Should students be paid for good grades? A 6th to 8th grade debate

1. Write the question. Students stand on a line from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree.
2. Define incentive: a reward or a cost that changes what people choose to do.
3. Assign two teams (some students will argue the side they disagree with, which is good practice).
4. Each team writes 3 reasons on sticky notes, each with an example. Possible ideas: pay rewards effort like a job does; pay can make learning only about money; what happens to students whose grades are hard to raise?
5. Debate: 2 minutes per side, 1 minute of rebuttal each, then open floor.
6. Students go back to the line. Who moved? Ask movers what changed their minds.
7. Exit ticket: write one compromise idea, such as rewards for effort or a family outing instead of cash.

Safety: set ground rules first: debate ideas, not people, and no one shares personal grades or family money details.

Differentiation: students who need support use sentence frames ("I agree because ___. For example, ___."). Students who are ready write a closing statement for their team. English learners can prepare one reason with a partner before the debate.

Quick check: ask a student to state one strong reason from the other side.

Has your class or family debated this? Tell us where your students landed and the best argument you heard.