allow teachers to extend learning during the day and focus more on the individual needs of his/her students.
Warrant: Full Day Kindergarten gives teachers physically more time each day to interact with students and gives more time for teachers to have a more specific curriculum which furthers children’s learning on specific topics.
Backing: If I had to back this to teachers or to parents, I would just emphasize that full day kindergarten gives children more time to connect with their teachers and more time to work on a curriculum in which it isn’t hurried or rushed like half day kindergarten can sometimes be.

Reason: It would be beneficial to teachers, parents, and students.
Warrant: Full day kindergarten would be more beneficial because students have more time given to them to interact and learn in a calm and collected environment. It would be beneficial to teachers because it gives more time to teach on a more structured curriculum. It would be beneficial to parents because having to arrange transportation wouldn’t be a factor and their children would get more out of full day kindergarten because of the social aspects, etc.
Backing: If I had to back this to a teacher or students themselves, I would simply state that the reasons I pointed out earlier are beneficial to everyone involved. It helps the students focus more on what their learning and gives teachers more time to conduct a class that is full of students learning the stepping stones for their later educational career.

Reason: Children extend their social and behavioral skills while in full day kindergarten.
Warrant: Children’s social and behavioral skills would benefit from full day kindergarten because they would be in school longer each day which would get them familiarized to the environment and how to react to certain situations.
Backing: If I had to back this to teachers or parents, I would simply state that having children in the classroom longer, interacting with their peers, that this amount of time would give children the opportunity to increase their social skills because of being in the classroom and interacting with one another. Children’s behavioral skills would evolve because they are with students and teachers longer and should form a relationship that is not only class room based but form personal relationships with one another.

Reason: Kindergarten is the basic stepping stone for elementary school.
Warrant: Elementary school is a long process. If students don’t get off on the right foot, it could affect their entire elementary school career. Kindergarten is the first important step because it teaches you the stepping stones of what the student is going to learn on down the road. Kindergarten not only teaches you the mental skills but the social as well. Children learn how to behavior and associate with each other at this level.
Backing: If I had to back this to a parent or teacher, I would simply state that kindergarten and the time in which children spend there is essential. It is essential because of important criteria learned while in kindergarten. Not only do they learn abc’s, and numbers, but they learn how to interact with one another and how to stand on their own two feet.

Reason: Schools could save money by not having the buses run for half day kindergarten which could be used for full day kindergarten and the materials needed.
Warrant: Schools in which only offer full day kindergarten could save on bus money because the noon buses wouldn’t have to run. The money in which was spent on the noon buses could be used for full day kindergarten and the objectives used.
Backing: If I had to back this, I would simply state that the financial aspect of not having half day kindergarten buses run could benefit many other areas of the school district. I would say that the money saved by not having the buses running could therefore benefit full day kindergarten. This could save the district money. The district therefore is also benefiting from full day kindergarten as well as many others.

Step 2 for Paper 1

Claim: Full Day Kindergarten is more beneficial than half day kindergarten and therefore all schools should have Full Day Kindergarten.
Qualifier? The claim was qualified because while kindergarten itself is helpful to students, it is proven that they get more out of going to full day kindergarten.
Reason you are an authority? I am an authority because I have studied the topic by doing research using Educational websites and article databases.

Reason one: Full Day Kindergarten will allow teachers to extend learning during the day and focus more on the individual needs of his/her students.
What makes this reason relevant? Full Day Kindergarten allows teachers to get to know the students on an individual basis and to get to know their basic needs.
What makes this reason effective? Having full day kindergarten would allow the teacher to broaden his/her topics that would be studied. The class would be able to dive into topics that aren’t covered in half day.
What evidence supports this reason? Children go onto middle and high school. Their basic core subjects are instructed upon heavily. Kindergarten and throughout elementary set the building blocks for those core subjects later on in middle and high school.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? Yes because the information is from ERIC which is an educational database. The article which I used discusses full day kindergarten benefits verses half day.
Reason two: It would be beneficial to teachers, parents, and students.
What makes this reason relevant? Full Day Kindergarten would allow students to interact more with other peers. Teachers could broaden their subjects instructed upon. Parents would have the option of sending their children to an after school program. This way, parents wouldn’t have to worry about transportation.
What makes this reason effective? Most parents today would rather have their child attend full day kindergarten because of the benefits it provides.
What evidence supports this reason? “Researchers who have studied social and behavioral outcomes found that children in all-day kindergarten programs were engaged in more child-to-child interactions (Hough & Bryde, 1996) and that they made significantly greater progress in learning social skills” (Elicker & Mathur, 1997). Parents as well as teachers feel that this is the best option considering it does benefit children more than if they were to go to half day kindergarten.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? Yes because it is from ERIC which again is an educational database which does studies and articles on education.
Reason three: Children extend their social and behavioral skills while in full day kindergarten.
What makes this reason relevant? It is proven that most of the time children who are in full day kindergarten go through elementary with better social and behavioral skills.
What makes this reason effective? Children are in school for a longer period of time during the day which allows them to interact more and at a more consistent rate.
What evidence supports this reason? “Researchers who have studied social and behavioral outcomes found that children in all-day kindergarten programs were engaged in more child-to-child interactions (Hough & Bryde, 1996) and that they made significantly greater progress in learning social skills”. Students would have more time to engage with each other and increase their social skills.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? Yes because it is from ERIC which is an educational website devoted to debating education and allow viewers to read articles.
Reason four: Kindergarten is the basic stepping stone for elementary school.
What makes this reason relevant? Kindergarten is the stage between preschool and 1st grade.
What makes this reason effective? Kindergarten is important since it is a transitional period between preschool and elementary. Social skills and behavioral skills are learned here.
What evidence supports this reason? “Teachers and parents indicated a preference for all-day kindergarten because of the more relaxed atmosphere, more time for creative activities, and more opportunity for children to develop their own interests” (Elicker & Mathur, 1997). Teachers and parents feel that full day kindergarten would offer more socially to children.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? Yes because it is from ERIC which is an educational database.
Reason five: Schools could save money by not having the buses run for half day kindergarten which could be used for full day kindergarten and the materials needed.
What makes this reason relevant? By not having the noon bus on route, that money that would go to the bus drivers could go to full day kindergarten and the resources needed.
What makes this reason effective? The money used for paying bus drivers can be used for full day kindergarten and the extra resources that would have to be available.
What evidence supports this reason? ERIC, an educational resource database offers the negative points for half day kindergarten and discuss positive points for full day kindergarten saving money is one of them.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? ERIC is an educational resource that has credible information about educational topics.

1. Objection: Children may not be mentally and physically ready for full day kindergarten.
Rebuttal: Preschool allows children to interact with others. Full day kindergarten would be less rushed because they is more time to go over material. They are going to learn more at a slower rate rather than learning a lot in a small amount of time.
2. Objection: There may not be enough teachers to teach full day kindergarten.Rebuttal: Many reports show that teachers, along with parents prefer full day kindergarten for various reasons but one that is narrowed in upon is that teachers would have more time to get to know students on an individual basis.
3. Objection: The schools may not have enough room for all of the children that are in full day kindergarten.Rebuttal: If full day kindergarten is put into place, then every school is going to have to put the program into effect. If schools don’t have enough room, then they’re going to have to make room by adding and dividing up classrooms.
4. Objection: Funding for full day kindergarten may not be to the level that it needs to be.Rebuttal: If half day kindergarten is cut, then that money can go to full day that would originally go to half day. The state or government would have to provide the rest of the money for buildings, etc.
5. Objection: Children learning capacity may not be strong enough to go to kindergarten for the whole day.Rebuttal: Children of any age are anxious to learn and to discover new things. Full day would allow them to learn but at a slower rate than the rate learned during half day. Preschool starts the building blocks by learning shapes, etc. As children grow, their learning capacity widens and gets better.

Summary of Paper 1

Throughout the years, people have debated on whether there are advantages to full or half day kindergarten. While this topic is still being highly debated, there are facts that support both programs. A major point that is emphasized is positive reasons why parents want their children to attend full day kindergarten. Single parent households and households in which both parents work all day are benefits to full day kindergarten because it is less stressful for parents to have to not worry about transportation, etc. Full day kindergarten allows children to be safe and is easier for parents to arrange their schedule. Another topic that is hit hard upon is that full day kindergarten allows teachers more time to interact with students and to get to know their students on a personal level. There are specific curriculum differences between the two program types because of the time allotted to the teachers in both programs. Experts acknowledge that what children learn during the day is more important than the length of the school day itself. Full day kindergarten gives children more time to “engage in active, child-initiated, small-group activities”. It seems to bring about positive social behavior and learning benefits. Statistical data such as percentages, facts, and figures are mentioned to bring into focus the changing kindergarten way. Data from 1977 to 2001 is brought to reader’s attention based on enrollment from children ages 4 to 6 in kindergarten. There are apparent differences in the enrollment numbers in half and full day kindergarten.

Topic for Paper 1--Full Day Kindergarten

I have chosen to debate full day kindergarten.

Part 1
-Debate whether full day kindergarten is more beneficial to students verses children who attend kindergarten half day.
-Debate whether parents would rather have their children attend full or half day kindergarten.
-Do children that go to full day kindergarten get an option of day care after school?
-Is full day kindergarten more beneficial to children’s social skills and interaction with others?
-Debate whether full day kindergarten gives children more time to learn at a more intense rate.
Part 2
1. Research whether or not full day kindergarten impacts on children’s adapting and learning skills.
2. Research whether or not parents feel that full day kindergarten will benefit their child/children during the year and down the road.
3. Research the topic of if grades, test scores, adapting capability, etc. are higher from children that went to full day kindergarten than those who went to half day kindergarten.

Stasis

While students are stretched to the limits with homework, family life, and extra curricular activities, students in general do not have too much homework. The topic that I will be covering agrees that students have the right amount of homework and therefore they do not have too much. This type of argument is a proposal argument because we as a society are deciding what to do about it and what actions should be taken to decide what is "too much homework". People in general are looking at the average student in elementary school, middle school, and high school and trying to determine whether or not they have too heavy of a load. In the South Bend Tribune, an article debating countries global warming proposal is a proposal argument. Within the article, countries such as Australia and China are discussed. Leaders of these countries debate about the ever growing topic of global warming and what should be done about it. Australia's Prime Minister suggests that there should be a new approach to climate change. While the article debating whether children have too much homework and the article on global warming are completely different topics, they share the same point. They both are trying to get across a point and to do this, they are proposing their idea. To read more on "Countries Debate Global Warming Proposals", click here.