Thursday, October 13

Good morning and afternoon my favorite students of all time!

Here is your daily vocab assignment. Please read the directions carefully, as the guidelines to your assignment have slightly changed...

Blog Title: Week 9 Vocab Defintions and Close Reading Passage
Assignment:

** Your week 9 vocabulary words are: alternative, previous, and strategy.
For each word, find its definition and at least one synonym to go with it.

** Read the critical reading passage below. Then, read the questions at the end and write a 5-sentence response. You need to answer all the questions. Your answer should be in complete sentences.

Should junk food be banned from school vending machines?

As childhood obesity and diabetes increases in this country, many Americans blame schools for selling unhealthy foods to students in order to make a profit for the schools. In previous years, schools have sold many high-fat and high-sugar items to their students, including cafeteria food in which the main vegetable is too often french fries.

Supporters of a junk food ban say that if parents are not going to provide healthy snacks for their children, then the school has no alternative other than to force healthy eating. One strategy some schools are using is providing tasty snacks for their students that are lower in sugar and fat content.

Critics argue that students are going to get junk food from alternative places anyway, so why not benefit from the sale of them? Additionally, childhood obesity is not going to decrease as a result of banning junk food sales; it involves a lot more than that. In previous decades, junk food items were sold on campuses, and yet the obesity rate was lower than it is now. Also, people say that this is taking away students’ freedom of choice and that the strategy of banning junk food will only make students want it more.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS USING COMPLETE SENTENCES. Response should be a MINIMUM (that means AT LEAST) FIVE sentences.
Is it the schools' job to decide what students should or should not eat? Are school vending machines really full of junk food? Does keeping junk food out of vending machines really teach kids to eat better?