Should we keep our school uniform?

Objective & content

This writing sheet teaches pupils to write an opinion article for a school magazine (The school council is asking pupils whether...; There are some good arguments for...; First... Second...; On the other hand...; Although...; In my opinion...; If the school..., families would...; What do you think?). Pupils read Leah's article, take its phrases and write their own. By the end, they can write an article of 150 to 180 words that gives both sides and an opinion.

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 has Leah's article, "Should we keep our school uniform?", with a photo of pupils in uniform. Leah, fifteen, gives the arguments for a uniform (everyone looks the same, it saves time, some teachers say pupils behave better) and against it (a blazer with the school logo costs over £40 and comes from one shop, and pupils can't show their personality). Her opinion: keep a uniform but a simpler, cheaper one, because the real problem is the price. Pupils answer six questions with three options each, then read the useful phrases, set out in the order of an article (start, for, against, both sides, passive, opinion, end). Page 2 starts with four lines of Oscar's article on the lunch break to complete with the right verb forms. Then pupils choose a question (phones in class, school starting at ten o'clock, cooking lessons for everyone), each with two arguments for and two against to start from, write their article and tick the checklist. The answer key gives a model article.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Ask "Would you like a school uniform? Why, or why not?" and take a quick vote.
2. (10 min) Read Leah's article aloud; pupils answer the questions.
3. (5 min) Read the useful phrases with the class.
4. (5 min) Page 2: pupils complete Oscar's article.
5. (20 min) Pupils choose a question, write their article and tick the checklist.
6. (5 min) Pupils who chose the same question compare their opinions.

Adaptations

[S] Pupils use the card's arguments and write one paragraph each for, against and their opinion.

[A] Pupils add an argument of their own on each side.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 and 2 per pupil. Page 3 is the answer key, the model article and the teacher notes: keep it. Pupils need the passive in the present and the past, although, the second conditional and linkers for and against. To take it further, the class holds a vote on the three questions after reading the articles.