Image of students wearing winter clothes having a snowball fight

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R.1, R.2, R.6, R.8, R.9, W.1, SL.1

Should Students Still Get Snow Days?

Principal Martinez says no. Nick and his classmates disagree. What do you think? 

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To: Pearview Middle School Students 

Subject: New Weather Day Policy


Dear students, 

    Beginning February 1, our school’s new weather day policy will take effect. This rule states that classes will no longer be canceled because of snow, storms, or extreme heat. Instead, we will hold classes remotely. 

    You may be wondering: Why are we making this change? Learning at home is easier than it’s ever been. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Pearview gained some of the best online learning tools. These tools can keep us connected even when we can’t be in the classroom. 

    In addition, our state requires 180 days of school each year. Canceling classes because of bad weather often means we must make up those days later. This way, we won’t have to shorten your spring or summer breaks.

    I know this policy may be disappointing. But I believe it is for the right reasons. We all lost out on a lot of learning at the start of the pandemic. This new rule will keep that from happening again. 

    Sincerely,

    Principal Martinez

To: Pearview Middle School Students 

Subject: New Weather Day Policy


Dear students, 

    Our school has a new rule. Starting on February 1, classes will no longer be canceled because of snow, storms, or extreme heat. Instead, we will hold classes remotely.

    You may be wondering: Why are we making this change? Learning at home is easier than ever. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Pearview got some great online learning tools. These tools can keep us connected when we can’t be in the classroom.

    Our state requires 180 days of school each year. If we cancel classes because of bad weather, we have to make up those days later. This way, we won’t have to shorten your spring or summer breaks.

    You might not like this rule. But there are good reasons for it. We lost out on a lot of learning at the start of the pandemic. We don’t want that to happen again. 

    Sincerely,

    Principal Martinez

To: Pearview Middle School Students 

Subject: New Weather Day Policy 


Dear students, 

    Beginning February 1, our school’s new weather day policy will take effect. This rule states that classes will no longer be canceled because of snow, storms, or extreme heat. Instead, we will hold classes remotely.

    You may be wondering why we’re making this change. Learning at home is easier than it’s ever been. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Pearview gained some of the best online learning tools. These tools can keep us connected even when we can’t be in the classroom.

    In addition, our state requires 180 days of school each year. Canceling classes because of bad weather often means we must make up those days later. This way, we won’t have to shorten your spring or summer breaks.

    I realize this policy may be disappointing, but I believe it is for the right reasons. We all lost out on a lot of learning at the start of the pandemic. This new rule will prevent that from happening again. 

    Sincerely,

    Principal Martinez

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To: Principal Martinez

Subject: New Weather Day Policy


Dear Principal Martinez,

    As eighth-grade class president, it is my job to make sure students’ voices are heard. We feel this new policy is unfair for several reasons. 

    You are correct that Pearview is now set up for remote learning. But it’s also important to note that many of us struggled with it during the pandemic. Some students had to share a computer with a sibling. Others had slow internet or trouble focusing at home. Plus, what if bad weather causes certain areas of town to lose power? It doesn’t seem fair that some students will be able to learn while others cannot. 

    We understand that we missed a lot of class because of Covid-19. But we also lost out on important school experiences. Football games and dances were canceled. We went months without seeing our friends in the hallways. Getting a snow day has always been exciting. It becomes a time to relax and have fun. Taking that away doesn’t seem fair. 

    Thanks, 

    Nick

To: Principal Martinez

Subject: New Weather Day Policy


Dear Principal Martinez,

    As eighth-grade class president, I speak for the students. We feel this new rule is unfair.

    It’s true that Pearview is set up for remote learning. But many students struggled with that during the pandemic. Some had to share a computer with a sibling. Some had slow internet. Some had trouble focusing at home. Plus, what if bad weather causes certain parts of town to lose power? Some students will be able to learn. Others won’t. That’s not fair.

    We did miss a lot of class because of the pandemic. But we lost out on other things too. Football games and dances were canceled. We missed seeing our friends in the hallways. Getting a snow day is a treat. It’s a time to relax and have fun. We don’t want to lose that. 

    Thanks, 

    Nick

To: Principal Martinez

Subject: New Weather Day Policy


Dear Principal Martinez,

    As eighth-grade class president, I’m responsible for making sure students’ voices are heard. We feel this new policy is unfair for several reasons.

    Although it’s true that Pearview is now set up for remote learning, it’s also important to note that many of us struggled with it during the pandemic. Some students had to share a computer with a sibling. Others dealt with slow internet or had difficulty focusing at home. Plus, what if bad weather causes certain areas of town to lose power? It doesn’t seem fair that some students will be able to learn while others cannot.

    We understand that we missed a lot of class because of Covid-19, but we also lost out on valuable school experiences. Football games and dances were canceled, and we went months without seeing our friends in the hallways. Getting a snow day has always been exciting—it’s an unexpected chance to relax and have fun. Taking that away doesn’t seem fair.    

    Thanks, 

    Nick

ACTIVITY: 
Should Students Still Get Snow Days?

What to do: Use evidence from the article to support each side of this debate. Write the information on a separate sheet of paper.

What to do: Use evidence from the article to support each side of this debate. Write the information on a separate sheet of paper.

What to do: Use evidence from the article to support each side of this debate. Write the information on a separate sheet of paper.

Yes! Kids deserve to have fun.

1.

2.

3.

Yes! Kids deserve to have fun.

1.

2.

3.

Yes! Kids deserve to have fun.

1.

2.

3.

No. They should keep on learning.

1.

2.

3.

No. They should keep on learning.

1.

2.

3.

No. They should keep on learning.

1.

2.

3.

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